Got my Magnet today in the post and thought - hey would this fit on my electric cello ? Turns out that yes it does indeed. Pretty fun to see bowing this close up 
11 Likes
I was hoping that would be the piece you played. Love it! I made a really cool arrangement of that for classical guitar back in college. Nice playing and great filming. If I could do life over again I would have never touched guitar, stuck with piano OR learned cello. I just love the timbre of the instrument.
1 Like
Hey thank you! I’ve been playing guitar since I was a kid, took up cello a few years back in my mid 40’s… never too late to start. I love the sound too which was the draw for me.
3 Likes
Did you take lessons for cello or just go it alone?
1 Like
I did about a year or so on my own (hey I’m stubborn) and then got a teacher. It’s just a hobby for me so I go to her for a lesson every couple of weeks now. Really made a lot faster progress once I started the lessons. Important to find the right teacher, one that supports adult beginners (many do these days) and is realistic about your goals. I have no aspirations to play with an orchestra etc, it’s purely for pleasure at home for me.
1 Like
Right. If I ever took the plunge I would just want someone to teach me technique and tone production. I think beyond that I could work the rest out on my own. At the moment I have invested enough into alternate picking that I wanna see that through. I estimate I am 2 - 3 years out from where I want to be. Then I will re evaluate and see what might be next.
4 Likes
Very nice! Well done, man!
1 Like
Well you clearly need a 7 string to get a B1 to be a semitone lower than a cello’s C2 in order to fit their music.
A cello is the most heavy metal instrument, it is face-melting—it doesn’t need distortion boxes, etc.
Piano wins as the best overall instrument.
2 Likes
I have a 5 string electric cello which has a low F (cellos are tuned in 5ths rather than fourths so you get a bigger range across the strings) which would do the trick but it’s a weird instrument to play, not ergonomic in the same way a regular 4 string it.
And yeah I agree - a cello naturally has a rasp to its tone, and a bite to the start of the note when you dig in, since I started playing cello it inspired me to use more Fuzz on my guitar tones for a bit more grit in the tone too
As for piano being the best instrument… hmmm… try doing vibrato on a piano or bending a note…! clearly string instruments are more expressive! Fretless string instruments have the ability to be much more in tune than a piano too, listen to a really high level string quartet and it’s almost uncanny how pure their harmonies can sound.
I kid, kinda, pianos are great… but just don’t do it for me like string instruments
You make excellent points, and each instrument does have pros/cons. This is how I see it:
Cello
- The most metal instrument, by a huge margin.
- Hard to play because it is fretless.
- Bow is incredibly clever and flexible.
- Great body of classical music.
- Limited portability.
Guitar
- Frets make it easier to play and enable chords.
- Great body of modern music.
- Wimpy sound demands electronic effects.
- Good portability.
Piano
- Incredible body of music.
- Incredible cleverness of interface (keys and pedals).
- Incredible flexibility via MIDI and computer integration.
- Incredible range covers every other instrument.
- No vibrato (unless one has a pitch wheel, etc.).
- Poor portability, but better with electronic instruments vs. Steinways.
Two examples of cello being metal, acoustic and electric:
2 Likes
pianos are incredible…i want to play guitar full time and i love sports too much and the day doesnt simply have 1000 hours but i would LOVE to play piano. I dream of learning to play the hammond, to play something like the roli …
Anyway here are some incredible piano playings haha
2:30
And i didnt even mentioned anything that is usually played on piano hehe. Someday !! for now guitar is the main “work” and afte 6-10h a day of it i cant lie i dont wanna hear music anymore most of the time so it isnt that relaxing to jump into another instrument . Also…I love guitar, the feel of it its a totally different universe to me. I had to opportunity to play for 1h a real vintage hammond, i have midi keyboards…keyboard sound and what it can achieve its insane and especially its usage…like if u wanna be a professional musician its way easier to find multiple gigs with a piano, but man guitar is just… like riding a bike , u enjoy every moment of it
2 Likes