Those little attacks, or dings, inspire me not to leave the bow lying on the string but to let it ride over the string. I redo my playing every day. There's always a cello that responds in a more perfect way. I saw it at a dealer and recognized it as Jules's. The number of really fine instruments is limited.
Players know what each others' instruments look like.
M y main teachers were Leonard Rose and Jan Robbins on cello and Felix Gallimir and Robert Mann for chamber music. I consider all the composers I worked with to be my teachers. If I have one regret it's that I was a little too young to work with Stravinsky. It's not just a veneer of culture that makes the music sound the way it does, it's all formed from ancient things people liked to do, like hitting something rhythmically. The translation is not direct but the idea is that when you play, don't try to portray one single emotion, the one you feel.