We just launched our new podcast, Offbeat Songs for Cool Cats, just in time for Christmas 2022. Below are links to play Episode 1, Parts 1 and 2 via Spotify. We aim to post an episode every 2 weeks. The next is scheduled for on or about January 5, 2023. I'll be telling you more about this podcast in the coming days.
We will also be launching yet another Podcast show in the near future. For now its name is Badass Instruments for Cool Cats. There will be a corresponding video version on YouTube.
Don Rickert Musical Instruments is a premiere designer and maker of innovative custom and historic musical instruments. Since starting our musical instruments enterprise in 2007, we have dealt primarily in those of the bowed variety (e.g. violins, fiddles and related instruments such as octave fiddles). We have also designed and made a number of fretted instruments along the way: mandolins, parlor guitars, acoustic bass guitars, tenor guitars and the like. We will soon be branching out in a serious way into the world of fretted musical instruments. Look forward to some really interesting mandolins, octave mandolins, mandocellos, parlor guitars, acoustic bass guitars, tenor guitars and the like.
Regular production items are usually available at the Don Rickert Musician Shop. If you want something that is not there, give us a call...
Our email is [email protected] and main phone number is (706) 896-0909. Don Rickert's mobile phone number is (706) 400-1481
Mailing address: Don Rickert Musical Instruments 726 Hall Creek Road Hiawassee, GA 30546
This is the primary website and blog for Don Rickert Musical Instruments .
We are NOT a "Brick-and-Mortar" Retail Establishment Nor a Typical Online Operation (We are Better!)
We are not a “brick-and-mortar” retail establishment; however, many customers do choose to visit our studio and workshop in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains (part of the Appalachians). Being shopkeepers for a corner musical instrument shop would be completely at odds with our multifaceted focus on continuous research & development, innovative instrument design and customization, combined with our creation of meticulously accurate replicas of historically significant fiddles.
The nature of our business demands that sales be conducted primarily online. We have done this for some time. The predecessor to the new Don Rickert Musician Shopwas called the “Adventurous Muse Store.” We initially operated under the name “Fiddle and Bow Shop.”
Please note that this site has been around for a good while. While working diligently to clear out the "junk" (old obsolete articles), this is going to take some time. We thank you for your patience during this period and offer a blanket apology for any incorrect links to our old online store.
Travel violins and fiddles are specially-designed instruments for adventurers and other travelers for whom small size, extreme durability and easy portability are essential. Travel violins/fiddles are also commonly known as “backpacker fiddles”.
Travel Violins and Fiddles by D. Rickert Musical Instruments
D. Rickert Musical Instruments has been designing and making historic pochettes (e.g. Baroque-period dancing master’s “kits”) and best-in-class modern travel violins (aka backpacker fiddles) since 2005. Continuous improvement based on customer and market feedback and our own continuous evaluation, is just the way we roll. This has led to the design and production of more than two-dozen models over the past 13 years.
We currently make three regular production models of travel/backpacker violin. We also make various custom variants, including “lefty” and 5-string models, as well as travel violas. All of our regular production travel violin models have 14” bodies with 13” playable scale lengths; the same body and scale lengths as full-size violins. All of these instruments are available at the Don Rickert Musician Shop. See the Travel and Backpacker Fiddles category of the Don Rickert Musician Shop website (online store).
Late Baroque Pochette
While our modern travel fiddles look superficially like Barqoue pochettes (pocket fiddles), they are, in fact, full-length violins intended for backpacking and travel. All of our travel and backpacker violins are full 4/4 length instruments with chin rests and shoulder rest adapters.
They are very popular among traveling classical violinists as well as adventure-loving fiddlers. Unlike the cheap travel fiddles that cost much less than ours on the market, our travel violins respond to the bow like a full-size instrument and are quite sonorous.
What Is a Modern Travel Violin or Backpacker Fiddle?
Baroque Dancing Master w/ Pochette
Modern backpacker and travel violins are the highly-evolved descendants of the pochettes (pocket fiddles, also known as “kits” or “kit fiddles”) of the late 17th through the late 18th Centuries. The Baroque period in music (1600 – 1750) fell within the time period during which the pochette was commonly used. Anyone interested in learning more about the Baroque pochette should see my recent article, Things to Know About the Baroque Pochette (a.k.a “Kit”).
When one refers to a backpacker or travel violin, he or she is talking about a small and physically robust instrument that:
Will withstand far greater physical and environmental impacts than a regular violin or fiddle would normally be subjected to
Is substantially smaller in width than a regular violin (usually between 2” and 3.5” wide); in other words, “skinny” enough to fit into a high-strength tubular case (usually about 4” in diameter) that is often attached to a backpack or bicycle luggage rack.
Has the same important ergonomic attributes of a full-size violin in modern configuration
The Physical and Environmental Impacts
The physical impacts include being constantly being jarred due to be being attached to a backpack and even dropped.
Environmental impacts include:
Extreme high and low temperatures
Extreme low and high humidity levels
Radical rapid changes in temperature and humidity
Instrument Size (and Shape)
While some backpacker violins are shorter in length than regular violins, the norm is a playable string length (nut to bridge) identical to a 4/4 size violin, with an overall length approximately the same as a 4/4 violin. Sometimes, backpacker violins will have a slightly shorter body and/or peg box.
Ergonomic Attributes
Many, but certainly not all, designers of modern backpacker/travel violins and fiddles, pay great attention to the ergonomic aspects of these small instruments. Primarily, these "human-centered" ergonomics efforts are focused on removable chin rests and shoulder rests that, when installed on the backpacker/travel violin, replicate the critical ergonomic dimensions of a full-size violin or fiddle. The overriding criterion we adhere to is that a travel violin, whatever its size, should feel exactly like a regular violin when it is played.
A modern travel violin without its ergonomic fittings
This instrument, one of our designs, is 2" wide but full 14" long body and a full 13" +/- playable string length. Nevertheless, as is, it cannot be played like a modern violin or fiddle.
The same instrument with its ergonomic fittings installed
Owing to the high adjustability of the shoulder rest (fore and aft position, height, lateral angle), this instrument with its fittings installed is actually more ergonomically optimal than the average violin.
Sound (Timbre, Sonority and Power)
When it comes to sound, travel violins fall into two distinct groups:
Instruments primarily used for practice when traveling
Instruments for players for whom timbre, sonority and power approaching that of a full-size instrument is a priority
Instruments primarily used for practice
These are slim-bodied (about 2” wide) instruments that, when fully assembled with their chin rests and shoulder rests, simulate the hold, and afford the manner of playing and bowing technique of full-size instruments. This small-bodied class of travel violins is favored by serious violinists and fiddlers wanting a practice instrument (one that plays like a regular violin) with a highly-realist feel, but is as small as possible. In fact, we make one model (on strictly a custom basis), the “Frequent Flyer”, which disassembles such that the pieces can be fit easily, along with a take-apart bow into a rolling suitcase along with other luggage.
Frequent flyer NOT assembled
Frequent flyer assembled
Rich sonority is not a high priority for these musicians. Nevertheless, these slim-bodied instruments sound amazingly good, given their small sound boxes.
Instruments with timbre, sonority and power approaching that of a full-size instrument
These instruments are between 3” and 3.5” wide. They cost more than the slim-bodied instruments. Like the small-bodied instruments, their playing characteristics are virtually identical to those of full-size instrument.
Musicians who commission these instruments do, in fact, often use them as practice instruments when traveling. In addition to practicing, these musicians usually intend to play along with other musicians while traveling; therefore, they need an instrument that, while compact, sounds pretty much like an unmuted full-size fiddle and the acoustic power to hold its own in jam sessions and the like.
How Good Can a Travel Violin Sound?: Demonstrations
Many years of continuous design research, involving experimentation with many variables, has gone into achieving good sonority and projection volume from these small instruments whose body size, materials and construction method departs radically from conventional full-size violins.
Most makers of modern travel violins will tell you that they sound good. When we tell you that ours sound amazing, we really mean it. Watch the following videos to hear for yourself what we mean by amazing!
That's it for now. Look for a follow-on article in the next few days about traveling with your fiddle.
Pochettes are 18th Century instruments whose popularity was primarily from the early 1700s through the 1780s; however, there are surviving examples dating back to the 1600s. The pochette (French for “pocket”) was a small violin-like instrument designed for easy portability. They are also known as “pocket fiddles” and “kit fiddles”. Pochettes were always quite a bit smaller in girth than full-size violins; however, their overall length, as well as playable string length varied from quite short (about that of ½ size violin or viololino piccolo, or even shorter) to the length of a regular fiddle. The longer pochettes were generally the later ones. Short scale pochettes were usually tuned to a higher pitch than a full-size violin.
How Did the Pochette or "Kit Fiddle" Get its Names?
Pochettes were small enough in girth to fit into a longish sheath sewn into one's coat. The sheath came to be known by the instrument's name: "pochette". This is the origin of the modern English word "pocket". Pochettes were also known as "kits" or "kit fiddles", primarily in England and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland. The name "kit" is an example of impossible-to-comprehend (to anyone but an Englishperson) English humor. The idea appears to have been that, if a full-size violin is analogous to a cat (a reference to "cat gut" strings...actually never made from cat guts, but rather sheep intestines), then a small violin would be, by analogy, a "kit", the English and Scottish nickname for a kitten.
Some surmise that the word “kit” may simply be slang for a mispronunciation of “pocket”, as in “pock-it”. This naming evolution is similar to how “loo” became slang for a toilet—in Britain, “waterloo” is a humorous reference to “water closet”, at one time the name for the closet-sized room in which an indoor commode or “Crapper” (the actual surname of the presumed inventor) would reside.
Who Played Pochettes?
Neil Gow
Pochettes seem to have been popular among fiddlers who traveled frequently by foot or horseback. Arguably, the two most famous players of pochettes were:
Niel (aka Neil) Gow(1727–1807), one of the founding fathers of Scottish fiddling
Thomas Jefferson(1743-1826), a principle author of the Declaration of Independence and the 3rd President of the United States
Jefferson's Pochette (Possibly?)
It is well documented that Neil Gow often played a pochette while on the day long hike to Blair Castle to play for dances, and then on the way back home. One of his proper violins was apparently kept at the castle. That very same fiddle resides, on display, at Blair Castle today.
In his later years, Jefferson, both a violinist and fiddler, often road on horseback from Monticello to Charlottesville for sessions in various pubs. Lore has it that he often made this trip with one of the two pochettes that he is known to have owned. The pochette was carried in a leather saddle case devised by Monticello’s master craftsman, one of Jefferson’s sons by Sally Hemming . . . but that is a whole different story!
The pochette’s real popularity was driven in large part by itinerant Dancing Masters (private dance instructors), who preferred very portable violins that could be carried, with its typically short bow, in a sleeve (called a pocket or “pochette”, as many were French) sewn onto the Dancing Master’s coats.
The Socio-Political Events that Gave Rise to the Profession of Dancing Master (and Indirectly, the Pochette) in the 18th Century
The Union of Scotland, England (including Wales) and Ireland as Britain occurred in 1707. Queen Anne, who had already acceded to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1702, became the first monarch of Britain (and last Stuart monarch), as Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland when the Treaty of Union took effect in 1707.
The Treaty of Union resulted in, among other things, England and Scotland having a shared Parliament. Suddenly, there was high motivation among the mercantile class in Scotland to learn to speak like the English (i.e. without a Lowland brogue) and to learn the latest English dances. These were things that the Scottish aristocracy, by and large, already knew how to do. Dancing at lavish parties was very much like the game of golf is today in the world of business networking.
Rise of the Dancing Masters
So, in major cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, there emerged a widespread perceived need for elocution (i.e. diction, pronunciation, grammar) coaches and dance instructors. The profession of Dancing Master filled at least the dancing part of that perceived need, and people were prepared to pay good money to have that need met. Most of the Dancing Masters were either French or Italian music tutors who knew enough about English dancing to sell themselves as qualified Dancing Masters. I am pretty sure that, at least in Britain, there existed no guilds overseeing the qualifications of Dancing Masters.
So, it was in the urbanized part of Scotland that the profession of “Dancing Master” appears to have really taken off. It should be noted that there were Dancing Masters in places other than Scotland; however, Scotland after the Treaty of Union, was the epicenter, at least during the Baroque and pre-Modern periods.
Dancing Masters typically visited clients’ homes. They were, in significant ways, the 18th Century equivalent of personal trainers who come to clients’ homes. The successful Dancing Masters were booked from morning to night. Carrying a full-size violin from appointment to appointment was a real chore, especially given the heft of a case capable of protecting a violin and bow from the Scottish weather (not pleasant much of the time). Manufacture of violin cases on anything approaching a large scale would not occur until the 19th Century. If you wanted a violin case during the Baroque period, it had to be custom-made.
The Baroque Violin Case
I have carefully studied the construction and common usage of existing violin cases from the Baroque period, including those made by the workshops of Antonio Stradivari. First, these cases were quite expensive, often costing much more than a violin that a Dancing Master could afford, and they were intended primarily as decorative storage containers for well-appointed music rooms. Indeed, they did not always have carrying handles. Most significantly, Baroque period cases were quite heavy, somewhere in the range from 10 lbs. (4.5 kg.) to 15 lbs. (6.8 kg.).
The potentially available cases were definitely not built to withstand rain, freezing rain and snow—the standard weather for much of the year in the Scottish Lowlands. The contemporary musician, armed with full understanding about the limitations of Baroque cases, should understanding why carrying around a full-size violin for an entire day’s worth of client appointments would have been effectively impossible, even if one could afford such as case.
The Pochette: Solution to a Real Problem
Pochettes or kit fiddles had already been around at least since the late 1600s. It is easy to understand why they were almost universally adopted by the 18th Century Dancing Masters.
How Does a Baroque Period Pochette Sound?
The short answer is nasty! So, here is the longer answer.
Early Pochettes
Later Pochette
Pochettes, particularly the earlier ones, often had substantially shorter playable string lengths than a full-size violin. The later ones, on the other hand, generally had a full 4/4 string length, but with much skinnier body, and usually a shorter body (in the 11.5" to 13" range) than a full-size violin, which has a 14" body. Except in very cases, Baroque-period pochettes lacked the two things that we now know are essential to good sound production, a sound post and proper bass bar. Short bows were often used to play pochettes, without a doubt contributing to a less than optimal sonority.
Most Baroque and Pre-Modern period pochettes and replicas sound horrible beyond comprehension (and we have heard many!). A toy kazoo, toy piano, comb and waxed paper, or slide whistle would have sounded better.
So that you can fully experience the range of sound quality for Baroque and Pre-Modern pochettes, take a look and listen to the videos below.
Great musicians - ludicrously small instruments!
Here is a really small pochette from the 1600s.
A slightly better-sounding pochette - really fine playing!
A later model - marginally acceptable sound (the instrument, that is - playing is great!)
Had They Only Know About the Physics of Violins!
The poor sound of historic pochettes and their replicas is curious to us. More than a decade ago, we were able to design and make a very sonorous and nice-sounding pochette by essentially copying the external dimensions of a late 18th Century Scottish pochette (in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow). The only substantial changes we made were to fit the instrument with a proper bass bar and sound post. We also enlarged the sound holes to the extent necessary to afford setting and adjusting the sound post. This, of course, made the sound holes more appropriately-sized (i.e. larger!) for good sound production. This instrument, which we still sell today as the Neil Gow Pochette, is available in the Baroque Instruments category of the online store for the Don Rickert Musician Shop.
If you are interested in knowing just how good a Baroque pochette replica can sound, see the following video.
Darci Jones playing a late 18th Century pochette replica by Donald Rickert
The Ergonomics of Historic Pochettes
With the 17th and 18th Century pochettes, ergonomic concerns were apparently not considered at all. Ergonomics (the British term) and Human Factors (the preferred American term), or the study of the relationship between people and things, are 20th Century fields of expertise. The only concern in the 1700s and 1800s was making the pochette small enough to be easily portable. Indeed, the whole idea of making a tool fit its user was not yet part of the zeitgeist—one simply learned how to use available tools and other objects. The idea of “human-centered design”, a basic principle for modern Industrial Designers (those who design objects for people to use, including musical instruments) would not emerge until the late 20th Century.
One could even argue that the violin itself is ergonomically sub-optimal. This is why so much attention has been devoted to making the violin more usable in the last century (e.g. chin rests, ergonomically-correct shoulder rests, etc.). In the case of pochettes, a playing technique involving resting on the instrument on the arm and tucking the tail into one’s underarm evolved. In order to envision this playing technique, imagine the “on-the-arm” instrument hold that some violinists and fiddlers in various musical genres use even today. One can clearly see this extremely awkward hold and playing technique in the videos above.
Conclusion
This concludes my brief introduction to that diminutive Baroque period relative of the violin, the pochette, a.k.a. kit fiddle. My next article will delve into the modern descendent of the pochette, commonly called a “travel violin” or “travel fiddle”. I will post a link here when the follow-on article about modern travels violins is posted.
Modern backpacker and travel violins are the highly-evolved great-great-great grandchild of the pochettes of the late 17th through the late 18th Centuries. Most modern travel violins or fiddles bear a strikingly similar appearance to their Baroque period ancestors. The similarity stops there. Indeed, there are significant differences. Most, but not all, modern travel violins are designed in such a way as to capitalize on what has been learned in the past 250 years about the physics of bowed instrument sound production. What this means, essentially, is that they can, but again, not always, sound MUCH better than Baroque pochettes, even the good ones.
Many, but certainly not all, designers of modern travel violins and fiddles, pay great attention to the ergonomic aspects of these small instruments. Primarily, these "human-centered" ergonomic design efforts are focused on removable chin rests and shoulder rests that, when installed on the travel violin, replicate the critical ergonomic improvements expected in a full-size violin or fiddle in modern configuration. Furthermore, the critical ergonomic dimensions of full size violins, such as body length, overall length and playable string length are, in most cases, rigorously adhered to.
Shameless Promotion
In the past 13 or so years, D. Rickert Musical Instruments has designed and made a large number of Baroque pochette replicas (about 40). We have designed and produced an even far greater number of state-of-the-art modern travel violins (more than 125).
In 2006, one of the first things we at D. Rickert Musical Instruments set out to do is to design and build the best acoustic octave violin possible. The octave violin or octave fiddle is tuned an octave lower than a regular violin; therefore, it is a tenor range instrument between the viola (alto range) and the cello (baritone). Octave violins are often incorrectly called “baritone violins”. In our early days, octave violins and early versions of our travel fiddles were the only instruments that we made.
When I use the phrase, “octave violin”, I am referring to a very specific type of modern instrument. An octave violin or octave fiddle, if you like, is a modified violin or at least a violin-sized instrument played under the chin. It is set up for and uses larger diameter strings and is tuned an octave lower than a violin in standard configuration. It is played like a regular violin, as it usually has the same critical ergonomic dimensions as a standard violin. The most significant of these dimensions are a body that is about 14 inches long and a playable string length of about 13 inches.
We call larger instruments by other names.
Specifically . . .
Viola:
Dr Jeff w/ large viola
A larger instrument, generally with a body length in the 15-inch to 16.5-inch range, and tuned a perfect 5th lower than a violin, thus, making it an alto range instrument. The viola’s playable string length ranges from approximately 13.5 inches to 15 inches.
Generally, a modern tenor viola is either a 15.5-inch or 16-inch viola that is set up with special larger diameter strings and is tuned exactly like an octave violin—that is, an octave lower than a violin.
The ancestor of the modern tenor viola, the Baroque tenor viola, was a much larger instrument (17.5-inch to 19-
Medici Tenor Viola (1690)
inch body!), usually with a disproportionately short neck. The best-known surviving Baroque tenor violin is the “Medici-Tuscan” tenor viola, made in 1690 by Antonio Stradivari. It has a body almost 19 inches long. There was a resurgence of interest in tenor violas in the 19th Century. These later tenor violas from the 19th Century are often fretted and intended to be played on the lap. It is my belief that the earlier Baroque tenor violas were, given their size, especially the 1690 Strad, also played on the lap or even da spalla (suspended from a strap draped on the player’s shoulders).
Octave Viola or Baritone Viola: A.K.A. "Chin Cello"
This is a modern development and is often called a “chin cello”. It is usually either a 16-inch or 16.5-inch viola that is set up with special larger diameter strings and is tuned exactly like a cello—that is, an octave lower than a viola in standard configuration. Often, but not always, such instruments have a wider body than a regular viola.
Octave-Tuned Viola Pomposa or 5-String Octave Viola:
Viola Pomposa by D. Rickert
A modern 5-String Octave Viola is usually either a 16-inch or 16.5-inch instrument that is often somewhat wider in girth than a regular viola. It is set up with special strings, allowing it to be tuned such that the four higher strings sound an octave lower than a violin (like a tenor viola) and the set of four lower strings sounds an octave than a viola (like an octave viola).
Viola Pomposa by J.C. Hoffman (1724)
The ancestor of this instrument is the Baroque Viola Pomposa. One of oldest surviving examples is attributed to Johann Christian Hoffmann (1683-1750) and was made in 1724 or thereabouts. The instrument is quite large, its body measuring about 18 inches in length. The ribs appear to be in the range of 60mm to 70mm. Many experts agree that the instrument was probably made with higher ribs (about 80mm) and later cut down for the sake of playability. The heinous insults that cutting-edge luthiers have had to endure!
Interestingly, the viola pomposa made by J.C. Hoffman was commissioned by J.S. Bach. It is also considered by some to be the among first violoncellos da spalla. It is now fairly well established that the violoncello da spalla was intended to be suspended by a leather strap (more or less like a contemporary guitarist) when played.
We Definitely Still Make Octave Violins and Fiddles
The practice of setting up standard violins with large diameter strings in order to play an octave lower appears to have been around for quite some time, possibly a century or more. There is anecdotal evidence that more than a few early 20th Century jazz violinists/fiddlers created their own octave violins in such a manner. There was even a large viola-sized octave-tuned German instrument in the early 20th Century called an “Octavgeige”, which is simply German for “Octave Violin.” The luthier who produced these instruments was Johan Reiter (Mittenwald, Bavaria). The great jazz violinist and Professor at Berklee College of Music, Christian Howes, owns one of these rare instruments. It is my opinion that Reiter’s Oktavgeige was really just a 20th Century variant of the tenor viola (aka tenor violin), described earlier.
Darol Anger
To the best of my knowledge, the first modern octave violin was a specially-strung electric violin used by Jean Luc Ponty on a 1975 recording. The instrument Ponty used was a Barcus-Berry Octave Violectra, introduced in the 1960s. The earliest known detailed description of the modern acoustic octave violin was a 1992 article in Strings Magazine by the famous Violist/Fiddler, Darol Anger. Darol Anger has been playing octave violin, which he refers to as the “baritone violin”, at least as far back as his earliest work with the Turtle Island Quartet in the 1980s. Darol was a significant supporter of us when we introduced our first “purpose-built” octave violins in 2006. I will get into what purpose-built means in this context forthwith.
Re-Purposed Standard Violins
As Darol Anger and others have shown, it is possible to simply replace the strings on your violin any of the available brands (Super-Sensitive, Thomastik-Infeld or Helicore) of octave strings and, voila, you have an octave violin. In reality, you will have to have at least some moderate luthiery work done, such as widening the nut and bridge grooves. Yes, this is only reversible by replacing the nut and bridge! Furthermore, unless your string height is quite high already (that would rule out most fiddlers I know, including myself), you will probably need a higher bridge. No matter what, the converted instrument is going to be rather weak (i.e. disappointing), the predictable result of stringing a regular violin to play a range well below that for which it was designed. There was a reason that the such great masters as Gasparo da Salò (1542 - 1609) and Antonio Stradivari made such a large octave-tuned instrument as the tenor viola (aka tenor violin).
I remember the first time I restrung a regular fiddle with octave strings. I was feeling confident after having read and studied Darol Anger’s seminal article,Another Voice: The Baritone Violin, Sept/Oct.1992, STRINGS Magazine (currently available online at http://www.standingstones.com/barifidd.html).
This is before I knew any better. The result was so discouraging that I put off for several years any further experimentation with octave violins.
In general, acoustic octave violins that are simply reconfigured regular violins are meek and non-sonorous instruments, which require some kind of amplification when played in an ensemble of instruments. For many designers of innovative musical instruments, development of an acoustic octave violin with good projection volume and powerful deep timbre has been a Holy Grail of sorts. Indeed, this quest once seemed a bit like overcoming the known laws of physics.
Purpose-Built Octave Violins: What We Have Become Known For
Instruments in this category are those that are built solely for the purpose of playing an octave lower than a regular violin.
D. Rickert Fat Strad Octave Violin
While we will do the occasional octave violin conversion on a suitable 14” viola, our main focus is, as it has always been, on octave violins that are designed from the ground up as octave violins. We call these instruments “purpose-built” octave violins. To be crystal clear, our octave violins are different instruments than regular violins. They have very special scientifically-derived bass bars, higher ribs and, in some case, different graduations than regular violins.
In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, innovations in string technology are the “icing on the cake” that make our powerful and sonorous octave violins possible. There are currently three manufacturers of octave violin strings: Thomastik-Infeld, SuperSensitive and D’Addario. The strings from each of these manufacturers have their own distinct “character.” They all work well as the final ingredient for the magic necessary to produce a great violin-sized octave instrument.
Who Plays Acoustic Octave Violins and Fiddles?
In some cases, beginner fiddlers who cannot stand the high pitch of a violin or the large size of a full-size viola will start their musical journey on an octave violin; however, the most prevalent players are serious advanced amateur and professional musicians, many of whom are recording artists. Many of these advanced amateurs and professionals are, indeed, classically trained violinists.
Most makers of acoustic octave violins target their instruments to skilled “alternative” violinists and fiddlers looking for a new lower voice, allowing him or her to play low pitched musical parts almost as low as a ‘cello, without learning a completely new instrument, as the notes are in the same places on the fingerboard as a regular violin. The only new skill to learn is the proper use of a heavier viola bow. Some (a minority, I believe) octave violin players prefer a regular violin bow to a viola bow. These players are generally highly-skilled musicians who use the lighter violin bow to accommodate a unique playing style.
Classical string players—not so much. Unless the classical violinist, violist or cellist is also involved in playing folk, traditional, rock, jazz or other “alternative” musical genre, he or she is likely to have little exposure to, nor interest in, “non-orchestral” musical instruments. The octave violin, like, say, the accordion, mandolin, guitar or penny whistle, is not used in the modern orchestra and is, therefore, a non-orchestral instrument. Our experience has been that musicians who only play classical music tend to have little, if any, curiosity about musical instruments not used in a contemporary orchestra.
Octave Fiddles are the Ultimate Second Fiddles
A good second fiddler, of which there are far too few, will often mix chordal accompaniment with playing of the primary melody in unison with the primary melody an octave lower (especially when playing an octave fiddle) or a harmony melody. Different regional styles will emphasize different techniques for the second fiddler; for example, in certain regions of Ireland, simply playing the tune in various combinations of unison and an octave lower is favored. In other styles, the second fiddler plays primarily chords; which works particularly well with an octave fiddle. A viola or tenor viola (i.e. larger-bodied variant of an octave violin) is sometimes used as well for the same purpose.
I will conclude this post with a great demonstrating a regular fiddle and a viola, which seems to be in tenor (i.e. octave violin) tuning alternating the first and second fiddle roles. This one you have got to hear! The treble/soprano range (i.e. the fiddle) and alto/tenor range (i.e. the low-tuned viola) instruments just blend together in a magical way.
This article is by D. Rickert Musical Instruments, a highly regarded designer and maker of acoustic purpose-built octave violins and violas, as well as 4-string and 5-string electric violins. All of these instruments are sold via Don Rickert Musician Shop.
Introduction
This is the second (see Part I) in a three part series on the topic of using a 4-string or 5-string electric violin (and acoustic instruments with the right kind of pickup installed) together with the necessary effect signal processors to achieve a sound either one or two octaves lower than the violin’s or viola’s actual tuning.
Part I of this series introduced the possibility of “going electric.” It also acknowledged the reasons why someone would want to stay with an acoustic solution. Further, Part I also suggested a compromise approach, an acoustic instrument with the right kind of pickup installed.
This installment is all about the advantages of the electronic approach to octave synthesis and the challenges associated with a purely acoustic approach, especially with 5-string octave violas.
Advantages of a Real Electric Violin (as Opposed to an Acoustic with a Pickup)
The best electric violins come in a wide variety of shapes. Most are some variation of a solid body, chambered body or “skeletal”. They all have several things in common:
A substantial mass of material (usually wood) directly under the bridge
A bridge pickup with greater mass than a regular bridge (almost always a Barbera bridge on the best instruments)
Ergonomic aspects that make the instruments easier to hold while playing
Incredible bow response
Anyone who has had the pleasure of playing a high-end electric violin knows this to be true: The bow is far more responsive than with an acoustic instrument. This is a physics phenomenon having to do with the greater mass under the strings. I will leave it to physicist to explain exactly how this works. In simple practical terms, you can play faster, more accurately and with better nuance with a full-on electric violin. Also, unless you need the string height for violin techniques such as vibrato, you can usually get away with substantially lower string height on a real electric violin (at the nut as well as the bridge).
Bottom line: an electric violin with a good bow (carbon fiber, of course) helps you to be a more amazing player! For the fundamentalist anti-electric bigots. An electric violin does NOT make a beginner sound great. It merely helps the experienced player to realize his or her full potential.
If your goal is to play music in the cello range with a conventionally tuned electric violin, the amazing aspect is even more profound. Read on…
Playing an octave, or even two octaves, lower using electronic octave synthesis vs. playing one octave lower on a a specially set up and strung acoustic octave violin or viola.
Have you ever played an octave violin or viola? Even a good 4-string octave violin or viola, such as the ones that we (D. Rickert Musical Instruments) make is challenging to play. A 5-string octave violin or viola takes the difficulty level up a notch to wickedly difficult. Let us explore why.
Note: Keep in mind that we have been designing and making some of the world’s finest acoustic octave violins and violas for almost a decade. We love these instruments, as do our customers. Owing to our enduring love affair with acoustic octave instruments, we are intimately familiar with their limitations when compared to electric violins. We are telling it like it is! You should not expect anything less than the whole truth as we see it.
String height
Unlike a regular violin, and especially unlike an electric violin, the string height of octave violins and violas, particularly 5-string instruments with super fat C strings, must be quite high in order to accommodate the extreme vibration arc of the large diameter, low tuned octave strings. String vibrational movement on bowed instruments is primarily up and down; hence, the fingerboard buzz that is well familiar to players of all larger bowed string. Much force at the fingertips is necessary to push those fat strings to the fingerboard.
String diameters
With a normally tuned 5-string violin, the difference in thickness between the lowest string (C3 or C below middle C, which is indicated as C4) and the highest string (E5) is about a 2:1 ratio. In other words, the lowest string is about 2X (200%) that of the highest string. This difference is below the problem threshold for experienced players. Even if it were a problem, there is not much that could be done about it...those pesky laws of physics!
With a 5-string octave tuned viola, the lowest to highest string thickness ratio can be as much as 4.5:1 or 450%!
This dramatic difference between string diameters makes double-stopping quite difficult. It can be difficult to avoid touching adjacent strings when playing open string drones.
With dedication and practice, many learn to overcome the difficulties described. More than a few do not. They simply give up on becoming a good octave violin or octave viola player.
Bowing
Playing a standard 4-string acoustic octave violin (no low C string) generally requires a viola bow or a special octave violin bow with very aggressive synthetic hair. For playing an octave viola, which always has a low C string, regardless of whether it is a 4-string or 5-string, some players use an extra stiff viola bow (often with aggressive synthetic hair); however, I would say that the majority uses a cello bow.
Regardless of the type of bow used, all octave violins and octave violas require a slower attack, more deliberate (more muscle required) bowing than either a 4-string or 5-string violin, especially an electric violin. Put another way, the acoustic versions of these octave-tuned instruments are bowed like a large viola or cello, a style of bowing that is quite different from violin bowing and well-understood by experienced violists. Viola style bowing really limits playing speed and requires greater physical effort. Ignoring this rule results in an unfocused “mush” of notes, screeches, scraping, etc.
Bowing more strings than you intend to bow
Remember the matter of the large difference in diameter between the highest string and the lowest strings on octave instruments? The most extreme case is that of a 5-string octave viola. I discussed the left-hand (fingering) issues. Well, here is what happens at the bridge end.
You start out with an acceptable bridge arc. The illustration shows what happens to that lovely bridge arc. As the strings get thicker on the bass side, you end up with an effective bridge arc that is as flat as any fiddle set up for old school Old-Time fiddling. Trying to cleanly bow the lower 3 strings becomes quite difficult.
A partial remedy is a significant “Hill bevel” in the fingerboard, as illustrated below.
This allows lowering the nut under the C, and sometimes, the G-strings. A more extreme arc can then but carved into the bridge, alleviating the problem somewhat. This can only be done with an acoustic bridge, and not with a Barbera transducer bridge.
None of the above is necessary for a 5-string conventionally tuned electric violin!
Part III of this series will focus on the nuts and bolts of how you achieve lower octaves with an electric violin.
It is quite clear that we are the place to come for the unique stuff…things you just cannot get at either the corner music store, traditional violin shops or the online mega-stores. What are these things that musicians, and the occasional museum, come to us for?
Over the 9 years we have been in business, our analysis of search engine “hits” to our websites and online store, corroborated by actuals sales records, indicates that we are best known, in descending order for the following:
Modern Travel and Backpacker Violins
The world’s finest and more models (to meet different player needs)…5 base models; all customizable!
We sell more travel violins than anything else, by a long shot. Yup, real musicians are willing to pay 3 to 5 times as much for a real luthier-built travel violin than for a toy instrument.
Octave Violins, Violas and Octave Violas (aka “Chin Cellos”)
Best and most innovative. Ours have been played by some of the greatest fiddle innovators in the world. Our instruments are on some CDs by some of the greats, including the musician responsible for the re-birth of the octave violin, Darol Anger (and most recently Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, their “Abundance”CD).
There are only a few other 5-string violins in the same class as the models we offer. We offer our own Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola (violin length with viola ribs and bass bar) and the Realist 5-String PRO e Series.
Baroque Pochettes (the ancestors of modern travel violins)
These are the 19th Century instruments used by itinerant Dancing Masters (Dance instructors), and the inspiration for our modern travel violins and fiddles.
Musical curiosities, especially cigar box fiddles, made to master violin standards (i.e. not cheap!)
We do not currently have any of these for sale, but when we do, they always sell quickly. Contact us if you want us to make you one (email, the Contact Us link or telephone…all available at Don Rickert Musician Shop). Get your head around a minimum of $1,000 before calling!
Authentic Baroque Violin reproductions
There are fake “replicas”, readily available on eBay (modern violins “dressed up” to look sort of like Baroque Violins, and authentic Baroque Violins, which are the kind we sell. Some of the finest Baroque musicians are proud owners of our higher end instruments.
Meticulously accurate historic period setup (violins, fiddles and parlor guitars)
When one purchases an instrument from us, part of the buying process is specification of period setup. We refine the setup preference with consultation, either in person at our studio, on the telephone, video conferencing (e.g. Skype) and email.
We also offer period setup as a stand-alone service. See…
While we have not advertised parlor guitar setup, particularly setup for Civil War re-enacting, we have set up quite a few modern guitars as plausible mid-19th Century gut-strung guitars. We have even set up re-enactor guitars with synthetic gut strings (generally Nylgut) that can be played with a stiff leather ukulele flat pick!
Genre-specific setup (violins and fiddles)
Either in conjunction with a period setup or a contemporary setup (the most common case), we do absolutely correct genre-specific setup, including, but not limited to:
Classical violin
Scottish Highland fiddle
Irish Fiddle (and its many regional sub-genres)
Old-Time Fiddle (New England, Southern Mountain and everything in between)
Bluegrass Fiddle
Cajun Fiddle
Gypsy Fiddle
Things For Which We Appear to Be Not So Well-Know (Yet)
New Violins and Bows
These are violins and fiddles from the Post-Baroque or Pre-Modern Period (about 1770s) to the present (modern violins and fiddles). We offer a number of setup and accessorizing options to replicate any specific period or playing style from 1770s to the present day.
We are very pleased to announce our “Golden Era Old-Time Fiddles”. These fiddles replicate the very best (and most sought after today by Old-Time fiddlers) of the so-called “factory fiddles” imported by the millions from Markneukirchen, Saxony, German and neighboring Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic) during the years from 1880 through the 1920s..
We also have the best collection of authentic early 20th Century fiddle accessories that you will find anywhere. We are one of the few makers of late 19th Century and early 20th Century chin rests on the planet.
Unless you have been following Dr. Rickert’s experimental instruments over the past decade, you might not know that our workshop has produced quite a few electric violins and MIDI-capable electronic violins (as well as some truly odd contraptions). A few of these have entered in and done quite well in major international new musical instrument design competitions.
You might not be aware that Dr. Rickert has lectured on electric musical instrument design in major University Industrial Design programs, including the Georgia Institute of Technology (better known as Georgia Tech), where he was an Adjunct Faculty Member when living in Atlanta.
Dr. Rickert designed and built his first electric violins, mandolins, basses and guitars about 40 years ago. We still have an intact electric bass from among Don’s early work.
We have not seen the point of introducing new electric violins or mandolins until such time as we had some designs that were unequivocally better than any thing else on the market. That time has arrived!
When using any kind of amplified instrument, especially violins, in live performance, the live performance rig is essential. Relying on the sound engineers to cobble together a way to plug into the main sound reinforcement system and personal monitor system is ill-advised and done at your own peril. If you are using effects processors of any kind, the interconnection of these processors is extremely complex, as the correct sequence of the effects in a "chain" is critical. Getting the order wrong will often result in nothing working properly. Most professional performance have an expert design his or her performance rig.
With four decades of designing live performance rigs for amplified fiddles, violins, mandolins, banjos, guitars, basses and even instruments such as dulcimers and accordions, combined with live performance demonstration of experimental electric and electronic violins in major musical instrument design competitions, we have the knowhow and experience to design a rig for you!
Cost ranges from under $1,000 for a living room setup to several thousand dollars for a large venue setup.
Our performance rigs are guaranteed to work.
If you ever tried to do it yourself or rely on the sound technitians, you know what I am talking about.
Our rigs are ready to be plugged in and send the right kind (e.g. correct impedance) of balanced signal to the master sound board.
Fretted Instruments
Mandolins, Octave Mandolins and Mandocellos
The Octave Mandolin is a mandolin family version of a tenor guitar or tenor banjo that is tuned in the Celtic G-D-A-E tuning (in other words, an octave lower than a mandolin). The only important differentiator from the tenor guitar is that, instead of four individual strings, an octave mandolin has four (occassionaly five) pairs (called "courses") of strings. Each string in a pair is tuned in unison.
A mandocello is to a bowed ‘cello what a mandolin is to a violin. The mandolin is tuned like a violin and a mandocello is a large mandolin tuned like a ‘cello. The primary differences, of course, is that mandolin family instruments are played with a plectrum rather than a bow and they have twice as many strings…actually four, or sometimes, five pairs (called courses) of strings, each pair being tuned in unison.
These instruments are seeing increasing use in Celtic music, Progressive Bluegrass and In Alternative Old-Time (aka "Neo Old-Time", "Old-Time Punk" genres.)
Included here are guitars that replicate instruments from the early 19th Century (called the "Romantic Period") to the 1930s. In the interest of being able to offer quite affordable instruments (all well under $1000), these guitars are customized/modified modern factory-built instruments of the "parlor guitar" type. This basically means that they have much smaller bodies than contemporary guitars. They would not have been called parlor guitars in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. They were simply called guitars.
These are meticulously accurate hand-built replica instruments and cost between 5 and 6 times as much as our modified factory-built reproduction instruments. Hand-made in the workshops of D. Rickert Musical Instruments (Don Rickert Musician Shop)
Tenor banjos
Even though D. Rickert Musical Instruments has never sold a regular production banjo of any sort, old blog articles we have published over the years about the difference between tenor banjos and Irish tenor banjos and related banjo articles continue to be the NUMBER ONE (i.e most popular, predominant, persistent, etc.) topic that leads visitors to our blogs, and sometimes even to our online store, Don Rickert Musician Shop.
If we saw even a hint of possibility that anyone would actually buy a new tenor banjo from us, we would design and build a really nice one. We are considering instituting a “bounty” (i.e. finder’s fee) program to start rescuing vintage tenor banjos from their imprisonment in hundreds (or even thousands) of small music stores, flea markets, antique shops and pawnshops throughout the U.S. We would then restore and sell them.
For Don Rickert Musician Shop (D. Rickert Musical Instruments), every sale of a premium instrument is a consulting engagement, focused getting the setup exactly right.
Part of the purchase of a new violin is customer specification of stringing and accessories appropriate for one of a number of historic periods, ranging from contemporary all the way back to the late 1700s. Consultation with us about correct setup for specific genres (orchestral violin, Old-time, Irish, Scottish, Cajun, etc.) is also included with the purchase of one of our instruments. As far as we know, this is completely unique to our company.
Contemporary orchestral violin, as set up by the manufacturer
Price: No charge, except for cost of any desired upgrades
No changes to the manufacturer's setup, except for minor adjustments, and/or common upgrades, which will generally include a particular string type, special tailpiece and/or tuning pegs (e.g. Wittner FineTune internally-geared pegs)
Specialized Fiddle Setups
Note about bridge and nut adjustment for non-orchestral (i.e. fiddle) playing:
This process is more involved and time consuming than it sounds. With fiddle setup, we are often trying to achieve the sweet spot between a low string height and buzzing that can occur if the strings are set too low. We go through iterations of bridge trimming in approximately 1mm increments. We have done so many setups that we can tell when the point has been reached when one more millimeter will make the strings too low.
Contemporary Fiddle Setup
This is the most common type of fiddle setup we do on a new violin. This includes setup for many contemporary genres, including Bluegrass, Old-Time, Irish Traditional, Cajun and Scottish Highland styles.
Each violin will have a particular type of string installed by the manufacturer. Many, if not most, of the violins we carry already have the ideal strings installed. Variations from the stock strings for the instrument will cost extra, generally approximately the wholesale cost of the strings. We will contact you to help you to determine the perfect string for your playing style and the sound you wish to achieve.
Bridge and nut adjusted for fiddle playing according to customer specifications. This process is more involved and time consuming than it sounds. With fiddle setup, we are often trying to achieve the sweet spot between a low string height and buzzing that can occur if the strings are set too low. We go through iterations of bridge triming in approximately 1mm increments. We have done so many setups that we can tell when the point has been reached when one more milimeter will make the strings too low.
The Sacconi (i.e. Black Nylon) type or stainless steel tail adjuster is used for a Contempory Fiddle Setup
1920s and 1930s Setup
Ebony “butterbean” chin rest
Modern equivalent of silk and silver strings (e.g. Vision Stark, Zyex, ProArte) with a loop end period appropriate e-string
Bridge and nut adjusted for fiddle playing according to customer specs
Modern keyhole type tailpiece, secured by a real gut cord (in use until the invention of the Sacconi adjuster in the 1950s)
Hill type fine tuner for the e-string, if desired
1890s to 1920 Setup
Either no chin rest or a Sarasate type chin rest
Bridge and nut adjusted for fiddle playing according to customer specs
Two stringing variations. Only the first option (all gut with a wound gut G) was common. We will contact you to discuss which option you want to go with.
1) All pure gut with a metal wound gut G (Gamut standard gut set)
2) Metal would gut G, pure gut D and A, with a silvered or gold plated E string (Gamut standard gut set)
If all gut strings are used, a 19th Century type tailpiece with simple string holes for knotting or looping gut strings rather than the keyholes of later tailpieces
If a metal e-string is used, a keyhole type tailpiece with a Hill-type fine tuner for the e-string is installed.
Real gut tailgut
1820s to 1880s Setup
Note: this is the set up for authentic Civil War re-enacting
No chin rest
All pure gut with a metal wound gut G (Gamut standard gut set)
Bridge and nut adjusted for fiddle playing according to customer specs
19th Century type tailpiece with simple string holes for knotting or looping gut strings rather than the keyholes of later tailpieces
Real gut tailgut
Pre-Modern 1770 to 1820s Setup
This is for the serious Scottish Highland style fiddler who wants an instrument setup in the same manner as Neil Gow (pictured here); arguably, the Father of Highland fiddling and the probable originator of the “Scots snap” (a bowing technique), as well as the Strathspey.
No chin rest
All pure gut with a metal wound gut G (Gamut standard gut set)
Don Rickert Musician Shop (D. Rickert Musical Instruments) is the place to go for unique instruments that are either very hard or even impossible to find anywhere else.
Some examples:
Travel / Backpacker Violins and Fiddles
We make and sell the finest innovative and ergonomically perfect travel/backpacker violins in the world. Several dozen customers a year opt for one of our travel violins, despite the fact that they cost from 3 to 4 times as much as our apparent competitors.
5-String Violins
We make and sell one of best 5-string violins that money can buy (note: There ARE some very fine 5-string instruments by competitors). We also sell the very nice new 5-String acoustic-electric Realist violin by David Gage. We also make and sell an incredible 5-string travel violin.
Octave Violins and Violas
We make the most advanced and best-sounding octave violins and octave violas (aka “chin cellos”). Dr. Rickert has been researching acoustic octave violins for more than 15 years. He has designed a number of such instruments over the past decade, each new one better than the rest. We sell a lot of these. Top recording artists own a number of them.
Tertis Wide-Body Violas in all Sizes
We are one of the only U.S. based sources of extremely high quality Tertis wide-body violas, in sizes from 15” to 16.5” (note: viola size is designated by the length of the instrument body, from the saddle to the neck joint). These instruments are made for us by one of the top luthiers in China.
Learn more about Tertis violas, which are named after Lionel Tertis, certainly one of the most highly regarded violists of the 20th Century…some say the greatest violist ever!
The Custom Shop
Since our beginning, a surprisingly large part of our business has been comprised of custom instruments that began with a phone call or email that started with something like “I have this idea…could you guys make it?” I think that this reputation for building unique instruments probably originated from the eccentricity of some of our earliest designs for baritone fiddles and travel violins.
Over the years, we have made a number of one-of-a-kind instruments; some of them truly outrageously cool! One of the coolest instruments, of which we are quite proud, is a 10-string 3” wide pochette (pocket violin)…4 playable strings with 6 sympathetic strings running under the fingerboard (similar to the Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle and the Baroque Viola D’Amore). We affectionately call this instrument the Pochette D’Amore.
And nobody here will ever forget the incredible electric cigar box fiddle that we made for “Reverend Snake”, at the time the fiddle player of the “Prodigal String Band. We made a purely acoustic copy of the "ReverendSnake" fiddle for the well-known an truly one-of-a-kind Irish performance artist, actor and fiddler, Aindrias de Staic, who is pictured here. Aindrias is an Irishman of Gypsy descent based in Galway, Ireland. You can find videos of his one man show performances on YouTube. His stories about growing up as a Gypsy in Ireland will make you laugh and cry, but mostly laugh...for mature audiences only (language).
Anyway, we now have a bona fide “Custom Shop” and have established a way for musicians with out-of-the-ordinary musical ideas requiring extraordinary instruments.
The Custom Shop is also where our own new concepts are shown prior to becoming regular production items.
