OAYO Youth Symphony: Side-by-Side Concert with the Omaha Symphony

OAYO Youth Symphony and Omaha Symphony Side-by-Side Concert
OAYO Youth Philharmonic
Holland Performing Arts Center
Sunday, May 04 @7:00pm, 2008

The final OAYO season concert is performed at the Holland Performing Arts Center. The Youth Symphony joins forces with the Omaha Symphony to present their final concert of the season. The performance features the Pines of Rome by Respighi, the Academic Festival Overture by Brahms and Bernstein’s Overture to Candide. Don't miss this exciting event!

Also, come hear the OAYO Youth Philharmonic as the final event of the Omaha Performing Arts' "Day of the Arts", a free celebration of the arts in Omaha at the Holland Performing Arts Center

NS Design: Arrival of the new Ned Steinberger Electric Cello

The long awaited electric instruments finally arrived at the store: A 5 stringed electric violin and a 4 stringed electric cello. We haven't had a whole lot of success selling electric violins in the past (i.e., Ted Brewer Violins) but that may change with our new addition of Ned Steinberger instruments.

Bask in the glow of the CR4 Ned Steinberger Electric Cello.

We first stopped by our local electronics store Rainbow Music to get ourselves an SWR California Blonde amp. We got the amp system hooked up and Alex had to rock out on his new toy!

Alex was impressed (stick to the violin though, Alex). When I first held it to play, I was anticipating a massive bulky feel and visual confusion where the body of a traditional cello would rest on me. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised at how light the instrument felt. The cello was carved from beautiful Croatian maple and had a very light head stock. The cognitive dissonance wasn't an issue, thanks to a small metal pin placed in the upper back of the instrument. This helped simulate the division between a neck and body.

Whenever a new instrument comes into the shop, I have to document it with a paper trail and a personal photo shoot downstairs. NS Design actually had their own photos for many of the instruments. However, I had Matt stand in as a model to show how the gig bags worked. Matt wasn't too fond of his back side.

Weird String Instruments: That Crazy Bettie Paige Double Bass ;)

I always love it when we have non-classical musicians stopping by our shop. The other day, we had a a double bassist that dropped off his instrument for a new bridge. He was in a rock-a-billy band with a very interesting bass. He painted the bass in a mixture of black, green, with a gold finger board white tape decal.
At first I thought the strings were made of plastic. I had crazy thoughts of skipping jump rope in the basement with them but a closer look revealed these were Kevlar strings. Wow!

The bass player told us that he was having problems with his bridge standing up straight. One day, the bridge snapped. In his attempt to mend the situation, he nailed the pieces back together and held the pins in place with electrical tape. Alas, he told us, it just didn't sound the same:)

And here's the kicker...The back features a "pin-up" of a model resembling Bettie Page. Oh yea, you rebel double bassists! After we finished the repair job, he did mention about possible getting a new head stock with a skull from King Double Basses.