David Garrett: World's Fastest Violin Player

[Bernie Daniel]

Here David breaks his own world record and plays the "Flight of the Bumblebee" in just over 1 minute and 5 seconds.

Somewhere else I read that this amounts to just over 13 notes per second which seems to me to equate to ~780 bpm (is that right?).

To add some mandolin content how fast do you think this could be played on the mandolin?

I have seen "Flight" played at 320 bpm on an electric guitar. But I can not say it is an equivalent performance because for David Garrett's effort Guinness world record rules require that the sound track has to be analyzed to assure that every note of the piece has been played and played correctly!

I don't think even Kenny Baker could do it this fast eh?

[mrmando]

Somewhere else I read that this amounts to just over 13 notes per second which seems to me to equate to ~780 bpm (is that right?).

No, that would be 195 bpm, since the piece is notated with 16th notes in 2/4 time.

I'm not sure what the point of this is ... tempo is just one aspect of interpreting a piece of music, and should be balanced with other considerations in a way that best presents the intent of both the composer and the performer. Playing AFAP is just showing off.

[Dan Cole]

My wife has a CD of his where he plays a bluegrass/fiddle tune. It sounded exactly like I would expect from a violinist....... too perfect. It completely lacked the raw something of a great fiddler like Vasser or Baker.

Violin players aren't necessarily fiddlers and vice versa. IMHO.

[Bernie Daniel]

No, that would be 195 bpm, since the piece is notated with 16th notes in 2/4 time.

I'm not sure what the point of this is ... tempo is just one aspect of interpreting a piece of music, and should be balanced with other considerations in a way that best presents the intent of both the composer and the performer. Playing AFAP is just showing off.

Thanks for the clarification on bpm. I guess bpm in the absence of the time is kind of meaningless -- I think I knew that once.

So how many notes was he playing per second then? I thinking now that the statement he was playing 13 notes/second, made on another account of this, was erroneous in that case? It seemed specious to me at the time but it was the Guinness record folks who made the claim.

As to what the point of this video is -- it is exactly as stated -- to break the record.

As to just showing off -- I would say yes you are right but so what? It harms nothing does it? No claim was made as to its being the finest presentation ever. Furthermore it is entertainment

David Garrett IS a world class violin player and owns at least one Strad (he might have two now).

The world is not a glass half empty is it?

[Bernie Daniel]

....Violin players aren't necessarily fiddlers and vice versa. IMHO.

I am sure most would agree with that including probably Garrett -- but this is about playing a complex classical piece as fast as possible. The avatar is perfect.

[mrmando]

Uh, 13 notes per second = 780 notes per minute, divided by 4 notes per beat = 195 beats per minute.

I haven't time to count the individual notes in "Bumblebee" and divide by the time it took to play it, but fortunately there are simpler and more accurate ways to calculate these things. Coincidentally, didn't Ronnie McCoury claim that 13 notes per second was the speed of Bill Monroe's tremolo?

Conveniently, "Bumblebee" has exactly 100 bars of two beats each. So, presuming a steady tempo, 100 bars x 2 beats per bar divided by 1.08333 minutes = 184.6 bpm. Also, if it takes 65 seconds to play 100 bars, then each bar is 0.65 seconds long. Most of the bars have eight 16th notes in them, and 8 divided by 0.65 = 12.3 nps. So, just a hair slower than reported.

The world is not a glass but a crucible, significantly less than half full of some ingredients and significantly more than half full of others.

[Bernie Daniel]

Thanks for the clarification -- I've never thought much about the relationship between bpm and notes played until now. I thought about tracking down the number of measures in "Flight OTB" but had not gotten around to it.

The comment about Monroe's tremolo being 13 notes/sec. Interesting. Do you happen to recall where/when McCoury made the claim? It would be worth tracking down to see if it was an estimate or an actual measurement of some kind.

That is very fast picking of course and I wonder then what McCoury could do on his tremolo as he is considered to have great hand speed.

I expect that being able to tremolo at 13 picks per second would not necessarily mean the Monroe could have (I doubt he knew the piece anyway) picked it at that rate. I'm curious to know what it could be done on mandolin.

Isn't crucible just a fancy name for a bowl?
If so I consider this case to be a bowl half full.

[billhay4]

How long would it take him to play the "Minute Waltz"?
Bill

[mrmando]

The comment about Monroe's tremolo being 13 notes/sec. Interesting. Do you happen to recall where/when McCoury made the claim? It would be worth tracking down to see if it was an estimate or an actual measurement of some kind.

Pretty sure I read it on Mandolin Cafe. So it must be true.

That is very fast picking of course and I wonder then what McCoury could do on his tremolo as he is considered to have great hand speed.

Well, the context was about playing like Bill, as it so often is. I think the point being made was that even if you can play a faster tremolo, you should try to match Bill's tremolo speed if you want to sound like Bill.

I expect that being able to tremolo at 13 picks per second would not necessarily mean the Monroe could have (I doubt he knew the piece anyway) picked it at that rate. I'm curious to know what it could be done on mandolin.

It's a matter of left-right hand coordination, of course, but I'd assume most mandolinists can tremolo a good deal faster than they can play individually fingered notes. For speed I'd look at four people: Skaggs, Thile, Simon Mayor and Evan Marshall. I'm sure the last three have worked on "Bumblebee" to some extent, but I don't know if any of them have made a habit of performing it. I doubt they'd quite be able to match the 184.6 bpm mark.

[Bernie Daniel]

Pretty sure I read it on Mandolin Cafe. So it must be true...It's a matter of left-right hand coordination, of course, but I'd assume most mandolinists can tremolo a good deal faster than they can play individually fingered notes. For speed I'd look at four people: Skaggs, Thile, Simon Mayor and Evan Marshall. I'm sure the last three have worked on "Bumblebee" to some extent, but I don't know if any of them have made a habit of performing it. I doubt they'd quite be able to match the 184.6 bpm mark.

Exactly! It must be true.
At to speed -- yes I'm thinking that it would be hard, at the limit, to pick passage as fast as it could be bowed. There was a long string that seemed to come down, eventually, to this conclusion about a year ago.

[Bernie Daniel]

Here is a guitar player that can play the FOTB pretty fast as well! Fast forward to 2:59 to avoid all the PR and filler materials. He plays it at a number of speeds from 170 to 320 bpm.

[Bernie Daniel]

And here is a domra player that can pick at light speed.

[mrmando]

Well, compared to the shred guitarist, David Garrett's interpretation is a paragon of warmth and sensitivity. On the other hand, you could say that a bumblebee is something most people would prefer to keep their distance from, and so is a shred guitar solo at 320 bpm.

I wondered if there was a good domra recording out there. Mike Lampert tells me he has learned a ton about technique from studying with a domra player who likes to take everything really fast.

[Mandoviol]

I don't know about that guitarist...the skeptic in me wants to say that they sped up the recording (film) for the 300/320 BPM sections; it looks like the compere's movements are a little pixelated. If it isn't doctored, that's insanely fast.

[Tom Koons]

Don't know how fast he is, but Drew Emmitt's mando is pretty darn slick here IMHO.....oh and his fiddle playin' later on aint too shabby either

[JonZ]

Ron "Typewriter" Mingo puts them all to shame. He's fast and has style to burn!

[Ivan Kelsall]

"Speed Kills" ! (music)
Ivan

[Ron McMillan]

I seem to remember Kenny G held a world record for the longest-held single note. That didn't make him a great sax player, either.

[journeybear]

... you could say that a bumblebee is something most people would prefer to keep their distance from ...

Here is a tumbling bumblebee who I wish were a lot closer to us ...

[Bernie Daniel]

Don't know how fast he is, but Drew Emmitt's mando is pretty darn slick here IMHO.....oh and his fiddle playin' later on aint too shabby either

Yeah that's awesome -- I loved those triplet chop chords!

[Bernie Daniel]

Ron "Typewriter" Mingo puts them all to shame. He's fast and has style to burn!

Very cool video -- a flash back to better days.

OT -- I recall I hired a women to type my Ph.D. dissertation in 1974 -- she claimed to be able to type 86 words per minute on a IBM Selectric with no mistakes -- but she had a lot of problems with things like oxo-Osmiun(VI) complexes and ethylenediamimetretraacetic acid. In 1974 photocopies were not allowed for dissertations -- in 1975 they were. I did not know about Ron Mingo!!

[Tom Koons]

Yeah that's awesome -- I loved those triplet chop chords!

Being a beginner I'm not 100% sure what that is, but I am guessing it's when he makes that percussive sound starting at 2:04? That song puts me in a good mood no matter how I'm feeling. He is the reason I decided to finally make the plunge into mandolin. I have been listening to Salmon since 95 when I saw them in concert first and I remember thinking "that guy is taking the instrument to a whole other level". I saw him a few weeks ago with his own band and talked to him after the show and told him about 95 and how I had wanted to take up playing someday. He told me "someday isn't on any calendar and 16 years is too long to procrastinate". Less than 10 days later I bought my Kentucky and he was right, 16 years was too long.

[downtowndalebrown]

58.515 seconds.

[Bernie Daniel]

Very cool find. I missed that one.
Its amazing to me how much the piece actually sounds like a bee with played at that speed.

Just another interesting tidbit -- a real bumblebee (and it varies by species -- there are many) has a wing speed of 130 -240 beats per second. I guess in this case a bee wing beat (up-down) would be best compared to notes per second on the violin? Or maybe on the mandolin the up stroke and the down stroke? Not sure what the best comparison might be.

In any case, the real bee wing is much faster than even these impressive violinst's fingers and bow. If you really want to be impressed some species of midges (and there are probably a thousand or so of them) have wing beat rates of 1000 - 1100 beats per second.

The humans have a way to go --but I'm not sure either the bees or midges stay on pitch.

[Bernie Daniel]

OK I'll one up you.

Here is Alex Depue at 58 seconds flat!