Noodler’s Rachmaninoff

[yazeh]

Noodler’s Rachmaninoff

I have been stalling this review for quite a while, as I love the composer, and dislike the ink, a colour made for Barbie with the consistency of Pepto-Bismol.

 

I’m assuming this atrocious colour was chosen because of the lovely lyrical melodies of the composer. If that’s the case, then it shows an absolute misunderstanding of the music. 

 

The composer

 

A bit about Rachmaninoff, one of the greatest composers, pianists of early 20th century, born in Russian Empire in 1873, and died in Beverly Hills, USA in 1943.  

 

Rachmaninoff’s music was slightly out of the sync with the musical trends of the era, and critics often panned his music for being too lyrical. This is from the Groves' Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1954 edition: His music is "effective but monotonous in texture" and consisted "in essence mainly of artificial and gushing tunes accompanied by a variety of figures derived from arpeggios. The enormous popular success some few of Rachmaninov's works had in his lifetime is not likely to last."

 

Well, I can assure you this article has been rewritten.

 

Mostly known for his piano work, especially his lyrical 2nd and monumental 3rd concerto. I personally love his youthful first and his misunderstood 4th.

 

Here is his Prelude in C Sharp Minor, recorded by the Rachmaninoff himself in 1920.   

 

 

He has written 3 symphonies, the first of which, nearly derailed his career as a composer, due to bad premier thanks to a presumably inebriated conductor. His 2nd is lyrical and brought him fame, but with the advent of Bolshevik revolution he went to exile to the West, and made a living mostly as a Pianist. He composed few works, notably his Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini and his intense Symphonic Dances.

 

It might be noted that the medieval theme of Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), peppers his work.

 

Ink Review:

Now for the ink, it has an offending scent, qualified as archival, fluorescent, forge resistant and water resistant. It'll clog your pen and blind your eyes

 

It distinctly had flow issues in the Kakuno Ef, and then was extremely wet, in the Lamy Ef. Then over time it was playing hard to get with the B nib in Lamy Safari. I was glad when I dunked it down the drain. I didn’t bother to test it with a stub or flex nib, it seemed counterintuitive after having bleeding through Midori paper. It behaved decently with Rhodia and Tomoe River and it has fast drying time. I don't recommend this ink.

Chroma:

 

 

Writing Samples:

I tried finding quotes by Rachmaninoff, though one should know the man, the music and his times to get the gist of it.

Photo:

I didn't bother with a photo. It's not worth it. 

Comparison:

Water test:

 

and finally an artwork, the Pianist

Charcoal, graphite, Sumi ink

·      Pens used: Pilot Kakuno Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B,)

·      What I liked: Listening to Rachmaninov, fast dry times

·      What I did not like: Colour, stench, behavior.

·       What some might not like: Scent, colour, bad behavior.

·      Shading: Absent.

·      Ghosting: Yes on most paper.

·      Bleed through: On Midori, worse on copy paper.  

·      Flow Rate: Awful in Kakuno with Ef, sluggish.

·      Lubrication: Ok.

·      Nib Dry-out: A bit

·      Start-up:  Yes, with Kakuno.

·      Saturation: Saturated pink.

·      Shading Potential: Dismal.

·      Sheen: No.

·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice.

·      Nib Creep / “Crud”: A bit.

·      Staining (pen): I won’t be surprised.

·      Clogging: I think it did

·      Cleaning: High maintenance.

·      Water resistance: Excellent.

·      Availability: 90 ml bottles.

 

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier  

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Thanks for the musical history lesson! Meanwhile, neon Pepto!   How ironic that such a color should clog a pen...    Don't envy you the cleaning of those pens!   And the color is absolutely hideous on Midori.   What an ill-fated ink!  Maybe Nathan hates Rachmaninoff...

 

Meanwhile, piano swatch kitty is fabulous - an energetic player.   Water-test kitty is a crack-up (made me think of Victor Borge, actually).  What is mousey doing under there?  And I love the artwork!  Look at Mousey-conductor go!   Thank you for finding good things to do with this ink.  

[Misfit]

I always wonder why ink makers chose a particular color for a person.  Your review was entertaining. 

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Thanks for the musical history lesson!

😊

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Meanwhile, neon Pepto!   How ironic that such a color should clog a pen...    Don't envy you the cleaning of those pens!  

 

I soaked them in the pen solution 😁

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

And the color is absolutely hideous on Midori.   What an ill-fated ink!  Maybe Nathan hates Rachmaninoff...

 

Maybe. It is truly hideous 😁

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Meanwhile, piano swatch kitty is fabulous - an energetic player.   Water-test kitty is a crack-up (made me think of Victor Borge, actually).

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

  What is mousey doing under there? 

He was supposed to play the cello.😆

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

And I love the artwork!  Look at Mousey-conductor go!   Thank you for finding good things to do with this ink.  

🙏🙏🙏

[yazeh]

1 minute ago, Misfit said:

I always wonder why ink makers chose a particular color for a person.  

Me too😊

1 minute ago, Misfit said:

 

Your review was entertaining. 

Thank you 🙏

[LizEF]

19 minutes ago, yazeh said:

He was supposed to play the cello.😆

Aaaah!  Mouse-sized cello.  Got it!    Hope he has an amplifier!

[inkstainedruth]

Interesting color.  But looks a fair amount like Edelstein Rose Quartz (this has the same problem in that it's hard to read unless in a broader nib because it's relatively pale on the page).  And I'd have to see it in person on the Tomoe River paper to see if has the same neon undertones as J Herbin Rose Tendresse (an ink I thought I'd like, but didn't when I tried it).

But thanks as usual for the comprehensive review -- especially the artwork.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PolarMoonman]

"It'll clog your pen and blind your eyes..." 

 

That's the best line I have ever read in a review 😂 I am sad it performed so badly, it's an ink I considered getting samples of for quite some time. But it does sound like a bit of Pepto pink nightmare and I think I'll avoid that 😛

 

 

[PithyProlix]

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

Meanwhile, neon Pepto!   How ironic that such a color should clog a pen...

 

I love it! (To be clear, what you wrote, not the ink!) 

 

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

Here is his Prelude in C Sharp Minor, recorded by the Rachmaninoff himself in 1920.   

 

Wonderful antidote to this ink! 

 

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

His music is "effective but monotonous in texture" and consisted "in essence mainly of artificial and gushing tunes accompanied by a variety of figures derived from arpeggios. The enormous popular success some few of Rachmaninov's works had in his lifetime is not likely to last."

 

Likely written by a stodgy academic who could never appreciate Rach's 'heart on the sleeve' approach (which is interesting given his seemingly rather stoic personality). To be honest, I used to have the same impression and it wasn't until I turned off the analytical side of my brain that I first began to appreciate him. Well, that and this performance of a piece that is guilty of being particularly gushing and arpeggiated:

 

 

 

Thanks for the great, useful review! (Notice my minimal comments on the ink itself? Not unintentional!) 

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Even looking at the poor pen scared me!  🙀
 

But I love the review and the fantastic sketches.  Oddly enough, this is a color I like… just not in ink.  I would wear a top or pair of shoes or scarf in Rachmaninoff Pink but I wouldn't even put it in a Five Below pen.

 

@yazeh, thanks for your continuing Ink-Splorations, and double thanks for taking one for the team.  👏🏻

[yazeh]

14 hours ago, LizEF said:

Aaaah!  Mouse-sized cello.  Got it!    Hope he has an amplifier! 

Well he's plating with a cat. He should hear the tiniest squeak

[LizEF]

1 minute ago, yazeh said:

Well he's plating with a cat. He should hear the tiniest squeak

[yazeh]

13 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Interesting color.  But looks a fair amount like Edelstein Rose Quartz (this has the same problem in that it's hard to read unless in a broader nib because it's relatively pale on the page).

The difference between the two is that Rose Quartz is subtle and this is into your face 😊

13 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

 

 And I'd have to see it in person on the Tomoe River paper to see if has the same neon undertones as J Herbin Rose Tendresse (an ink I thought I'd like, but didn't when I tried it).

It's a fluorescent ink. So you might have more than neon😆

13 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

But thanks as usual for the comprehensive review -- especially the artwork.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

🙏🙏🙏

[yazeh]

11 hours ago, PolarMoonman said:

"It'll clog your pen and blind your eyes..." 

 

That's the best line I have ever read in a review 😂

 

😁

11 hours ago, PolarMoonman said:

I am sad it performed so badly, it's an ink I considered getting samples of for quite some time. But it does sound like a bit of Pepto pink nightmare and I think I'll avoid that 😛

 

 

I think you're better off. I love Noodler's inks but this one is sub-par and frankly lazy inkmaking 😒

[yazeh]

10 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Wonderful antidote to this ink! 

To think that recording is 100 years old😊

10 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Likely written by a stodgy academic who could never appreciate Rach's 'heart on the sleeve' approach (which is interesting given his seemingly rather stoic personality). To be honest, I used to have the same impression and it wasn't until I turned off the analytical side of my brain that I first began to appreciate him. Well, that and this performance of a piece that is guilty of being particularly gushing and arpeggiated:

 

If you can, listen to his symphonic dances, 4th concerto, and  first  symphony. Very different.

10 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Thanks for the great, useful review! (Notice my minimal comments on the ink itself? Not unintentional!) 

😆

 

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Even looking at the poor pen scared me!  🙀
 

😁

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

But I love the review and the fantastic sketches.

Thanks.

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 Oddly enough, this is a color I like… just not in ink.  I would wear a top or pair of shoes or scarf in Rachmaninoff Pink but I wouldn't even put it in a Five Below pen.

Yes. It's also lovely color in flowers 😊

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

@yazeh, thanks for your continuing Ink-Splorations, and double thanks for taking one for the team.  👏🏻

🙏🙏🙏

[lapis]

Great review. The piano (in your sketches) is a good thing about this ink. Otherwise his Piano Concerto No. 3 which is IMO by far the best of his orchestral works (although No. 2 is much more famous).

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, lapis said:

Great review.

🙏

1 hour ago, lapis said:

 

The piano (in your sketches) is a good thing about this ink.

Thank you!

1 hour ago, lapis said:

 

Otherwise his Piano Concerto No. 3 which is IMO by far the best of his orchestral works (although No. 2 is much more famous).

Ive been rediscovering his 4th and his Rhapsody.  Gorgeous music. HIs 1st and 2nd symphonies are monumental. And his symphony dances have echoes of Prokofiev and Debussy

[knarflj]

Great review of what looks like a terrible ink!  I love pianist kitty and conductor mouse.  And the quote from Grove's is hilarious.

 

I have in the past bought a few inks because of the people they were named after, but much as I like Rachmaninoff's music, I'll skip this ink and stick with just listening.  And maybe singing?  I so badly wanted to do his Vocalise on my senior voice recital, but I just wasn't up to it.  I should dust off the music and see whether anything's changed in the intervening decades.  (One can always hope, right?)

[yazeh]

5 minutes ago, knarflj said:

Great review of what looks like a terrible ink!

🙏

5 minutes ago, knarflj said:

 I love pianist kitty and conductor mouse.  

 

5 minutes ago, knarflj said:

And the quote from Grove's is hilarious.

 

5 minutes ago, knarflj said:

 

I have in the past bought a few inks because of the people they were named after, but much as I like Rachmaninoff's music, I'll skip this ink and stick with just listening.

Yes, there are so many gems in his works!

5 minutes ago, knarflj said:

 And maybe singing?  I so badly wanted to do his Vocalise on my senior voice recital, but I just wasn't up to it.  I should dust off the music and see whether anything's changed in the intervening decades.  (One can always hope, right?)

Why not! And if it's not up to par, sing it for yourself, just for the pleasure of it