Rock violinist Ben Lee of acclaimed electric violin duo FUSE has played himself into the record books by breaking the Guinness World Record for the fastest violin player.
Lee set the new record with a performance of Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, playing at over 14 notes per second.
The previous record stood at 1 minute 3.356 seconds, set in early November 2010 by David Garrett, which shaved 0.7 seconds off the earlier best time.
However, Lee stormed through his performance in an amazing 58.515 seconds – beating the previous record by nearly five seconds in the process.
Having graduated from the Royal College of Music, Lee and his bandmate Linzi Stoppard have worked with a number of contemporary artists, blending rock music with the unique sound of the violin.
Among the collaborations they have undertaken include work with the Arctic Monkeys, Goldfrapp, Mark Ronson, Kaiser Chiefs and Amy Winehouse.
Lee commented after his success: “Records are there to be broken, and I know I can take it even faster.
“The idea for this record challenge came from Linzi. Having watched me attack the Van Halen and Jimmy Page solos that we have interpreted on our album, she had the faith.
“There are plenty of guitar heroes in the world, maybe it’s time for a violin hero!”
Flight of the Bumblebee is used to judge the Guinness World Record for the fastest violin player as it lends itself well to being played fast as well as being technically very demanding.
Lee performed the record-breaking feat on one of a pair of FUSE’s exclusive Swarovski Crystal Bridge violins. The bespoke instruments feature an incredible 50,000 crystals – every one hand-applied – creating the world’s most expensive electric violins, with each instrument worth in excess of one million pounds.
Lee set the new record with a performance of Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, playing at over 14 notes per second.
The previous record stood at 1 minute 3.356 seconds, set in early November 2010 by David Garrett, which shaved 0.7 seconds off the earlier best time.
However, Lee stormed through his performance in an amazing 58.515 seconds – beating the previous record by nearly five seconds in the process.
Having graduated from the Royal College of Music, Lee and his bandmate Linzi Stoppard have worked with a number of contemporary artists, blending rock music with the unique sound of the violin.
Among the collaborations they have undertaken include work with the Arctic Monkeys, Goldfrapp, Mark Ronson, Kaiser Chiefs and Amy Winehouse.
Lee commented after his success: “Records are there to be broken, and I know I can take it even faster.
“The idea for this record challenge came from Linzi. Having watched me attack the Van Halen and Jimmy Page solos that we have interpreted on our album, she had the faith.
“There are plenty of guitar heroes in the world, maybe it’s time for a violin hero!”
Flight of the Bumblebee is used to judge the Guinness World Record for the fastest violin player as it lends itself well to being played fast as well as being technically very demanding.
Lee performed the record-breaking feat on one of a pair of FUSE’s exclusive Swarovski Crystal Bridge violins. The bespoke instruments feature an incredible 50,000 crystals – every one hand-applied – creating the world’s most expensive electric violins, with each instrument worth in excess of one million pounds.