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TwoSet Violin

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TwoSet Violin
TwoSet Violin (Brett Yang playing the violin while hula hooping, accompanied by Eddy Chen on the piano), Merkin Concert Hall, New York City on 31 October 2018.
Personal information
BornBrett Yang
(1992-03-03) 3 March 1992 (age 32)
Taipei, Taiwan
Eddy Chen
(1993-03-23) 23 March 1993 (age 31)
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
OriginBrisbane, Australia
Occupations
  • Musician
  • YouTuber
Websitewww.twosetviolin.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2013–2024
Genres
  • Comedy
  • Music
Subscribers4.29 million[1]
Total views1.53 billion[1]
100,000 subscribers2018
1,000,000 subscribers2019
Last updated: 19 January 2024

TwoSet Violin (traditional Chinese: 雙琴俠; simplified Chinese: 双琴侠) was a musical comedy duo consisting of Australian violinists and YouTubers Brett Yang and Eddy Chen. Yang and Chen started out posting classical covers of pop music on their YouTube channel but eventually switched focus to musical comedy videos, which gained them more viewership. Yang and Chen eventually also performed in live concerts and tours. On 14 October 2024, the duo posted that they would cease creating content as TwoSet Violin,[2] later releasing the first of six farewell music videos.[3][4]

Early life and education

Brett Yang was born on 3 March 1992[5] in Taipei, Taiwan[6] and Eddy Chen on 23 March 1993[5] in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.[7] Both moved with their families first to New Zealand and then to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, before adolescence.[8]

They met as young teens in an after-school maths group[9] and became acquainted as the youngest members of a youth orchestra and later as students at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in Brisbane.[10]

Early musical careers

In 2012, Yang debuted at Queensland Conservatorium performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. He later worked with various other Australian orchestras, including a performance at the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit.[11]

Chen was a finalist for the 2014 National Young Virtuoso Award in Queensland and played with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.[11]

As TwoSet Violin

In 2013, the duo started posting covers of pop music played on the violin on a YouTube channel.[10] Yang said that they had viewed violin virtuosos playing covers that had garnered millions of views on YouTube; the two attempted the same but to minimal reaction.[11] Discovering that Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen made comedic videos, they shifted their content production in a similar direction, focusing their videos on their lives at conservatory as classical musicians and as students, which led to a dramatic increase in viewership.[10][11][12] At the end of 2016, Yang and Chen resigned their places in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra respectively to begin performing live concerts of their own.[13]

The TwoSet Violin YouTube channel received a Silver Play Button in 2018 for surpassing 100 thousand subscribers and a Gold Play Button in 2019 for surpassing 1 million subscribers.[14] Classic FM's Kyle Macdonald listed TwoSet Violin as one of the "10 ways the 2010s changed classical music forever".[15]

In January 2020, it was announced that the duo would be attending that year's Menuhin Competition, held at Richmond, Virginia, as roving reporters;[16][17] the competition was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]

On 8 February 2020, TwoSet Violin live-streamed a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto to celebrate their achievement of two million subscribers. Yang played the solo part while Chen performed an original arrangement of the orchestral component for solo violin.[19]

In December 2020, the duo announced a temporary hiatus from YouTube while Yang addressed some health issues.[20][21] The duo made a slow return to content creation in January 2021.[22]

On 30 January 2021, to celebrate their achievement of 3 million YouTube subscribers, TwoSet Violin live-streamed another performance, of Sibelius's Violin Concerto, with Chen playing the solo while Yang performed an arrangement of the orchestral component for solo violin.[23] In May 2021, they posted videos to support the Menuhin Competition.[24][25][26]

On 7 August 2022, TwoSet Violin released a song featuring a fictional band named B2TSM, in which classical composers Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Mozart are played by the duo in an accompanying music video.[27]

On 22 October 2022, TwoSet released a parody of Blackpink's song "Shut Down". Chen impersonated classical composer and violinst Paganini[3] in a song and accompanying music video titled "Sell Out", which imagined how he might have critiqued Shut Down for using a motif from La Campanella.[28]

On 16 November 2022, to celebrate their upcoming 4 million subscribers achievement, TwoSet Violin live-streamed a performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 and Bach's Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043 with support by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra at the Victoria Concert Hall.[29][30][31] In February 2023, they hosted a music battle at the Star Performing Arts Centre in Singapore with YouTuber bassist Davie504.[32][33] In November 2023, the group was featured on Australian Story on ABC TV.[8][34]

On 14 October 2024, the duo announced that they would stop producing content under the name "TwoSet Violin". Most of their Instagram posts were deleted, and the majority of the videos on their YouTube channel were taken down, leaving only 29 that they condsidered to be the "crème de la crème".[2][35][3] On 5 December 2024, the channel was rebranded to match the theme of their fictional band "B2TSM", although their channel name stayed the same. A day later, as B2TSM, the first of six farewell music videos[3] was posted to YouTube.[4]

Tours

With KickStarter as their fundraising method along with street performance in Sydney, they raised enough money to go on a worldwide tour in 2017 to 11 cities in 10 countries[10][36][37] in Asia and Europe,[38] including Taipei, Helsinki, and Frankfurt.[39][40][41] In 2018, they performed in several places in the United States including New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.[42][43][38]

In October 2019, TwoSet announced another world tour where they planned to visit multiple locations in Oceania, Europe, Asia and North America.[44] However, the tour was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a virtual world tour event was held instead on 28 December 2021.[45][46][47] On 16 November 2022, they announced an upcoming world tour for 2023–24.[31] On 1 April 2023, they released their official world tour announcement on their YouTube channel, including a list of 29 cities that they will be touring, and dates to be announced subsequently.[48][49][50]

Videos and themes

In 2017, TwoSet Violin made a comedic reference to Ling Ling, a fictional violinist who "practices 40 hours a day". In an interview with Yle Uutiset, they described Ling Ling as the final boss of a video game: the Chuck Norris of violinists. Chen said they improvised the character from their comedy sketch video concerning a teenage violin student's tiger mom comparing the student to her friend's child.[51][52] In 2018, they released a series of videos called the Ling Ling Workout. In these challenges, the duo play classical pieces (or contemporary music) with handicaps such as playing at double speed, with scordatura, while dancing or hula hooping, with hand positions reversed, or while upside down. Prominent violinists such as Ray Chen, Ziyu He, and Hilary Hahn have also attempted the challenge on their channel.[52][53][54][55]

In July 2018, they released a series of videos in which they performed classical music using rubber chickens.[56][57] Recurring themes include violin charades,[54] trying out various instruments, and viola jokes.[58]

Another popular video series consists of reviews of film and TV show scenes that feature violin playing, in which Yang and Chen critique egregiously fake performances.[59][60] On April Fools' Day 2019, they claimed they discovered a new Double Violin Concerto by J.S. Bach.[61]

In September 2018, TwoSet Violin uploaded a reaction video to a BBC News story titled "Fastest Violinist in the World", in which they challenged violinist Ben Lee's Guinness World Record claim of playing "Flight of the Bumblebee" for what they perceived to be significant inaccuracy. They satirically timed themselves purposefully playing random fast notes before declaring they had broken the world record.[5]

TwoSet Violin, in addition with their usual content, has also posted music and films mainly composed by themselves and Jordon He. In October of 2020, they released a video titled "Prelude", a short piece composed and played by TwoSet Violin and He. In June 2022, they posted "FANTASIA", a short film written by the duo, that contained several pieces composed by themselves and He, consisting of the previously mentioned 'Prelude', as well as three new peices: 'Scherzo', 'Adagio', and 'Rhapsody'. The film also includes a guest appearance of Chloe Chua.[62][importance?][better source needed]

Other ventures

TwoSet has a clothing line called TwoSet Apparel.[63][64]

TwoSet has a podcast called TwoSet Talks.[65]

References

  1. ^ a b "About TwoSetViolin". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b "TwoSet Violin calls it quits after eleven years". The Strad. 14 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Hernández, Javier (5 December 2024). "Poking Fun at Classical Music, With Wigs, Hula-Hoops and Puns". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b TwoSetViolin (5 December 2024). B²TSM - 'I'm Bach' Official MV. Retrieved 6 December 2024 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ a b c Smith, Charlotte (28 February 2022). "Who are TwoSet Violin? All you need to know about the YouTube stars". BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Taking a Bow | Brett Yang + Eddy Chen". Australian Story. 13 November 2023. Event occurs at 4m17s. ABC TV. Retrieved 14 November 2023. I was born in Taipei, Taiwan
  7. ^ TwoSet Violin (2 April 2021). Geoguessr: Classical Music Edition. Event occurs at 6m27s – via YouTube. Eddy: Born in Taiwan! I was born in Kaohsiung though
  8. ^ a b Scott, Leisa; Armstrong, Rebecca (13 November 2023). "How YouTube stars Brett and Eddy of TwoSet Violin brought comedy to classical music". ABC News. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  9. ^ TwoSet Violin (23 September 2018). "Australisches Duo TwoSet Violin im Interview". Concerti.de (Interview) (in German). Interviewed by Elisa Reznicek. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d Ball, Meghna (13 April 2017). "Brisbane YouTubers Twoset Violin and their global quest to preserve classical music". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d Wood, Eleanor (23 November 2016). "TwoSet Violin: The Brisbane music graduates breaking the internet". CutCommon. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  12. ^ Sergi, Justin (12 October 2016). "Twoset Violin Offer A Guide to Understanding Conservatory Friends". WQXR. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  13. ^ "About – Meet Brett and Eddy". TwoSet Violin official website. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  14. ^ References announcing their play buttons from YouTube:
  15. ^ MacDonald, Kyle (29 December 2019). "10 ways the 2010s changed classical music forever". Classic FM. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Menuhin Competition Richmond 2020 Announces Competitors: 44 Violinists Selected from Record- High Applicant Pool; TwoSet Violin, YouTube Superstars and Classical-Music Comedy Duo, Attend Competition as Roving Reporters" (PDF). Richmond Symphony Orchestra (Press release). 22 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Candidates Announced for 2020 Menuhin International Violin Competition". The Violin Channel. 22 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Menuhin Competition Richmond 2020". Menuhin Competition. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  19. ^ Arnold, Eden (7 May 2021). "Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto: Analysis In Interpretation". Bleeding Cool.
  20. ^ "Brett Yang of TwoSet Violin to take a break". The Strad. Newsquest Specialist Media. 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  21. ^ Niles, Laurie (16 December 2020). "TwoSet Violin Takes a Break for Health Reasons". Violinist.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  22. ^ Lebrecht, Norman (14 January 2021). "Happy News: TwoSet Violin are back". Slipped Disc. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  23. ^ Mattila, Mattias (29 January 2021). "Sibelius soi ensi yönä internetissä kymmenilletuhansille kuulijoille – asialla on klassisen musiikin Suomessakin vieraillut meemitehdas" [Sibelius will play on the Internet next night to tens of thousands of listeners – a meme factory that has also visited classical music in Finland]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  24. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "Semi-Finalists in Menuhin Competition Announced". BroadwayWorld.
  25. ^ "New to YouTube | TwoSet Violin's "Secret Plan to Get Back into the Menuhin Competition"". The Violin Channel. 18 May 2021.
  26. ^ Macdonald, Kyle (1 May 2021). "Watch the world's finest young violinists in a virtual Menuhin Competition for 2021". Classic FM. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  27. ^ TwoSetViolin (7 August 2022). B²TSM - 'Duh Duh Duh Dum' Official MV. Retrieved 5 December 2024 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ "TwoSet Violin: Where classical music and social media collide". 8 August 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  29. ^ "TwoSet Violin & SSO: Mendelssohn Violin Concerto". Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  30. ^ Hadi, Eddino Abdul (8 October 2022). "Popularising classical music: Violin duo TwoSet's Singapore concert tickets sold out within minutes". The Straits Times.
  31. ^ a b Tan, Cecilia (17 November 2022). "'A dream come true': TwoSet Violin's '4 Mil Subs' Concert". The Strad. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  32. ^ Hadi, Eddino Abdul (10 January 2023). "YouTube stars TwoSet Violin and Davie504 to stage 'music battle' in Singapore". The Straits Times.
  33. ^ Hadi, Eddino Abdul (16 February 2023). "Music Picks: Concerts by Twoset and Davie504, Chok Kerong and Vanessa Fernandez, and Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin". The Straits Times.
  34. ^ "Brett Yang + Eddy Chen" (video). ABC News. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  35. ^ Lim, Ruey Yan (15 October 2024). "Violin duo TwoSet Violin 'ending our chapter' after 11 years". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  36. ^ "TwoSet Violin are launching a crowdfunded world tour". Classic FM (UK). 25 March 2017. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  37. ^ Rochester, Marc (9 October 2017). "Classical music meets comedy". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  38. ^ a b "TwoSet Violin World Tour Los Angeles". Colburn School. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  39. ^ Vanasse, Jacqueline (13 November 2017). "TwoSet Violin – Hilarious with a Cause". Violinist.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  40. ^ "TwoSet Violin World Tour". Helsinki Music Centre. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  41. ^ "TwoSet Violin World Tour Frankfurt – 14 October 2018". Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018 – via Evensi.
  42. ^ "TwoSet Violin World Tour – Wednesday,October 31 2018, 7 pm". Kaufman Music Center. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  43. ^ "TwoSet Violin World Tour San Francisco, San Francisco CA – Nov 17, 2018 – 7:30 PM". 17 November 2018 – via 415area.com.
  44. ^ TwoSet Violin [@TwoSetViolin] (7 October 2019). "We've just released our world tour lineup! Visit http://twosetviolin.com/worldtour to see if we're coming to your city! Where else should we go? 👀" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  45. ^ TwoSet Violin (24 September 2021). "Exclusive Interview with TwoSet Violin: Announcing 2021 Virtual World Tour". Violinist.com (Interview). Interviewed by Laurie Niles. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  46. ^ Arnold, Eden (11 January 2022). "TwoSet Violin Takes Classical Music Education Virtual with World Tour". Bleeding Cool.
  47. ^ Auchinachie, Heathcliffe (20 October 2021). "TwoSet Violin: "Never stop learning, keep trying new things!"". CutCommon. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  48. ^ "TwoSet Violin World Tour". TwoSet Violin. 1 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  49. ^ "The Strad - 'Not to be missed' - TwoSet Violin's World Tour".
  50. ^ Arnold, Eden (4 April 2023). "TwoSet Violin Share World Tour Announcement Video; 27 Cities Confirmed". bleedingcool.com.
  51. ^ Matilla, Mattias (11 October 2018). "Tämän kaksikon sketsejä on katsottu somessa jo satoja miljoonia kertoja – meemien ja klassisen musiikin yhdistelmä osoittautui hittireseptiksi" [This duo's sketches have been watched hundreds of millions of times in Finland – the combination of memes and classical music turned out to be a hit recipe]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  52. ^ a b Kim, Alina. "TwoSet Violin Perfects Their Practice". Chicago Maroon. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  53. ^ Hilary Hahn does the Ling Ling Workout (video). 17 December 2018 – via The Strad.
  54. ^ a b Johari, Aarefa (1 January 2019). "New Year smiles: Want to play like a world-class musician without actually being one? Watch this". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  55. ^ Parker, Liz (24 October 2018). "Niccolò Paganini, perhaps violin's first rock star, was born on October 27". The New Classical FM. Canada: Zoomer Media. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  56. ^ Alton, Jenna (16 August 2018). "The Clean Cut: Classical musician creates impressive version of Pachelbel's Canon using rubber chickens". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  57. ^ Sweeney, Chris (1 August 2018). "Wacky World of Rubber: Making music with rubber chickens". Rubber & Plastics News. Crain Communications. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  58. ^ Macdonald, Kyle (18 November 2020). "19 memes to prove musicians have a warped sense of humour". Classic FM.
  59. ^ MacDonald, Kyle (3 January 2019). "Actors being roasted by two professional violinists is hilariously brutal". Classic FM. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  60. ^ Benzon, Bill (3 February 2020). "TwoSet Violin, The Best Thing In Music Education Since Sliced Bread". 3 Quarks Daily.
  61. ^ Davis, Elizabeth (1 April 2019). "These are the best musical April Fools of 2019". Classic FM. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  62. ^ "TwoSet Violin Release Stunning Short Film, "Fantasia"". Pop Nerd Lounge. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  63. ^ Goh, Bryan (27 April 2021). "Inside TwoSet Apparel, the Streetwear Line by The Duo behind TwoSet Violin". Men's Folio.
  64. ^ Paget, Clive (13 May 2021). "The Planets align as TwoSet Violin launches fashion range". Limelight.
  65. ^ "TwoSet Talks". YouTube. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
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