My new baroque-style bows arrived yesterday, and they're a lot of fun to play. They're a little light, and that seems to lead to a bit of bounce, so I'll have to put some effort into learning how to control them. I think I'll stick to my black bow for most performances still, but these will be my all-purpose period bows. The maker did cheat - on bows of this period, the frog clips into place, held by the bow tension. This means that short of rehairing it with shorter or longer hair, a proper baroque bow has only one level of tension. Few period musicians crave authenticity to this degree, so the screw mechanism of a modern French bow is included, though concealed to look like a period bow endpiece.

My first gut E string, broke yesterday evening, spontaneously while the violin was in its stand. (I was alerted to this fact by a loud sudden 'twang' from downstairs, and then the hurried scurrying of claws on hardwood as my two cats desperately ran upstairs to hide under the bed.) The new one's taking a while to settle in, and this is a bit of a learning experience. The Pirastro Chorda's a slightly thicker gauge than what the violin came with, so it might hold up to modern intonation better. But I'm still keeping it at A = 435 Hz for most uses.

I'm still gearing up for the Fiddle Club's spring dance, and learning the tune sets. There are some good tunes here, many of which I'll definitely be adding to my repertoire.

On the Irish fiddle front, I'm going to spend the next week taking a serious look at trying out variations, something I've let slide, a fact Philippe is clearly frustrated with.

My pipe instructor has me working on my 3rd piobaireachd, Struan Robertson's Salute. It's a nice tune, very different from the two laments I know. It's also my first formal introduction to the Braebach form, and with only Taoluath & Crunluath, singling and doubling variations, which are all very similar in formulation, it shouldn't be hard to memorize.