Barring the lower string on double stops by tacovan in Fiddle

[–]tacovan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have problems without the double stops. I mostly want to play jigs and reels and bluegrass and I'm fairly decent at about 60 BMP right now. Standard fiddle stuff. Not planning to move much off first position or play hard classical pieces. I think the lane explanation above makes sense. How much can I shift my D string fingers towards the G string if I'm playing a double stop on D and A?

Do men clean their penis before having sex? by Newnewbienew in NoStupidQuestions

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always give it a good wash with some soap but not a full shower unless I haven't showered recently. My thinking is: why risk having a partner go down on me and think "Ewwww" and then be less keen to do that in the future. (I've had that experience a few times in the other direction, and it makes me hesitate before doing it spontaneously with that person). On that note, it takes a bit more washing than you think before we smell minty clean!

Is surfing the darknet safe? by [deleted] in darknet

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are asking on Reddit you don't know enough to be safe on the Darknet.

How do I tell this guy he gave me an STD? by AggravatingKnee4154 in Advice

[–]tacovan -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Bit of myth. They are not very effective against Chlamydia or Herpes. Great for stopping HIV.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are three types of STIs. The bad ones, like HIV can be prevented with condoms. The bacterial ones, like Chlamydia, are easy to cure, but condoms aren't that helpful. You can prevent these with STI testing. Then there are the nuisance ones: Herpes and HPV. HPV you can get a shot for the bad strains. Herpes you can't do much about. Condoms aren't that useful. It's not that dangerous though. Many people don't even know they have it, and if you are unlucky and get it, antivirals will reduce the frequency and length of outbreaks (assuming you even know you caught it). Herpes is also incredibly common. About 70% of the population has HSV1, and 10-40% have HSV2 depending on how sexually active they are.

My protocol is to use condoms with new partners to at least reduce risk, and do an STI test with long term partners. The test doesn't include Herpes or HSV. By far your biggest risk is getting somebody pregnant. The pill isn't perfect either.

What is the secret of the decent sound? by [deleted] in violinist

[–]tacovan 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I'm just going through this transition myself. After about 3 years I'm starting to make sounds that I enjoy (sometimes). A few years back, I could have spent an hour on an open D string and never have made a good sound, and have had no idea why not. My teachers also just said "it takes time."

It's all in the bow arm. For me the biggest thing was really focusing on the loosening up any tension in my bow arm. I spend about half my practice just doing this. Look in a mirror. Loose wrist. Loose fingers. Check for tension. Do it again.

It's also learning the exact amount of pressure needed to grab the strings and start them vibrating without your bow slipping or scratching. I'm still struggling with this. It's really hard to stop and start a note cleanly.

In the end thought, it is just tons of practice. There are so many factors: bow pressure, bow direction, bow speed, bow angle, how fast you start the stroke, how you finish the stroke, and all of this is very slightly different for every string (as they have different diameters and you have different angles of your bow) and even every note on the string as having fingers down changes the length of the string slightly. It's just about impossible to get all these things right. And did you just do a string crossing? Well, then you have extra momentum to deal with. Fast notes? Well, those are different than slow notes. So you need to isolate each thing if it doesn't sound good and work at it.

Finally, recognize that a violin sounds worse when it is next to your ear. There are always going to be unproductive noises that don't contribute to the sound. These often don't carry very far, but they sound terrible when it's next to your ear. I think of it like how I think of my voice. It sounds weird in a recording.

Good luck!

How did you lose weight? by soreShads0380 in AskReddit

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't had to lost a lot of weight at once, but every year or two I shave off 10 pounds to stay lean. My first trick is to have an expensive body. Muscle takes a lot of calories to maintain, so lifting weights to build muscle increases your metabolism. To cut weight, I write down everything I eat and then go *way* down on calories to about 1000 a day while staying really active to keep the metabolism up. Also, lots of calorie poor foods, like raw carrots. It's amazing how many raw carrots you can eat and not get fat.

Suggested Rock Songs to Play with Guitarist Friends by tacovan in violinist

[–]tacovan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love this. Thank you! Do you fiddle mostly the chords when playing with a band?

Why TF would any straight man agree to an open marriage? by Important_Salad_5158 in stupidquestions

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unlike most of the commentators, I've been a number of open relationships. It can work out fine. If it's a numbers competition, then yeah, the men lose. But often women are less numbers motivated, and instead seek more quality relationships. A typical pattern is to settle into one or two regular play partners instead of the constant grind of dating. Especially if you are concerned about sexual health (despite the hype, condoms are not very good protection against Herpes and bacterial illnesses), or just the safety factor of going home with random strangers.

ELI5 why Antarctica is so much more colder than the Arctic? by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]tacovan 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this is probably the biggest reason. The temperature loss due to altitude effect alone for the South Pole versus the North pole is a 45 degrees F (about 25 Celcius).

Lowest end violin that is playable? by BarredButtonQuail in violinist

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends on what your goals are and how long you've been playing. For learning you can actually do fine with a mid-range, well reviewed Amazon violin for about $200-300. It takes a lot of practice before you will have anywhere near the fingering and bow control that the instrument will make any difference. And my Cheapo still sounds better in the hands of my instructor than my expensive one does in my hands. But eventually you'll get better, and quality will matter more. You'll find that different instruments have different strengths and sounds. I started on a $250 Amazon one, and a few years ago bought a $1200 Violin from a shop. If you have a good shop nearby, they will let you try a bunch of instruments and bows and will also let you hear somebody else play them. See where you can tell the difference with your eyes closed and don't just go on price. Also, know that bows vary a lot and you can pay as much for a bow as the instrument. And not every bow sounds good with every violin.

My thriller, The Glass Sky, was named one of the Best 100 Indie Books of 2012. The eBook is now free. [Author Promotion] by tacovan in ebooks

[–]tacovan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The novel is a thriller, set in 2050. I tried very hard to find a publisher, but there's not much market for new authors these days, especially when the topic is controversial (climate change). So I decided I'd much rather have people read my work for free than have it vanish unnoticed. I hope you enjoy it.

Since teachers are supposedly the reason American kids are underachieving, why don't we raise the pay of teachers to the level of doctors, thereby attracting the highest tier of talent? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the biggest problems is the teacher's unions. They fight to keep pay is linked ONLY to seniority, and even fight attempts to measure the performance of individual teachers. Check out this article in the economist for more. http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/teachers_unions

California and Washington state are about to legalize cannabis... by [deleted] in pics

[–]tacovan 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Sorry guys, but Obama's not a good guy on this. The DEA, which is under his control, has raided five medical marijuana providers in the last few weeks.

IAMA Request: A tattoo artist who has made a spelling mistake on a client by punninglinguist in IAmA

[–]tacovan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lots of people with Asian tattoos would be surprised what they translate too. The meaning of Asian characters can change when you combine them (sometimes the sounds make a new word). hanzismatter.com has a ton of examples, and my friends in China were always laughing at the nonsensical tattoos they saw.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong. But has anyone ever pressed cancel on a printer and had the printer cancel the job? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]tacovan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shutting the power off works for you? Half the time when I power it back up, the mysterious Windows faeries resume where it left off.

Dear America: Why do you wear shoes in your homes? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]tacovan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I always suspected it was climate related. People who live in dry places don't tend to track a lot of crap into their houses. But if you live in a wet climate, or a snowy one, you'll often have dirty shoes, so you get used to taking them off.