Don Rickert Musical Instruments

Electro-mechanically Augmented Violin by Don Rickert (the Details)

EAAV-A, plus B+B+C “EAAV” is an acronym for Electro-mechanically Augmented Violin. “A” refers to version, in this case Version A. “B+B+C” stands for baritone, bass and contra-bass. An “Augmented” Musical Instrument Augmented musical instruments like EAAV-A, plus B+B+C are inspired by existing acoustic instruments, building upon their existing design, playing technique and performance practice, with new electronic and/or electro-mechanical vibrating elements added that extend their expressive capabilities. “Augmented” instruments are closely related to “Actuated” instruments. See the article, Augmented and Actuated Acoustic Musical Instruments. Both “Augmented” and “Actuated” musical instruments exist in a design space that lies between pure acoustic and electric or electronic instruments (e.g. synthesizers and violin-like MIDI control surfaces). EAAV-A, B+B+C Consists of Three Primary Parts that Make Sound There are many other supporting technologies utilized, which will be described later. EAAV-A, or the violin itself—this is the part that is played directly This can be thought of as the user interface to a 3-part network of musical instruments. B+B (Baritone and Bass Unit): An instrument about the size of a small cello (a highly-modified acoustic bass guitar), which plays the baritone and bass ranges (down to about 40Hz) B+B is not played or manipulated directly, but rather reacts to a highly-processed signal from EAAV-A. A unique feature of the “B+B” unit is that is has 7 bass sympathetic strings. These sympathetic strings react to the vibration of the B+B unit, producing a kind of natural acoustic auto-accompaniment (i.e. droning chords) to whatever is played on the... Read more →

Augmented and Actuated Acoustic Musical Instruments

Common Definition of “Augmented” and “Actuated” Musical Instruments: Musical instruments inspired by existing acoustic instruments, building upon their existing design, playing technique and performance practice with new electronic and/or electro-mechanical vibrating elements added that extend their expressive capabilities Difference in emphasis between “Actuated” (as commonly used by researchers and designers of such instruments) and “Augmented” Instruments Indeed, “Actuated” and “Augmented” musical instruments BOTH generally use a large number of electronic filters to “shape” sound output and, of course, audio amplifiers to drive the actuators. The fact is that most of the invention work on Actuated instruments is being done by computer scientists. Much of the work on Actuated instruments is happing at the Stanford University, Department of Music, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (better known as CCRMA), the Aalborg University, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology in Aalborg, Denmark and the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. For example, in a recent paper, Dan Overholt, et. al. (Overholt, D., Berdahl, E. & Hamilton, R., Advancements in Actuated Musical Instruments, the authors clearly state that... "Actuated musical instruments are physical instruments that have been endowed with virtual qualities controlled by a computer in real-time but which are nevertheless tangible." So... Actuated Instruments Emphasis is on computer control aspects of controlling the vibrating elements (i.e. actuators). It is all about the software! Augmented Instruments Emphasis is on lutherie (the making of stringed musical instruments such as guitars and violins) aspects, especially... Capitalizing on traditional methods of sound generation... Read more →

What is a filter in the context of musical instruments?

Also posted at www.WildRockStudios.com Musical instrument makers have been using filters to shape the sound of their instruments since, I suppose, the first musical instrument. For example, the evolution of early bowed string instruments to the modern violin reflects a corresponding evolution of filter design. And the evolution continues! Well-studied and frequently-cited filters critical to a violin are: Types of wood and thickness Physical shape and dimensionsType of glue used The varnish Topology of the arching of the top and back The “graduation” (varying thickness) of the violin top The bass bar The sound post The bridge The tailpiece Manner of attaching the neck Length of the strings Shape and overall aperture size of the sound holes Composition of the strings (e.g. gut, steel, aluminum, titanium and various allows, etc.) Every variable listed above, and many more, interact in ways that are still not fully understood, even by the most well-informed experts on musical instrument acoustics, affecting how a violin body filters the signal induced at the bridge by the vibrating strings. This is one of the reasons that the violin and its relative instruments are still closely-studied instrument in doctoral dissertations and masters’ theses. Today, violinists and fiddlers fine-tune the sound of their instruments by varying the type of strings, the thickness and height of the bridge, the placement of the sound post, the type of tailpiece and even the “tail gut” that attaches the tailpiece to its hitching point (called the tail button). On a modern violin or... Read more →