Don Rickert Musical Instruments

Measurements for Determining Correct Violin/Fiddle or Viola Size

Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Related article: Helping People with Special Needs Realize Their Musical Goals: Part 1 of 2 Introduction Such measurements for determining appropriately sized violins and violas for children are available many places on the Internet. The measurements and test tasks we describe below are geared towards the adult novice or experienced player who needs to be “re-fit” for an instrument due to either traumatic injury (e.g. damaged rotator cuff), repetitive stress injury (e.g. carpel tunnel syndrome) or chronic disease such as arthritis and lupus. This article covers only optimal instrument size and not the ability to hold and control a bow. In order to determine an optimal bow, an experienced player’s self reports on trials of various types of bows with the goal of determining which bow works best. For the novice, a prospective string teacher will need to be engaged. When searching for a bow that works for a musician with physical limitations, the traditional idea of matching bow size to the instrument size is irrelevant. While on the topic of bows On the topic of bows, we tend to think of conventional violin bows (about 57 grams) and viola bows (about 65 grams on average) as the only options. There, in fact, are other options. We had a customer years back suffering from lupus (particularly symptomatic in the tendons of her wrists) to the point where she could not control a conventional bow. We tried an IncrediBow “Featherweight” (about 28 grams), which... Read more →

Helping People with Special Needs Realize Their Musical Goals: Part 1 of 2

Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Prologue This first of two articles focuses on the problems many musicians are trying to overcome. The second article will focus on a large number of solutions we have discovered over the years. Note: The author himself multi-instrumentalist, including fiddle, violin and viola, suffers from artritis, rotator cuff injury and neuropathy. Introduction D. Rickert Musical Instruments and its online store, the Don Rickert Musician Shop, have become the "go to" places for the unique, unusual and more than occasionally, the cutting edge. We address "special needs" for musicians. The phrase “special needs” can have a number of meanings: I am looking for a special instrument I am looking for a certain sound I am looking for a replica of something from a specific historic period I want an instrument that is easy to travel with Etc. We get all of the above…we have been doing it for nearly a decade. Physical Limitations Increasingly, we are working with musicians who have actual physical limitations and are looking for an instrument that can help fulfill their creative goals. There are a number of injuries and medical conditions that will limit a string musician’s (especially bowed strings) ability to play certain instruments that he or she was previously able to play with no difficulty whatsoever. These include: Traumatic Injuries Damaged or pinched nerve Broken bone in a finger, hand, elbow, wrist Damaged rotator cuff (see Mayo Clinic site The most common forms of traumatic injury to... Read more →

Non-Toxic Zero VOC Old-School Varnishing Used by D. Rickert Musical Instruments

Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. D. Rickert (Don Rickert Musician Shop) has recently completed the disruption of moving to a new, better, way of varnishing, the topic is very fresh. In this article, I will tell you about the “why” as well as the “how”, at least in a summary manner. Summary With our newly adopted “modern” old-school Italian oil varnishing methods. The varnishing alone is a one to two week process culminating in the same hand-rubbed, sound enhancing physical beauty an instrument varnished in the 1700s. We do not employ any “antiquing” or faux distressing. Our varnish uses NO VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and all of our pigments are non-toxic, typically plant and mineral based. We use no chemical drying agents, but rather a UV chamber that simulates 6 weeks of sun curing in 8 hours. The finished product is quite suitable for players who suffer from MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) or those who have developed allergies to modern varnish, or, more likely, allergies to the highly toxic varnishes used on the majority of 19th Century and early 20th Century instruments. Note: An update to this article will contain a section on the history of varnishing musical instruments. A Violin as it Goes Through the Varnishing Steps See photo essays in our Facebook photo albums. Varnishing A UV Chamber used in modern “old-school” oil varnishing Related articles The NEW Fat Strad Deux Mezzo Viola by D. Rickert Musical Instruments Read more →