The best violinists in Melbourne
Two unrelated jobs share this heading, and mixing them up is how Melbourne couples end up disappointed by a booking that went perfectly well. There is the player who sits with a music stand and carries a ceremony without a power lead anywhere. And there is the player with an electric instrument standing beside a DJ at midnight, improvising over house tracks while the floor moves.
Melbourne adds its own complication. Bluestone churches and warehouse conversions in the inner north do very different things to a single bowed instrument, and a room with a long reverb flatters an acoustic player while a hard-surfaced warehouse turns an amplified one into mush. Name the venue, not just the suburb, when you write your first message.
Top picks in Melbourne
Top picks are the acts in this category in Melbourne, without a review, rating or premium ranking: all these sort keys are tied.
Questions people ask about violinists in Melbourne
How much does a violinist cost in Melbourne?
Two things move it more than skill does: how long the player is on site, and whether the booking needs power, an amp and a sound check. A short acoustic ceremony is the cheapest way to get a live instrument into a Melbourne wedding at all, while a set played over a DJ carries gear and late hours. Learning three of your own songs is hours of unseen work as well, so raise it when you enquire rather than a fortnight out.
None of these players show a review. What should I judge instead?
Footage of the exact setup you want, with the sound up. An acoustic ceremony clip proves nothing about whether somebody can hold a line over a dance track, and the reverse is just as true. Then ask what they played most recently and where, because a player fresh from function work reads a Melbourne room differently from one who mostly does studio sessions.
Can a violinist play with our DJ at the reception?
It has become a normal request at Melbourne receptions and done properly it lifts a floor that was already going. Three things have to be settled in advance: the player needs a monitor feed they can hear over a loud room, the two of them have to agree which songs get the violin, and one of them has to run the sound check rather than assuming the other will. Hire them together if that option exists, and if it does not, put them in touch by email a month out.
Is a solo violin loud enough for an outdoor Melbourne ceremony?
For a small group seated close together in a sheltered courtyard, yes, and it sounds better unamplified than through a cheap speaker. Out on an open lawn with a breeze up, a single violin disappears well before the back row. Ask what the player carries for outdoor work and whether it runs on a battery, because plenty of the good ceremony spots around here have no power within cable reach.
Booking tips
Get the violinist and the DJ talking weeks out
If you want the violin over a DJ set, one email between the two of them settles the tracks, the cues and how the player hears the music. Leave that to the evening itself and you will have paid for a violinist your guests never actually hear.
This is a short local list, so ask several at once
The Melbourne pool for this instrument is smaller than the city's size suggests, and the same players get asked for the same Saturdays. Send one brief to everyone who looks close rather than waiting on replies one at a time.
Plan for the weather turning, not for it holding
An unamplified player can be under cover in a minute. A player with an amp, a stand and a power lead cannot. Decide which setup you have booked before you build an outdoor ceremony around a Melbourne forecast.