There is probably no topic that stimulates more debate than which type of bow to use on an octave violin, or a regular violin for that matter. For instance, Darol Anger, indisputably the prime mover behind the resurgence in modern octave violins, uses a violin bow exclusively and has very strong opinions about its benefits. But, then again, Darol favors an octave strung standard violin for his style of playing and the type of alternative jazz-grass fusion, which is far from the mainstream.
On the other extreme, the great 'cellist, Natalie Haas often uses a 'cello bow on her octave violin (a Rickert-Fiddarci with Chanot-type soundholes). Our point of view is informed by formal observational research and depth interviews with hundreds of musicians conducted by Dr. Rickert. The answer is that whatever bow works for the type of music you are playing is the right bow. For virtually ALL players, however, the right bow is a high-quality braided carbon fiber viola bow. Wooden bows of any sort are completely unsuitable for playing an octave instrument, as they tend to have too much bounce. Perhaps a $5,000 pre-moratorium Pernambuco wooden bow could do the job, but who knows, especially when you can get a bow that we know will work for about $500.
The stiffness of a high-end carbon fiber viola bow pulls sound from the large diameter strings of an octave violin with minimal bounce. We favor the Glasser™ Octagonal Braided Carbon Fiber viola bow or the new CodaBow™ Diamond Series™ braided carbon fiber viola bow, both of which are sold by Don Rickert Musical Instruments.
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