When you 'like' before the video starts! Edit: Did NOT disappoint. What an lovely, fun, friendly, inspiring interview. 36:58 Was NOT expecting this advice, Ray. Yet, it gets overlooked, as you say! "SPEND A LOT OF TIME INVESTING IN YOURSELF" I could add that your violin will respond accordingly. 😊 Thanks, Olaf, for this. Little did I know, 3 years ago, that a violin would change my life... Forever grateful... and one day my BAE and I will make beautiful music.

Ray is so generous with his time and insights. Thanks Olaf for letting us know him a bit more.

Funny how Ray's Aussie accent keeps on getting stronger as the conversation goes on 😊 Olaf thank you for this thougthful interview!

@stevefranklin9176

8 ай бұрын

Yeah I noticed this too, was refreshing and nostalgic as I’m in Germany now.

@huitrecouture

2 ай бұрын

Will you people EVER stop with the accent comments.

So lovely to hear the Tchaikovsky concerto snippets, I wish you had played the whole thing in Olaf's shop, Ray! 🤩But so instructive to hear you fellows talk about violins. 🥰 Such a treat to see Heifetz' Dolphin Stradivarius, too! 😊

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

Yes I was quietly thinking... Keep playing... Don't stop 🥰

Hi Olaf, great interview of Ray Chen, thanks for sharing. It was a special pleasure seeing that original Strad.

Man I've stopped watching Olaf's videos a year ago and i definitely don't know why. He's such a good man and makes such genuine and good vids :)

Thank you both, Olaf & Ray, for sharing your valuable time, knowledge, wisdom, and experiences with your viewers. So cool! 😎😎 Sending hugs of hope, encouragement, and strength! 🫂💕💯😇 Take care. 🤗🤗

@elfin1218

10 ай бұрын

Ray is so very personable and it does come across when he is playing. As is so often said it's not just can you play the notes but can you play with intention and convey emotion. Thanks Olaf for this very informative talk with Ray.

I would LOVE to see Ray’s hat collection! I’ve done something similar by creating little rugs in different styles. Stand on the Mozart rug, and absorb the Mozart style, mannerisms, etc. it’s kind of like the floor under the rug is the basic skill set to play anything. Then the rugs contain whatever knowledge is needed to customize the pieces. I’ve found it helpful.

Drinking game: drink every time Olaf says "yeah"

@salossi

13 күн бұрын

Hahaha

Ray Chen is one of my favorite artists I would listen to almost emulate for playing. It was such a delightful interview hearing feedback from both of you! ^o^ Hope you keep going for playing Ray! Thank you for being an inspiration for players!

Great questions! Thank you for sharing this interview. The ease you have with each other is heartwarming.

Hi Mr. Olaf, thank you for this great interview. As a non-musician, it is very inspirational to learn the outstanding musicians’ practicing lifestyles. More you enjoy, more you practice. A good cycle in the life.

What a wholesome interview! Thank you❤

@wakingtheworld

11 ай бұрын

THAT sums it up!

Lovely to hear Ray talk with an Australian accent !

Ray, no need to feel bad about not liking the weather in Germany. We think so as well, we just resigned from complaining. But it does explain a lot! Bach is so difficult, so his students wouldn't finish early, go outside to play in the mud and catch some deadly virus or worse. Nietzsche had his mood ruined by constant rain and cold. Even our national poet Goethe had to flee to Italy for a while to get some bright ideas to write about. But on the positive side - it does make vacations abroad more memorable...!

Thank you for amazing interview. Very nice to watch!

Great Video Olaf, and Ray thanks so much for letting even a layman/listener of 80yrs. share in your insight to many aspects of your craft//artistry. I often wondered how many Violin makers take into consideration the difference in the size of the hands going on an instrument. and what if any modifications they make is it per customer or are there just plans old standards and they have to live with them? I cn see custom fitting an instrument to the individual's physical make-up. makes sense to me. but then again I"m only a neophytein the game. thanks for sharing. ECF

@wakingtheworld

11 ай бұрын

And as I've learnt watching Olaf's vids, a bridge can be cut to accommodate 'fatter' or 'thin' fingers by bringing the strings closer together or further apart. Adjustments have to be made at the 'nut' end as well. Olaf is my violin education. Be many a year (decade?) before I need to rehair every few weeks though!!

RAYYYYYYYY!!!!!! 😍😍😍😍

Ray is so cheerful, he seems unreal...a great violinist though

“Leveling each time!” Love Ray!

I think when speaking to someone who constantly says yep and stuff. It stifles the flow of conversation. It would be like clapping for every few notes a musician plays. A gentle nod of the head is much better.

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

I noticed that too... It's just me being me... Hopefully I will learn to keep quieter as I get better 🙂

Love your content. Love the very talented celebrities you talk with.

Excellent conversation ! Thanks for sharing!!

Hallo Olaf, herzliche Grüße aus Deutschland. Ich verfolge deinen Kanal schon eine ganze Weile und es ist jedes mal erfrischend, wenn du ein paar Worte auf deutsch sprichst. :-) Vielleicht ist es für dich auch erfrischend, mal einen Kommentar auf deutsch zu lesen. ;-) Ich habe im letzten Jahr damit begonnen, die Geige zu lernen, (mit 41 Jahren) inspiriert von zwei bekannten KZreadrn aus Australien, die dir sehr bekannt sein dürften. :-D So bin ich auch auf deine Videos aufmerksam geworden, bei denen ich sehr viel über das Instrument gelernt habe und die mich schon vor vielen Fehlern bewahrt haben. Danke für dein Engagement und deine Videos und viele Grüße aus dem fernen Berlin!

Ray back to his Aussie accent

@GeorgeMoore-wi3is

11 ай бұрын

Hi adelaide🌹 How are you doing?

Great content!

I was so distracted at the very beginning when Olaf said: "Welcome to *Violin Shop Conversation*"... I heard "Welcome to *Violin-chan* Conversation" 😅

Very Nice

Did anyone notice that Olaf tried hard to avoid touching Ray's violin?

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

Haha... The owners have pretty strict rules about that...

Nice conversation with Ray. One thing I’ve noticed in your conservations with him and others is that you tend to agree and talk through peoples conversations with saying yes and yeah a good bit. My suggestion is to tone it down a bit. Otherwise great content and really enjoy your videos!

@stevefranklin9176

8 ай бұрын

Just an Australian thing.

My new drinking game is to take a shot every time Olaf says "yeah yeah"

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

That'll make for a fun night 😜 Yep... Inexperience+nerves make an interesting mix. I'll get better... mainly annoyed with myself because it takes away from what Ray is saying

@stevefranklin9176

8 ай бұрын

It’s a lot harder to be in front of a camera than a lot of folk think Olaf. Just give it time and review as you go along. We love your interviews. And remember… Practice. Don’t stop. We’re with you buddy.

@teawithtams6596

Ай бұрын

how are you even alive right now?

wow🎉

So excited! Ray is coming to my local venue, the Palladium in Carmel, IN!

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

2 ай бұрын

How wonderful! Enjoy 😍

@mattgreven7615

2 ай бұрын

Pisser. I’ll be at rehearsal for Verdi requiem-45 min away, bc ray has the hall that night!

P.S. As for the weather in Germany, I spent two years there in the early 1960's stationed in Giessen. and traversed the whole country, and the winters there seem mild to me coming form New England area, in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. I rather enoyed them compared to what I grew up with home. ECF

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

Agreed... It's not that bad.. It's just that we get so many glorious days in Brisbane... Especially in winter

Ray Chen ROCKS! (Just sayin)

Ray: exists Olaf: yeah, yeah yeah absolutly m8

Is it just me, or is Ray’s accent more prominent here than on his own channel? 🤣

@lizzie7654

10 ай бұрын

As an Australian living overseas my Australian accent softens and I tend to subconsciously change / adapt to the language around me (it's not in purpose it just happens). However when I talk to an Aussie (even on the phone) it immediately goes back to normal 😅 ... So it's entirely possible that his accent shifts a bit.

@maxheadroom1506

3 ай бұрын

This happens with all accents this has to do with people trying to please each other in conversation (learned this at a linguistics class) but I would hardly call his accent softening this is a full change. I never knew he was Aussi until this interview. It is like Aussie actors who make their aussi accent disappear in movies but they use language coaches. Daniel Craig makes his aussi accent turn Engligh in James Bond or Nicole Kidman who makes her accent turn American in her films. @@lizzie7654

you need a valve Outlet to let off nervous energy , some opera singers would do Fusion of Classic and Punk Rock , on Violin as you're burning through the atmosphere you can finally start soaring like an eagle into the most beautiful sounds .. You guys are like co-razy funny😁

Good questions Olaf.

@GeorgeMoore-wi3is

11 ай бұрын

Hi Susan🌹 How are you doing?

19:30 Ray Chen takes out the violin he has on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation, the Dolphin Strad, that Jascha Heifetz used to play.

Ray sounds so Aussie here 😂.

I have a question: Is it true that the color of Guarneri's violins is darker? If anyone knows the answer please let me know

How does Ray go back and forth between an American and Australian accent?

I've heard that all strads played today have been altered. That originals had shorter necks and fingerboards. Is that true?

@ErikWilliamsviolin

11 ай бұрын

Yes.

@lotsabirds

11 ай бұрын

@@ErikWilliamsviolin Thank you!

The violin industry. Baahhh...

What country are you in olaf?

@dadrillplayssmallcello

11 ай бұрын

australia

Yeah. 😂

How du i tune a barok violin? I only know 414hz what are The other strings tune in hz

I wish Olaf would simply be quiet when his guest is speaking. Let him speak. No need for all the yeah yeah yeahs.

@WilliamJohnston

11 ай бұрын

Agreed, i suspect that’s a learning curve for anyone new to conducting an interview, by all means nod for approval, but while the ‘yeahs’ might seem right in a conversational setting, for the interview, let the person be heard 👍

@sara505sings

11 ай бұрын

@@WilliamJohnston definitely a learned skill, and I only mention it to be of help because I noticed the same issue in another of Olaf's interviews. It partly comes from enthusiasm, I'm sure, and maybe some nerves.

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

It's just me being me... And maybe slightly nervous... Interviewing is a learned skill... I've definitely noted it and will work on it...

@sara505sings

11 ай бұрын

@@AskOlaftheViolinmaker I completely understand. ♥️

@stevefranklin9176

8 ай бұрын

@@AskOlaftheViolinmaker you notice Ray is not put off or pissed off… it’s just our way.

Really? The parent is supposed to be involved with the child student in Suzuki method? I guess I got gypped then because my teacher was teaching me by the Suzuki method (1964) but at home I was totally on my own. Then one day when my Mother told me to quit playing outside and come inside to practice the violin, she gave me an ultimatum (practice now or the violin goes away) and I quit. Oh well, I'm playing now. I think Olaf is 100% correct that it must be FUN! Fun is excellent "kindling" for a passion of music.

Ray... I'm a big fan of you both... As a, dermatologist I noticed the rash on your left neck... Does it bother you?

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

A lot of violinist have a mark there

@JustAnotherBuckyLover

11 ай бұрын

Ahh the violin hickey. A common side effect of 40 hours a day practising.

@aredesuyo

11 ай бұрын

I had one too until I quit lessons at age 14. It was gone in a year or so.

Olaf, to be honest, I have very mixed emotions about this interview. Ray gave great answers to your questions but the amount of times you said "yeah" during his answers was just way too much. I'm thinking it was probably anxiety but it made it difficult to watch and enjoy.

Either that’s a violin injury, or he has a hickey (love bite) on his neck… should have swapped positions and had Ray on the left.

soo, Ray puts on an American accent for his channel? weird

@DarthSagit

11 ай бұрын

His accent varies with where he is at

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

It's like his playing... He adapts to the piece/country... When I'm in England I'll suddenly start getting an English accent 🤣

@shreddershane240

11 ай бұрын

@@AskOlaftheViolinmaker yeah it just threw me off lol, I'm so used to hearing him speak differently on his channel. I've noticed my southern drawl come out around certain people too, so guilty myself

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

11 ай бұрын

@@shreddershane240 I think musicians are naturally good at listening and picking up accents

@reeser8

11 ай бұрын

In America there was a girl in my high school from South Africa who put on an American accent out of being self-conscious for being noticed for the accent all the time. She wanted to fit in. Ray was just a kid when he went to Curtis. I can imagine a kid that age wanting to do the same.

WOW Ray Chen with a full blown Aussi Accent. What does he do that it comes out on demand???? This accent non existent in all his other videos until he meets you Olaf. LOL

Ray is such a prototypical nice, talented and boring dude. And that's OK.

@orhbo0

2 ай бұрын

You mean he’s the typical Chinese who plays the violin & piano. 😂

@mellertid

2 ай бұрын

@@orhbo0 I must admit I don't really know many chinese, violinists (or other people for that matter) 🙂 you may be right.

Is there a reason why current violin makers can't build one that is equal to the century's old suspects?