OnLocation Multimedia in Cincinnati is producing the violin teaching the www.violinmasterclass.com Web site, created by Kurt Sassmannshaus, to be launched in September. It features violin students from the Starling String Project at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, who perform in the instructional video segments.

ON THE WEB

Here's a select list of violin-related Web sites: • www.violinonline.com: Basic written instruction on learning to play; a few instructional pictures, but no streaming video. • www.stringsmagazine.com: An industry magazine with an online forum and articles about famous musicians. • www.sharmusic.com: A Michigan dealer, specializing in student instruments, bows, cases, teaching videos, sheet music and supplies. • www.maestronet.com: dealer instrument listings; a bulletin board. • www.vsa.to: The Violin Society of America (mainly, the art of violin and bow making).

The Web site offers a palette of all the techniques a violinist - beginner, intermediate or advanced - might want to study, at a glance.

"We're using a lot of extreme close-ups," says director/producer Melissa Godoy, who also directed the Starling Chamber Orchestra's award-winning video, Classical Quest. "When you watch a violin concert, you never see this world, but we are showing the inner world of creation of sound of the violin. The hand is dancing like a bird in flight."

The video was filmed at Channel 48's studios and in recitals at Werner Recital Hall at CCM.

The production staff began filming a year ago. It's been tedious work; a three-minute segment covering one violin exercise took, on average, an hour to film.

"It's like watching three minutes of a violin lesson," says Sassmannshaus, who also wrote accompanying explanations that will pop up if the student clicks on "read more."

"The violin students are dressed in colorful clothing. We use production techniques to highlight the gorgeous violins and the hands," Godoy says. "It's just a gift to be able to hear them play, and to watch them play with such confidence and musicality. (Sassmannshaus) empowers his students to choose and to dream, and to use the technique creatively."

Users in developing countries who do not have the most advanced computer technology available will still be able to log on and have a rich experience.

"That was one of our project goals - to reach people in any part of the world," says Godoy, who is an amateur violinist. "If they're using hand-me-down computers, they should be able to log on and get, not only inspired, but get instruction as good as it gets."

Because the filming was done in high-definition, the producers plan to offer high definition DVDs of the instructional segments in the future, Godoy adds.

The site will have links to CCM and the Aspen Music School, with hopes of attracting students who may not have known about study opportunities.

"I would hope that CCM gets a huge benefit out of this, as being a place where young, good violinists want to study," Sassmannshaus says. "That is certainly a big part of the plan."

Janelle Gelfand