Frequently Asked Questions

QUARTET: 2 violins, viola, and cello.

TRIO: 2 violins and cello

STRING DUO: violin and cello

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Hire the largest ensemble you can afford. Some guidelines:

• The more instruments you have, the fuller the sound will be and the more music choices you will have.

• Whether you have 50 guests or 500, a string group can sound just as elegant in either case. An event can be small and intimate or grand and bold. The atmosphere projected depends on the event space, not the size of the ensemble.
  
  
• A violin-piano (or keyboard) duo gives you a full sound with only two instruments and is a great low-budget alternative to a full quartet. Our manager and her husband perform as a violin-piano duo called the Obsidian Duo.

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Anything you want:  weddings, commitment ceremonies, a christening party, corporate dinners, holiday parties, and church concerts.

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Can you provide me with referrals from past clients?

We would be happy to provide you with referrals. You can also read reviews from past clients on our Wedding Wire page.

Outdoors on cooler days or indoors (air-conditioned):  Men wear tuxedos.  Women wear all black.

Warmer days that are either outdoors or indoors with no air-conditioning:  Men wear business-type shirt, slacks, and tie.  Women wear all black.

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For Weddings:  We arrive one  hour ahead in order to set up, warm up, and work out details with the wedding director.

For other types of events:  We arrive 30 minutes before our scheduled performance time.

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If one of our regular musicians is unavailable for an event, a comparable substitute will be contracted to play in his/her place.  We know several professional musicians we can call on for this purpose.

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Since we are occasionally booked by agents, we have agreed not to post our rates on this site.  You can fill out our Quote Request Form or send an e-mail to get rate information.  Our manager does her best to send replies within 24 hours.

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We require a deposit along with a signed contract.  The contract can be sent to you electronically (MS Word or PDF) for you to look over, and basically outlines date, time, location, special requests, and environmental conditions.  

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If you cancel 48 hours or more before the event, we keep your deposit but there are no additional fees.  If you cancel within 48 hours of the event, you are responsible for the entire balance.

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We only play outdoors during these periods:

• Between Labor Day weekend and November 1
• Between March 15 and Memorial Day weekend

We have a few provisions outlined in our contract for outdoor playing, mostly for the protection of our instruments which are sensitive to changes in temperature (like direct sunlight) and humidity.

• Our instruments cannot be exposed to any amount of water (rain, drizzle, spray from a fountain).  Note that tents are not always adequate protection in medium to heavy rain; many of them have tiny holes that let water through or rain blows in from the sides.
• We cannot be in direct sunlight.  Sunlight can damage instruments (rapid warming can cause them to crack), cause them to go out of tune very quickly, and sunlight in our eyes prevents us from reading our music. If there is no adequate shade at the venue, let the quartet manager know and we will bring a small canopy.  Note that trees are not always an ideal source of shade (falling sap, insects, uneven ground underneath, position of the sun).
• Temperature must be between 65 and 90.  Extreme temperatures are very hard on our 150+ year-old wooden instruments and can cause them to crack.  Cold temperatures make it impossible for our fingers to move. Temperatures peak at 2:00 - 3:00 PM and drop only a couple of degrees by sunset.  In the summer, high heat usually lasts until sunset (around 9:00 PM).   In the winter, it gets considerably colder past sunset (around 5:30 PM)

Unfortunately even "weatherproof" tents are not always enough protection against the elements.  Some tents are moved around a lot and tend to develop tiny holes over time.  They sometimes let in a mist of water which our instruments cannot tolerate.  In a downpour, water soaks through eventually. Also, tents offer little or no protection in extreme temperatures.  Tents can be pretty expensive to rent; you may find that a backup location inside a permanent structure is about the same amount.

As with outdoors, sunlight can damage instruments (rapid warming can cause them to crack), cause them to go out of tune very quickly, and sunlight in our eyes prevents us from reading our music.   The quartet should be placed out of the way of direct sun patches.

The ideal space is approx. a 10 x 10 ft. square with level flooring.   Space and shape can affect performance.  We need to sit close together so we can see and hear one another easily.

Chairs provided by the venue should be armless.  If none are available, let the quartet manager know so we can bring our own.  We need to be seated in armless chairs to accommodate bowing.

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We usually play a mix of classical and popular music.  If you have a preference for one or the other, just let us know.

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Special song requests  may incur additional charges for the arrangement.  Please see the Special Requests page for details.

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Yes.  We are always looking to expand our repertoire to accommodate clients, especially when it's music we could easily use again.  Our current music library includes a some traditional Jewish wedding pieces and some Irish fiddle tunes. 

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Absolutely.  We have a complete collection of traditional Christmas tunes.

No.  Every wedding ceremony requires about the same amount of performance time and preparation, despite its length.

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Below are parts of a wedding that clients typically select music for:

• Family seating / Mothers' entrance or unity candle lighting (if applicable)
• Attendants' Processional (groom and officiant, groomsmen, bridesmaids, flower girl(s), etc.)
• Bride's Processional
• Interlude / Unity Candle lighting (Optional)
• Other music in the middle of the ceremony that you need (e.g. communion)
• Recessional

The quartet prefers to select the pieces for the Prelude (about 5 pieces before the ceremony starts) and a piece for the Postlude.  However, if you have requests, we will honor them as much as we can.

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We are used to adjusting the length of the processional pieces as we play by watching everyone come down the aisle.  We pencil in possible stopping points and repeats so we can easily adjust the length as closely to the processional as possible.

Unfortunately it is impossible for us to attend Friday wedding rehearsal.  Because we have day jobs that scatter us all over the city, we have found that we cannot leave early enough to attend. If your rehearsal is on a weekend, we can attend, but charge an additional fee for our time.

As an alternative, we will make you a CD of your ceremony music selections to take to your rehearsal.  This gives everyone in the wedding party the opportunity to hear the pieces and/or practice walking through with them.

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Yes, as long as the piece selected is conducive to having a trumpet part added.  For example, Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary (a.k.a. The Prince of Denmark) and Handel's Hornpipe (from Water Music) are both excellent pieces for adding trumpet.

We have worked with trumpet players before and have connections with some talented ones in the Atlanta area, and would be glad to book one for you.  When inquiring about rates, please be sure to mention that you'd like a trumpet also so our manager can give you an accurate quote.

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Yes, and we have done so in the past for other clients.  Just a few notes on the specifics:

• We need at least two months notice to plan accompaniment.  This gives us time to obtain parts and communicate / rehearse with the soloist.
  
• If the accompaniment is not already in our library or cannot be obtained in quartet configuration, there may be an arrangement fee if a piano accompaniment has to be rewritten for the quartet.  Please refer to the Special Requests page for details.
  
• For out of town soloists, we can create an MP3 audio file and send it a few weeks ahead so that he/she may practice with it.  Once the soloist arrives in town, we will rehearse just before the ceremony.

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No.  A rehearsal benefits us as much as the soloist.  The only stipulation is that they rehearse at our location or meet with us well before the event begins.

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20 minutes is our standard prelude length.  
If the situation warrants a longer prelude, additional pieces will be performed at our discretion. Maximum prelude length performed is 30 minutes.

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We understand that weddings start late for various reasons - late arriving guests, minor mishaps, and so on.  We are willing to continue our prelude up to an additional 10 minutes, which is typically enough time to compensate for a late start.

Occasionally we book more than one event in a single day.  Because of our obligation to other clients, we cannot stay longer than the time specified on your contract.  If we have an event following yours, we will advise you and/or your wedding director of our obligations.   

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No.  We realize that most people are paying per person for their receptions, and we don't wish to add to their expense. 

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