Draft v0.6 · October 2026 · feedback welcome

Recording protocol

A short, standardised sequence that violinists can record themselves in the same way at different places – with two cameras, a microphone, a metronome and the sheet music below.

Part of the information for violin experts.

This is a draft. We are discussing the protocol with violinists and teachers. If something is unclear, too difficult or missing, please tell us: Healthy-Strings@matthias-bertsch.at.
Video: how to record standardised violin videosThe two-camera set-up with 30° and 90° views, microphone position, framing, synchronisation by clap and the procedure of the recording protocol.Watch on YouTube ↗

Sheet music

PDFPart 1 – Strictly in timeTechnical tasks with metronome at 60 beats per minute, about 2 minutes PDFPart 2 – Play musicMassenet, Mozart, Tchaikovsky – short excerpts, free timing

Camera and microphone setup

Two camera views of a seated violinist: on the left the camera at 30 degrees to the right front, on the right the camera at 90 degrees from the right side. A microphone on a boom stand is placed behind the head, near the left ear.
Standard recording perspectives: 30° right-oblique view and 90° right-side view. The 90° camera direction follows the extension of the line through the two sitting bones (ischial tuberosities).
  • Two cameras or smartphones on tripods: one at about 30° to the front right, one at 90° from the right side. They must not move during the recording – no zoom, no panning.
  • Everything in view: the whole body including the feet, the violin, the left arm and the whole bow, in both views.
  • Microphone on a stand behind the head, near the left ear. Without an external microphone, the phone sound is used.
  • Sit as in the orchestra on a chair without armrests.
  • One clear clap at the start, visible and audible in both cameras – it is used to synchronise the videos and the sound.
  • If possible: 1080p, a constant frame rate (60 fps recommended), steady light, a calm background.
Six violinists, faces blurred, each seated on the same chair with the microphone stand behind them, recorded from the same 30-degree camera position
Lucca test series, September 2026: the same setup with six violinists (30° view, faces blurred).

Part 1 – Strictly in time

Metronome at 60 beats per minute (quarter note = 60, one beat per second), 2/4 time. Count “1, 2” aloud before you start. A new task begins every few bars; the rests in between let you prepare. Part 1 takes 62 bars, about two minutes.

  1. Open E string, long note (mf)
  2. Two strings D–A détaché (orange)
  3. Two-string D–A détaché (mini banana)
  4. Four strings arpeggio legato (banana)
  5. Two-string D–A legato (lying eight)
  6. Dotted détaché bowing on one string, f (full bow speed)
  7. Staccato on one string (downbow sinus)
  8. Two-string D–A détaché, fingered (fingering, intonation)
  9. Four-string arpeggio, legato, fingered (fingered banana, intonation)
  10. Two-string D–A legato, fingered
  11. Whole-bow G major scale
  12. Vibrato on a long note
  13. Tremolo on a G major arpeggio (ff)

The words in brackets are the names of the bowing figures printed in the score.

Part 2 – Play music

Before each excerpt, take a breath and feel free with the timing – the metronome numbers in the score are only an option. Count “1, 2” in your own tempo one bar before you start.

  1. J. Massenet: Méditation from Thaïs
  2. W. A. Mozart: Violin Concerto in A major, K. 219
  3. P. I. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35

After the recording

Stop both cameras and the microphone. The two videos and the sound file belong together – please keep their original files unchanged.

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