I (Don Rickert) am in the March/April issue of Strings Magazine!
I am honored to have been one of several experts interviewed for the article, A Pocket Full of Sound, by Karen Peterson in the March/April 2023 issue of Strings Magazine (No. 311, March/April 2023). I wish I could share the entire article here, but I am pretty sure that that would be a copyright violation. That being said, I feel pretty good about how my comments about the 18th Century pochette were incorporated into the article. Hats off to the author Karen Peterson for an excellent piece.
Unless you are a Strings Magazine subscriber, or chose to spend $10 to download the March/April 2023 issue, you won’t be able to see it, at least now here. I can, however, summarize the key points:
The pochette was a tiny violin-like bowed instrument that was usually tuned to a higher pitch than a regular violin.
Note: Many pochettes, especially later ones, while still having a very small body, had disproportionately long necks, which made possible the same vibrating string length of a full-size violin, and thus, enabling them to be tuned to regular violin pitch. The tuning pitch of the Baroque period was a bit lower than modern pitch.
The pochette dates back to the 1500s, when, in its primitive form, was often played by street musicians.
During the reign of Louis XIV (the Sun King) beginning in the late 17th Century, the pochette came into its own among the aristocratic elite, or at least their support staff who taught them how to dance.
Dancing was an important skill for European aristocrats who wanted to fit in.
Baroque period pochettes incorporated all sorts of precious materials, such as ivory, tortoise shell, ebony and inlaid with precious stones, silver and/or gold.
While pochettes looked fancy, they mostly sounded awful. This was due in part to their diminutive size, but more owing to the fact that they did not have two essential elements for achieving decent sound from a bowed instrument, a soundpost and bass bar.
See the video for an example of how typical early pochettes sound.
Great musicians - ludicrously small instruments!
A later model - marginally acceptable sound (the instrument, that is - playing is great!)
Note 1: I have never been able to find a satisfactory answer to why most pochettes were made without bass bars or soundposts. Their key function to sound production was widely known since at least the 16th Century.
Note 2: Some later pochettes did, in fact, have something like a soundpost and/or a bass bar. Replicas of some of these late 18th Century pochettes actually sounded pretty good. At one time, I built quite a few replicas of a model made in Glasgow and, indeed, they sound amazing for such small instruments.
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
Despite their generally horrible sound, pochettes were deemed “good enough” for sawing out a melody suitable for dance instruction.
As the 18th Century progressed, knowing how to dance became very important to the emerging Scottish upper middle class hoping to enter high society, or at least to impress one’s peers.
Due to their portability, the pochette became a key tool for one of the hottest gigs of early and mid-18th Century France and England, teaching dance steps to aristocrats in their homes.
Dance teachers, or as they came to be known, “Dance Masters,” were the era’s equivalent of a personal trainer. As many, probably most, dance masters were French, the elaborately styled French overcoat was commonly worn, any many had a special pocket for carrying a small fiddle. Such a pocket, in French, was called a “pochette”, or “little pocket”. The instrument, at some point, acquired the same name.
Note: The above begs the question, what were pochettes called prior to the era of the dancing master in the 18th Century?
The article goes on to discuss the problem of lugging around a full-size violin from home to home as a dance master made his rounds to his clients. Even if a dance master could afford one, a violin case of the Baroque period was not intended for mobility. Period cases were heavy and often did not have handles. The cases of the period were designed for displaying instruments in a fancy music parlor.
The article finishes with a fairly lengthy exposition of 18th Century Scottish musicians (not dance masters, but, rather, professional musicians) who were known to have played pochettes.
The most famous of these professional players was also the most famous violinist in Scotland, Niel Gow, who was instrumental in creating what we now call Scottish Traditional country dance music.
Gow was among a group of fiddlers associated with a bowing technique known as the “Scotch Snap”, which is either a long note followed by a short note, or a short note followed by a long one. The Scotch Snap led to the creation of the distinctly Scottish tune type known as the Strathspey. The article recounts a popular story that I recalled about how the short pochette bow that Gow would have used while walking to gigs with his pochette contributed to invention of the Scotch snap, as the bow often proved too short, thus requiring a sudden change in bow direction.
Note: While the above story is fun, it is just that, a story. The story I recounted was lore rather than established fact. Further, while Gow was indeed among the earliest composers of strathspeys, whether or not he actually invented the musical form or the Scotch snap bowing technique has never been proven. Other contemporaries of Gow, notably William Marshal, also composed many strathspeys, many of them regarded as the greatest strathspeys ever composed.
The article finishes with an interesting, albeit tenuous, link between the “Scotch snap” and contemporary hip-hop.
Originally known in Korea, not as a K-pop artist, but as a controversial and satirical hip-hop artist, Psy (slang for “psycho” – real name, Park Jae-sang) achieved international fame in 2012 with the music video to his humorous pop song “Gangnam Style”.
Psy is considered to be the first K-pop artist to make a breakthrough in the Western music industry. He now runs a record company and management agency for up-and-coming K-pop artists. His office is located in the Gangnam neighborhood of Seul, where it all started.
If you are unfamiliar with Psy, "Gangnam Style", or even K-pop, you might need to come out of your cave for some air.
Anyway, congratulations Psy for producing the first video EVER to have more than one billion views on YouTube!
You might find it strange that I am asking this question. After all, I am a luthier who makes violoncellos da spalla. Should I not just be happy when someone wants me to make one for them?
Before you read this, you need to know the following:
I am not playing “devil’s advocate” here. I am quite serious in asking the question.
I am not a violoncello da spalla “hater” or even a violoncello da spalla skeptic.
I do not care whether or not J.S. Bach actually had a hand in the invention of the violoncello da spalla or whether the instrument was actually a thing in the 18th Century. I do think that is cool, however, that Bach might have been involved.
Likewise, I do not care whether the violoncello da spalla is a “21st Century aberration”. Whether it is or not is simply irrelevant, although I think that it is rather rude to call it such.
Regardless of its actual use in the 1700s, the violoncello da spalla has a real place in the contemporary performance of Baroque Period repertoire.
I build instruments for a living and one of my favorite instruments to make is the violoncello da spalla.
My violoncellos da spalla are played by some of the preeminent players of the instrument.
Just remember what I just said as you read what follows. I am a violoncello da spalla devotee!
My Discovery of the Violoncello da Spalla
Thanks to Dmitry Badiarov’s enthusiastic evangelism, I discovered the violoncello da spalla about 10 years ago. I was absolutely smitten and certain that I needed one.
Having played fiddle for about 50 years at that point, I did what I know that so many others have done. I got the best fractional 4-string cello I could find and utilized my luthier skills to make it sort of playable. Finding a suitably-sized fractional cello is easier said than done, as 1/10 size cellos, which are the closest in size to a proper violoncello da spalla, are virtually non-existent. Anyway, trying to use a kid’s cello as an adult violoncello da spalla was not at all satisfactory so, being an experienced luthier, I set about making my own violoncellos da spalla—proper 5-string violoncellos da spalla without a child-sized end pin and not made out of plywood. After a few tries I got really good at making them. I have since made more than 20, including those played by some of the instrument’s preeminent players.
Do I like playing my own instruments?
I do indeed love the sound and playability of my violoncellos da spalla. I always derived great satisfaction in making great instruments that players love, and are worth every penny that they cost. Do I like actually playing my own violoncellos da spalla? Not really. What can I say. I can play well enough to determine whether or not an instrument is ready for a discerning owner, but I just like playing a violin or viola much better. When I want to play an instrument in the tenor and baritone range, an octave violin is my preference. I make those as well, and have done so for almost two decades. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have made many more octave violins than violoncellos da spalla, mostly because I have been at it for longer.
Is my experience related to the fact that—
I am more a fiddler than a classical violinist
I am old
I have gotten lazy (related to being old, I am sure)
I never became as immersed in the Baroque repertoire as maybe I could have been.
I did, however, spend several years as a teenager transposing Bach cello pieces for electric bass guitar, as I learned that Jack Bruce of the Cream (one of Eric Clapton’s early bands) used many Bach riffs in his incredible playing.
I have arthritis in my left hand and the violoncello da spalla is a bit of stretch size-wise for me. I half suspect that my arthritis may be due in part to playing too much Bach on a Fender Precision Bass slung low (very non-ergonomic) when I was young.
And so on…
All of those things I mentioned above are true, and that relates to my point. The violoncello da spalla, the enthusiasm of others notwithstanding, is NOT for everybody. That being said, I have seen players giving professional performances within a month of picking up the violoncello da spalla for the first time. What do these players have in common? They have all been VIOLists who had already reached virtuoso level skill on VIOLA. They are used to larger instruments and have mastered the skill of slower and harder bowing required for the viola.
I have also seen other accomplished musicians struggle for months, but who eventually conquer the violoncello da spalla after maybe 6 months of concerted effort. From my direct experience, this group has one thing in common. They are generally highly-proficient classical violinists and/or fiddlers (e.g., Bluegrass, Scottish, Irish). I have videos of some of these folks playing everything from video game music scores to 18th Century Scottish airs and laments on my website (www.RickertMusicalInstruments.com).
While I have heard about cellists transitioning to violoncello da spalla, I have not seen firsthand a single musician whose main instrument is cello master the violoncello da spalla without extreme effort. After all, for a cellist, bowing a violin, viola, and yes, violoncello da spalla is backwards! In fact, one of the world’s finest cellist/recording artist/music school professors, who is also a longstanding client, gave a hard pass on even trying the violoncello da spalla because of its playing position.
The group that experiences the hardest time with the violoncello da spalla is comprised of people who are beginners with violin or, occasionally, with viola. The violoncello da spalla is a lot of instrument to handle. If one is still learning how to handle a violin, the road ahead is always going to be a long one. It is a lot like my recent attempt to learn the accordion, after a lifetime of avoiding keyboard instruments. It did not go well.
Avoiding disappointment is an important goal.
While I derive great joy in making extraordinary violoncellos da spalla for those who are truly ready, I do not get any satisfaction in charging money to clients who will be ultimately disappointed.
One who has the disposable income can always get a luthier-built violoncello da spalla and sell it should they lose interest. That is true, but be aware that the current resale market for unusual instruments like the violoncello da spalla is not good. This is the case for new instruments as well. The post Covid-19 lockdown economy is a challenge for all of us in the high-end bespoke musical instrument business.
Why Octave Violin may be a better choice than Violoncello da Spalla for many players
Tuned exactly like a violin, only an octave lower
The octave violin’s four strings are tuned exactly like the first four strings of a violoncello da spalla. It lacks only the low C-string of the violoncello da spalla.
The C-string is important if you are playing Baroque or Classical pieces. For the fiddler in most traditional folk genres, as well as modern genres like Bluegrass and Country Swing, the C-string is often more or less irrelevant. Even fiddlers who play 5-string violins don’t always tune the low string to C anyway. The low string is often used simply as an extra drone string.
Note:
As a luthier, I have come to accept the paradox that the only reason a bowed instrument needs to be much larger than a regular violin is to optimize the playing of notes lower than G2 (i.e., G in the second octave below middle-C). The four strings of an octave violin (G2 to E4) do just fine with a body more the size of a regular violin. That is the paradox. Adding a low C-string crosses some threshold which, if crossed, requires a significantly larger instrument in order to achieve anything like a balanced response across all of the strings.
Those luthiers who build violoncellos da spalla know that achieving a balanced response between the C-string and the other 4 strings can be a challenge even with an instrument of its relative size.
Easier to learn and play
In my firsthand experience, whatever skill level that a musician has achieved on the violin (or fiddle) is pretty much immediately transferable to the octave violin. It is an easier transition than even to a 5-string violin, as the strings are usually closer together on that instrument. This goes for classical violinists as well as fiddlers in any of the traditional music genres. With only some admonishment to dig deeper and slightly slower with the bow, most can do a plausible job on the octave violin in an hour or less. In fact, because the octave violin is more forgiving than the conventional violin or fiddle, one’s playing often sounds better on the octave violin.
A well-made purpose-built octave violin is just as loud as a violoncello da spalla
A regular violin simply fitted with octave strings usually does not have really great projection; in other words, it is somewhat quiet. With a purpose-built octave violin fitted with modern octave strings, the sound is every bit as loud as a really good violincello da spalla. Purpose-built octave violins are usually somewhat larger-bodied than regular violins, which is often accomplished with higher ribs. There are differences on the inside also, such as graduation, bass bar and sound post position.
The octave violin has its own unique timbre.
Just as the timbre of a violoncello da spalla is different from a 4/4 cello, so is the tone of an octave violin different from either.
Less expensive
Purpose-built octave violins are considerably less expensive than violoncellos da spalla. In the case of the instruments that I make, an octave violin costs about ½ as much as a violoncello da spalla.
Want to hear what an Octave Violin sounds like?
The video below is a compilation of older videos of some of my early octave violins. I have included this old video because nobody does justice to the octave violin like Darci Jones, who plays in most of the clips. I plan to do a video of my most recent octave violin designs, and will post it when it is done.
In summary: For whom is a violoncello da spalla the right choice?
The answer to this question is actually simple:
Accomplished violists
Those who are interested in professional performance of Baroque Period repertoire, especially the works of Bach
Those who can justify (and afford) the $10K to $30K cost of a good violoncello da spalla
There are, of course, others who do not fit into those categories. Anyone who is passionate about taking up the violoncello da spalla, and has the means, should by all means do so.
In closing, here are some additional questions you should consider.
Have you ever played a viola?
Are you a beginner or an experienced violinist or violist?
Can you afford a good violoncello da spalla?
Do you need to answer to someone else, such as a partner or spouse, about how you spend your money?
Many players of violins, especially fiddlers, spend much effort dreaming about and seeking instruments that, while tuned the same (for a fiddler, this is often something different than the standard G3 D4 A4 E5) but with a less shrill, indeed darker, timbre, with excellent sonority. As Darol Anger colorfully put it, many fiddlers…
"…tire of all those high screechy sounds up next to our face all the time! As in many marriages, an instrument's most salient qualities often metamorphose into those qualities most irritating to the player.
The violin's ultra-soprano range can be a source of joy or nerve-shattering neurosis, and has inspired many players to seek the warmer-toned viola as a solace." --Darol Anger, Strings Magzine,1992
The above image shows a complete Violin Octet. The Mezzo Violin is the larger of the three smaller instruments in the foreground.
The Mezzo Violin has a body typically about the size of a 15 ½” viola, but with a disproportionately shorter neck, which affords a playable string length the same as a regular violin (i.e., that would be about 13”). Parodically, while having a larger front and back profile, Mezzo Violins, at least later examples, actually have narrower ribs than a conventional violin. My understanding is the narrower ribs were to counteract production of a timbre that is too deep (i.e., “muddy”). It is tuned the same as a regular violin (typically G3 D4 A4 E5).
While being tuned the same as a conventional violin, a Mezzo Violin has a deeper timbre, usually with noticeably louder projection. One would think that this instrument fits the bill for those seeking a loud and dark sounding instrument. It probably would if you could find them. The instruments of the Violin Octet never did take off in a big way. I remember learning about them in elementary school (60 years ago!). They were to revolutionize the modern orchestra. That didn’t happen. While the orchestral music establishment has shown some acceptance to innovation over the centuries (e.g., the modern neck set, chin rest, etc.), especially the bowed strings; however, more innovations have been killed than those that have been embraced. There is reportedly a supplier who has Mezzo Violins made to specs in China. They are not very expensive and I have heard good reviews. But they are factory-made in China—not seen as a good selling point for many.
I have started making a new instrument, which I call a “Quasi-Mezzo Violin”. Unlike a Mezzo Violin, it is about the same size as a conventional violin, but with significantly deeper ribs and a shape that has less pronounced corners. On the inside, it is optimized for deeper timbre and projection. These optimizations include a special bass bar as well as different graduation than a conventional violin.
I have been intrigued by the idea of the Mezzo Violin for a long time. In fact, I have built a few experimental violas with shortened necks, usually intended as octave violins. At one point, I even experimented with a capo of sorts to achieve a violin-length scale of 13” on a full-size (16”+) viola. I have been more successful, however, in selling, violas with standard length viola-length necks and often fit with special octave strings. The playable scale length is 14.5” or more depending on the viola. Most of these have been based on the Tertis pattern, which has a wider middle and lower bout. When strung with octave strings, I call them “Tenor Violas”.
If you want to hear one in the able hands of a really good fiddler, click here .
Because our Tenor Violas are based on a very nice imported Tertis pattern viola, we can keep the price down to the $2K to $2.5K range. If you are interested in learning more about these instruments or our new Quasi-Mezzo Violin, available in 4-string, 5-string and Octave Violin configurations, please feel free to contact me:
The image is not a new musical instrument but a faucet. If you continue you will understand
I make my living making very good custom musical instruments, including:
Violoncellos da Spalla
Octave Violins
Travel Violins
Octave Mandolins
Citterns
Mandocellos
I would very much like to sell you one. If you are reading this, you can easily figure out how to contact me (706-896-0909; [email protected]).
Now, I’ll cut to the chase – Very few people are buying custom musical instruments these days. It is even worse than the worldwide financial crisis of 2007-2008. Well, maybe not worse, but just as bad.
Very few makers of custom hand-built musical instruments will admit publicly that the current state of affairs is really dire, which is a polite way of saying that it sucks! Why? — because it is generally not a good marketing strategy to say out loud that business is challenging and things like you might lose your home to foreclosure and the like. The “Market” could not care less. Well, the truth is the truth!
For me, the time of daunting backlog queues is a thing of the past. Since Q3 2021 it has been quite the opposite. You do not see economists on National News programs talking about any of this, as small businesses that make bespoke goods are, quite simply, a tiny segment of the overall economy. Since you will not be hearing from economists on the current dire situation for custom luthiers, I will tell you what I think.
The COVID-19 Pandemic and the "Lockdown"
The COVID pandemic, especially what we called the “lockdown” was bad in all sorts of ways. First, there was so much suffering and widespread death, as well as the long-term health issues for many survivors. And then were the businesses that were affected. Service industries like restaurants, and the entertainment industry, suffered terribly. Some businesses, like makers of strings for orchestral instruments (e.g., SuperSensitive), went out of business during the lockdown. The reason is that SuperSensitive absolutely depended on sales of inexpensive strings to tens of thousands of students in middle school and high school orchestra programs. The ripple effects were severe. For example, octave viola (aka “chin cello”) players are now without a source for strings, as SuperSensitive was the ONLY maker of such strings.
Given the aforementioned tragedies, I feel almost guilty about what I am about to say, but the COVID lockdown was really good for makers of high-end (i.e., expensive) musical instruments, large as well as small. For instance, 2020 was a very good year for manufactures like Gibson, Taylor, Martin and Fender. In fact, 2020 was the best year for sales in the history of Fender. This trend continued into part of 2021. Those trying to make sense of this attribute the spike in high-end musical instrument sales to the confluence of several things:
Thousands of adults were bored out of their minds.
Many of these bored people decided to take up a musical instrument.
The various stimulus checks, both under both the Trump and the Biden administrations, helped people to pay for their newfound hobbies.
During the 2020-2021 period, I had more orders for my violoncellos da spalla, octave violins and travel violins than I ever could have imagined. It was almost impossible to keep up with orders. Then, it was as if a faucet was turned off. I mean OFF! To this day I still mutter WTF to myself when I think about it.
So, here we are waiting for the phone to ring. Well, not exactly, as the downturn seems to have empowered the crackpots. Every custom luthier knows what I am talking about… people who find it interesting, comforting or whatever to engage a luthier in hours of prelude to what appears to be a likely commission. In reality, all these folks want to do is go through the motions of specifying the instrument they would like, as if they were ever going to actually buy one. That’s enough to get those pleasurable neurotransmitters going. It is very much like people who pretend that they are rich and take Ferraris on test drives. Yes, that really is a thing, believe it or not. I imagine that some of these people will read this and I have one thing to say—shame on you!
While I feel that I understand why sales spiked during the lockdown, as described above. I have no idea why everything grinded to a halt when the lockdown ended. I am really interested in your ideas should you want to share them.
First, thank you for your valuable attention. This will make sense if I can hold on to your attention for a few more minutes.
In the words of Aerosmith:
I'm back I'm back in the saddle again I'm back I'm back in the saddle again
Man, nobody can screech our lyrics like the great Steven Tyler!
Gene Autry expressed the same sentiment in his song of the same title, written in 1939 and recorded numerous times by him and widely covered.
If you have to ask, it means doing something that you stopped doing for a period of time.
I stopped building instruments for a while. Here is why.
After the passing of my Partner and Soulmate Alycen in August of 2021, I took a long hiatus from seeking new instrument build commissions. During a period of several months after her death I caught up on a distressing backlog of instrument builds, all of them violoncellos da spalla and a custom leather case for a violoncello da spalla. I also pretty much ignored doing frequent updates to my blogs and other social media, and boy, am I paying for that now! I have been posting lots of articles the past few weeks. I have regained “first page” status on Google searches for anything remotely related to “Violoncello da Spalla.” We have a long way to go with getting the word out on my octave violins, travel violins and such. And the market for mandolins is so large, that it could take a really long time to get there.
I am eager and ready to start building new instruments for my discerning customers. I have a special affection for the violoncello da spalla and it is, thus, one of my favorite instruments to build. I am also looking forward to making some of my octave violins, 5-string violins and violas and my famous travel violins. I am also now making high-end octave mandolins and citterns in partnership with luthier Jesse Hale, called Rickert & Hale, Luthiers. Prototypes are presently in the hands of expert evaluators. I will be showing at least one octave mandolin prototype (maybe two) at the upcoming Hoppin’ John Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention (Pittsboro, NC; September 15-17, 2022).
I will also be showing a new Violoncello da Spalla build in progress and a new Tenor Viola (viola with special design features and setup that is tuned an octave lower than a violin, which is a 4th lower than a regular viola). This instrument is perfect for fiddlers, as all of the fingering is the same as a fiddle, but an octave lower. If you are interested in my opinion on the use of Violoncello da Spalla, and octave violin, in Old-Time string band music, see:
Re-Booting a bespoke lutherie business is surprisingly hard, and, I must say, rather frustrating. I would much rather be making instruments than spending untold hours marketing them! But that is part of the deal for anyone who chooses to earn a living as a luthier.
Attention Economy
In the Attention Economy in which we live, getting noticed is a prerequisite for any kind of business, including small boutique businesses like making custom-built musical instruments. And once you get enough attention to actually sell stuff, you have to continuously remind people via blogs, YouTube and other social media to remember you and the great instruments that you make.
Put simply, the idea behind Attention Economics is that there is way too much information to consume, but humans can only pay attention to a tiny fraction of what they are bombarded with. Online selling platforms such as Reverb.com and eBay take advantage of this human attention deficit by more aggressively bombarding site visitors about what you are tying to sell, for a hefty fee, of course. Too much information and human’s mental limitations results in “attention poverty” for most who seek attention (i.e., selling stuff). Those who have the time and funding to game the system, (SEO, social media algorithms, etc.) get the most attention wealth. If you are curious about attention economics and its psychological theoretical underpinnings, here are some particularly good links:
The short explanation is that it is a very small 5-string cello that is suspended by a shoulder strap and played across the chest more or less under the chin, as shown in the image of our friend Peter Walker in full Scottish Highland dress. The violoncello da spalla has no well-established connection to 18th Century Scotland; however cello was definitely widely used in Highland fiddling as basso continuo to the fiddle. The dominant figure in Scottish Baroque fiddling, Niel (aka "Neil") Gow (1727 – 1807), was usually accompanied by his brother Donald on cello.
Anyway, the violoncello da spalla is an early to mid 18th Century (i.e., Baroque) instrument that is enjoying a resurgence of popularity, particularly among experienced viola and violin players who are Baroque period enthusiasts. Why violists and not cellists? (Actually, many cellists have taken up the instrument; however, most of my highly accomplished violoncello da spalla clients are violists). Because of its playing position, one bows from the treble side like a viola or violin, which is backwards to a cellist.
Cello has been used in Old-time music for a long time. The first time I saw a cello in an Old-Time string band was at the U.S. National Folk Festival, which was at that time held in Northern Virginia at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, in 1976. And the cellist was playing a 1/2 size cello da spalla style!!! Admittedly, it has never been, and still is not, common. That being said, it is my opinion that there is no better “second fiddle” than either an octave violin (tenor range) or a cello, including the violoncello da spalla (both baritone range). The octave violin is more well established in the Old-Time, as well as the more modern Bluegrass genre, but that is a story for another day.
Those familiar with the late great “Carolina Chocolate Drops” will know exactly what I am talking about here. It is indeed the case that one or two of my violoncello da spalla clients have actually competed in the “Non-Traditional Fiddle” category at Old-Time fiddlers' competitions--on violoncello da spalla!
If you have never heard cello backing up a fiddle, you simply must. Please check out the following videos that inspire me about the possibilities of violoncello da spalla in Old-Time music. I suppose that "haters" would maintain that such a match-up is anachronistic--REALLY?!?!?!? I mean, who cares! "Traditional" Old-Time string band music is about as far from being some kind of historical reenactment as is humanly possible. Further, the list of commonly used instruments has evolved radically over time. Since its origins in the Southeastern Appalachians in the 19th Century, the genre has had more names than you can keep track of. With the advent of phonograph records, it was originally distributed under the "Hillbilly Music" category. The moniker "Old-Time" became popular in the 1960s.
That is the great Rhiannon Giddens of Durham, North Carolina on fiddle and vocals. She is now a solo artist, performing with the likes of Yo Yo Ma.
Appearing in the last video are Natalie Haas (cello) and Brittany Haas (5-string fiddle). Natalie has recorded on more than 30 albums, many with the Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser, and is an Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music. Brittany has appeared on at least a dozen albums.
It is only a matter of time before some crazy violoncello da spalla player decides to cross over into Old-time string band music in a big way, I mean with high-quality YouTube videos and such. Or it could be a really good fiddler who decides to take up the violoncello da spalla. We have been talking to a few great fiddlers who are trying to find a way to afford a violoncello da spalla. Wish I could afford to just give them one!
Do you have a taste for the bizarre when it comes to music? Well, I sure do! Well, today is our day, International Strange Music Day (August 24, 2022). Here is a snippet from the website, www.daysoftheyear.com.
“For those who have a tendency to lean toward the unique and bizarre, this is one day that will feed that strange musical soul! International Strange Music Day pulls out all the stops when it comes to going beyond the normal and opening up to a world with new horizons.
When it comes to the ‘strange’ part, this can mean either unfamiliar or bizarre – or both! The choice is entirely personal and up to the individual. In either case, International Strange Music Day is meant to expand the ear toward new sounds.”
There are a number of genres that people who are into these things have associated with International Strange Music Day. Click here to learn more those genres. These genres are not necessarily meant to be funny; however, “Chap Hop” (as in "Good to see you, Old Chap") is laugh-out-loud funny. Think of hip hop performed by stereotypical oh so English Eaton (e.g., the cricket and regatta set) types, complete with straw boater hats and striped jackets and rapping in Queen’s English about stereotypical aristocratic English things.
So, what about things like fart music? But of course! I will leave you with the following.
Before I start, what are the criteria for judging the sound quality of musical instruments? I hope that the reader can agree that this is largely subjective, and often, culturally relative. Take the Great Highland Bagpipe. That there are two kinds of people in the world; those who love the bagpipes and those who hate them has been attributed to many, including, as I recall, Winston Churchill. Many of us love (at least in limited doses) the uillean pipes; however, I have known many Irish, meaning those who actually live in Ireland, who refer to them as “rat-chasers”. Finally, some might describe an octave mandolin as a bouzouki that is too bassy and boomy, or a bouzouki as a thin and weak-sounding octave mandolin.
While the criteria for judging the sound quality of a musical instruments are, to some extent, subjective, culturally relative and even arbitrary, there are some sonic attributes of plucked acoustic stringed instruments, which I believe are widely accepted as desirable, such as:
Sonority (i.e., “power” or loudness)
Balance (i.e., low notes on the low strings are just as loud to the ear as notes on the high strings)
I would argue that achieving the aforementioned criteria boils down to three things: materials, design and workmanship (i.e., “lutherie magic”).
Materials
Many lutherie geeks (including yours truly) are familiar with the fact that Robert Benedetto made a few guitars mostly from essentially lumber yard materials, knots and all; and they sounded really good. You can find photos of these instruments in his seminal book on designing and building archtop guitars. This notwithstanding, quality of materials (actually, type and quality), especially for the body components, generally does make a huge difference in how good the instrument sounds.
At the most basic level, in general, well-dried solid wood sounds better than laminated wood, with the exception of necks. One is more likely to see a 3- or 5-piece laminated neck on a high-end instrument than a cheap one.
Old-growth AAAA Red Spruce generally sounds better than really cheap Sitka spruce. Real (e.g., Honduran) mahogany generally sounds better than mahogany substitutes, such as Sipo—you can call it “Sipo Mahogany”, but mahogany it is NOT!
Design
Design plays a huge role vis-à-vis the sound of an acoustic stringed instrument. Design combines art and science, so it can be based on naïve physics, textbook physics or even informal observation and other anecdotal evidence. All of these have proved valuable in the design of musical instruments.
Based on naïve physics
Naïve physics or folk physics is the untrained human perception of basic physical phenomena (https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Naïve physics). Put another way, these are terms for people spontaneously understanding the workings of the physical world. Contrary to scientific physics, folk physics is based on immediate human understanding of the nature of physical objects and intuitive human prediction of physical events in nature.
Naïve physics is, indeed, a legitimate approach for explaining physical phenomena like musical instruments, such as why a new bass bar design should make a violin sound better, or why Orville Gibson’s original mandolin design should make for a better-sounding mandolin. Sometimes naïve physics turns out to be right, but just as often ends up being debunked. The Virzi Tone Enhancer used by none other than Lloyd Loar in some of his mandolins is an example of the latter. Fortunately, the naïve physics knowledge of a gifted and experienced luthier forms a pretty good set of heuristics (roughly, rules of thumb) for designing and making an extraordinary instrument.
Based on textbook physics
One could think that if a musical instrument is based on scientifically derived physics principles, “what can go wrong?”. Actually, a lot can go wrong. As with any application of scientifically derived principles to making real-world artifacts, such as a bouzouki, there is a huge gulf between theory and practice. For starters, the number of variables requiring measurement is astronomical (no pun intended). Things like actual (not simply average) hardness, tensile and compression strength, moisture content, the true flexibility of the wood, the optimal top and back arching for a particular string tension, and so on are, in practical terms, not even close to being directly measurable. That being said, the application of scientific. Referring once again to Lloyd Loar, his deep knowledge of scientific acoustical engineering principles, combined with his brilliance, contributed to arguably the best mandolin design ever (i.e., the Gibson F-5), certainly better than any previous design. Today, 1923 and 1924 F-5s signed by Loar sell in the $130,000 to $160,000 range!
Based on informal observation
Remember the heuristic knowledge mentioned above. A master luthier (not just a repair person) approaches the design of a new instrument with all sorts of heuristics (i.e., rules of thumb) in his or her head. For example, the luthier has the idea that a neck made entirely of hard maple (aka rock maple or sugar maple) is going to absorb far few body vibrations than say, a neck made of mahogany. This will result in a completely different tone for the completed instrument. Or, a top with a significant induced arch (i.e., a slight arch produced by bracing with a certain radius (e.g., 25’) on the glued surfaces of the braces) will have better sonority. In the violin world, this is called “pre-springing”. I could go on ad infinitum.
Workmanship (i.e., “Lutherie Magic”)
A lot of what we call workmanship can be seen; things like clean glue joints, cleanly scraped surfaces, neatly installed purfling, etc. Those aspects of workmanship that contribute to sound are mostly invisible. These include things like:
This is an update of an article published in 2015.
Introduction
Many violinists with an “amplifier-ready” (i.e. has a pickup) instrument try to use effect processors to extend their sound palate. Effect processors are usually called “guitar effect boxes”, because such devices have historically been marketed to electric guitarists. In recent years, there has been a growing number of effect processors marketed for use with amplified acoustic guitars. Such devices are often referred to by their nickname, “stomp box” (referring to the way they are activated, by stomping on a switch with one’s foot). Many amplifiers come with a selection of common effects built into the amplifier housing.
Widespread Mistaken Beliefs
Study of a large number of discussion threads on online violin and fiddle special interest websites reveals that there is a lot of misinformation about violins and effect signal processors on the web. Widespread wrong information on the web?...say it ain’t so! Here are a few:
Most effect processors do not work with violins.
A bowed note is different from a plucked not and, therefore, somehow does not “track” with many effect processors.
All guitars, regardless of their pickups, do work with most effect processors.
Hopefully, this article can dispel these mistaken beliefs and set you on your way towards using just about any effect signal processor with your violin. Warning: You may have to get another violin. This may be the first time that many of you would have to spend serious money in furtherance of your art. We know that it is virtually a part of the fiddlers’ unofficial creed that one should not have to spend money on just about anything. This includes decent strings, tuning pegs that work, good bows or even a quality instrument.
The Classic Effects
These are effects that have been around in one form or another since the 1960s and, in some cases, even longer. They include things like tremolo, reverb, delay, compressors, limiters, overdrive, distortion, echo and basic chorus. The main difference between effects of this sort made 50 years ago and those made today is that the newer ones are more electronically sophisticated and work better. In fact, the earliest echo and reverb units were completely electro-mechanical in nature and prone to mechanical failure (e.g. broken echo unit loop tape or disconnected reverb unit spring)
What the classic effects have in common is that they do not do any heavy duty signal processing that require the processor to accurately detect the frequencies that comprise the input signal. These old school processors will take just about any signal thrown at them, including human voices via microphones, and do whatever it is they are designed to do.
The Classic Effects and Violins
These effects, needless to say, work flawlessly with guitars with just about any kind of pickup(s). Further, I know of no situation where a violin, whether it be an acoustic violin with a pickup or an electric violin (even the cheap ones), has failed to work with any of the “classic” effect processors.
Unfortunately, these effects that DO work with most violins are NOT, with some notable exceptions (e.g. Eileen Ivers' artful use of distortion and a wah-wah peddle), of much interest to violinists and fiddlers. Really, does a violinist really need a "sustain" effect or a desire for distortion.
The Problematic Effects
The Problematic Effects are those that many violinists desire. We call them the “Cool Effects”. They are also the ones that DO NOT work with most violins. Included in this group of effect processors are:
Octave converters (generate notes 1 or even 2 octaves lower than the unprocessed signal)
Detuners (aka “anti-chorus”; by mixing a processor generated note that is slightly pitch-shifted with the original note, simulates two violins playing in unison)
Exotic effects, such as an effect that generates the sound of sympathetic strings (can make a violin sound like a viola d’amore or a Hardanger fiddle)
What do these “problematic” effects have in common?
All of the effects mentioned above, and ones similar to them (e.g. overtone generators; sub-harmonic generators, etc.) involve heavy-duty signal processing. It is essential that these signal processors determine, in near real time, the fundamental of each and every tone in a signal. Put another way (and anthropomorphizing a bit), the signal processor needs to “know” exactly which notes it is dealing with…and really fast (a millisecond at most).
Why these effects are a problem for violins
Violins and guitars have this in common: the tones (notes) they generate are NOT a single frequency. Rather, they generate notes that are comprised of a fundamental (the note that is perceived by a human), together with a large number of overtones, which are called “harmonics”. A fundamental and its set of associated harmonics is called a “frequency spectrum.” The human brain is really quite amazing its ability to organize the apparent chaos of a frequency spectrum, allowing a person to perceive a single note. A number of people have deficits in their ability to process and organize auditory stimuli and are, thus, very disturbed by sounds, especially music.
A simplified ideal frequency spectrum for a single violin note, as perceived by a average human, is shown below.
Note that sub-harmonics (harmonics with lower frequencies than the fundamental) are not shown in the example graphs for the sake of simplicity.
Electric guitars that are set to “flat” (EQ set to neutral for all bands) and the tips of violin bridges (where the strings contact the bridge) produce well-organized frequency spectra where the fundamentals have the highest amplitude (volume), which is usually measured in decibels (dBs).
The following idealized frequency spectrum graph illustrates this:
A frequency spectrum graph of the sound emanating from a violin top is not even close to a graph based on measurement from the bridge tip. See the illustration below, which shows (using the color red) the points at which the overtones actually have higher amplitude than the fundamental.
The following illustration attempts to convey the magnitude of the difference from what is recorded from a violin top and what is measured from its bridge tip.
It is noteworthy that all of the above frequency spectrum graphs are based on actual frequency spectrum graphs for a specific Stradivarius violin. So we can safely assume that instrument quality is not an issue here.
There is no way that a signal processor whose operation depends on “knowing” the note it is dealing with to do anything useful with such a frequency spectrum emanating from the soundboard (top) of a violin. Interestingly, as mentioned earlier, the human brain’s auditory processing system has no trouble reorganizing the apparent chaos captured in the above illustration into a sound that makes sense. In other words, what a human hears is closer to energy recorded from the violin bridge tip.
The next illustration shows the difference from a violin soundboard (top) frequency spectrum and what is ideal for a signal processor. The heavy blue line indicates the ideal.
So, Where Are We?
We know that, for any given note played, measurement of where violin strings contact the bridge yields a very different frequency spectrum graph than a graph based on the sound emanating from the instrument body, particularly its top. It is only the former (i.e. strings touching the bridge) that produces energy that can reliably and consistently be interpreted by certain signal processing devices (i.e. the cool but problematic ones).
All of what has been said appears to explain why effect signal processors work fine with electric guitars, but only with a minority of violins. With electric guitars, generating a signal is all about changes in electro-magnetic energy in response to string vibration. It is the vibrating strings interacting with powerful electro-magnetic pickups that produces the signal. This signal is at least predictable enough for effect processors to do their jobs.
This brings us to violin pickups.
A Brief Survey of Attempts to Make Violin Pickups
Buidling a Better Violin Pickup
Over at least the past 50 years, there have been countless attempts to invent violin pickups that actually work. Generally, there has been no major difference between pickups used on full-on electric violins and so-called acoustic-electric violins.
Curiously, while there have been attempts, magnetic violin pickups similar to those used on electric guitars have never caught on in any significant way.
Most magnetic pickups for violins, since the beginning and today, don’t sound very good (by any definition of the word), at least not without the help of industrial strength equalizer/preamps and other signal processing equipment. Even then, some still sound thin and tinny.
In any case, every attempt that I know of to bring a magnetic violin pickup to market has ended up being mostly rejected by players. An even larger impediment to adoption than sound quality is the fact that magnetic pickups require strings with ferrous (e.g. steel) core and windings. Only a minority of violin strings are made primarily of ferrous materials. Violin strings have cores either of some type of polymer fiber or a non-ferrous (i.e. NOT MAGNETIC) alloy. The windings are more likely to be aluminum, titanium or silver than steel.
Overwhelmingly, pickup designs have, over the years, involved piezoelectric elements that are...
Stuck to the bridge
Wedged in the bridge wings
Stuck to the violin body
Situated between the violin’s bridge and top plate
Single transducer epoxied into a hole drilled or routed into a regular bridge (probably the most popular type used on acoustic violins)
Multi-transducer a la Barbera Transducer Systems
Other strange methods
What looks like a tire inner tube wrapped around the instrument mid-section
Small mic on a gooseneck attached to the tailpiece ... mic aimed at violin top, the bridge or, in some cases, at a sound hole.
Images for some of the pickups listed above (click on any of the thumbnails for larger views.)
The only pickups that work with the cool problematic effects with at least fairly consistent reliability are those with piezo transducers embedded in a wooden bridge. The most familiar names associated with these bridge pickups are L. Baggs, Fishman, Schatten and Barbera. Other less familiar names (but great pickups) are Aceto-Violect (Ithaca Strings) and Bradivarius (Brad Higgens).
The only pickups that we know will work reliably and consistently with any effect signal processor we have encountered virtually 100% of the time are those by Barbera Transducer Systems or a custom pickup that is based on the same theory of operation. In fact, we have installed the Barbera pickups on a number of instruments, including experimental violins designed specifically for driving effect signal processors. The pickups have worked flawlessly with octave, harmonizer, detuner, overtone generator and sub-harmonic generator effects (all commonly deemed to be impossible for violins!). We have been able to simulate a contra-bass with a Barbera augmented violin by taking it 2 octaves down and driving a 400 watt bass amp outputting to massive sub-woofer system. This worked without a glitch in an instrument design competition live performance.
Most of the other bridge pickups above will work very well; albeit, not with the near-100% reliability of a Barbera pickup, with the most sophisticated effect signal processors. Pickups that contact the tops of instruments in any way (notably, the otherwise very good pickups by by Realist) are not generally suitable for live performance when advanced effect processors are involved. It is only the pickups with transducers embedded in a bridge that have a fighting chance in an amplified live performance situations with the cool problematic effect processors.
Why the Barbera Pickups DO Work Well with Signal Processors
Barbera pickups are based on a theory of operation that is the opposite of the approach taken by some other pickup manufacturers. According to Barbera, placing a single large transducer between the bridge and the top plate (the approach used for the Realist pickups) results in what is called a surface sensitization effect; whereby the resonant surfaces of the instrument become microphonically active (i.e. the top of the violin becomes a microphone, in effect). This results in an unfocused signal, as there is very little selectivity in the way that the vibrational information is collected. This means that everything gets amplified, and the very reason why Realist and similar pickups are so highly-regarded for their "realistic" acoustic violin timbre when amplified--sounds like an acoustic violin, only louder!
Barbera, instead of putting a single transducer under the bridge, embeds 2 or 4 (depending on the model) piezo elements PER STRING near the part where the string contacts the bridge. For a 5-string, that is 10 or 20 transducer elements. As one would imagine, the signal from a Barbera pickup is quite focused, and it is. The output signal contains unambiguous fundamental frequencies (higher amplitudes than the overtones). This is exactly what many effects that simply do not work with most amplified violins require, especially octave changing and harmonizer effects. These "impossible" effects work flawlessly with a violin using a Barbera pickup.
Paradoxically, while producing very strong and clear fundamental frequencies for effects boxes, the Barbera pickups do, in fact, interact substantially with the vibrating top of the instrument to produce rich harmonics. It sounds very focused and "clean" to the ear when amplified. It is up to debate whether amplified sound is quite “natural”. It is definitely not exactly the same timbre as the unamplified sound of the same violin when played acoustically.
With the right combination of effects boxes, equalizers, amplifiers and signal routing switches, a violinist or fiddler can realistically reproduce a very natural amplified sound of a cello, double bass or even contra-bass (the lowest instrument in the bowed string family). The musician can also do things like add sympathetic string chordal accompaniment in any of the octaves.
Conclusions
The Right Pickup for an Acoustic Violin Depends on What the Player Will Be Demanding From It.
The most important considerations are the following:
Live performance, recording session or something else?
Size of venue: Are you going to be playing in a pub, a large auditorium or an arena?
How loud? - Will you playing a sound-reinforced version of what is essentially an acoustic performance, or high-energy and high-volume (really loud!) performance, such as Celtic Punk (e.g. Flogging Molly, Drop Kick Murphies) or something in between?
Desire for a very rich and "natural" acoustic violin sound without requiring too much sound engineer magic - Be aware that you cannot always get what you want. If you are playing a high-volume performance in an arena, forget about a natural acoustic sound without use of special effects for simulating such.
Rating every pickup on every dimension is way beyond the scope of this article; however, I will offer some general opinions to guide you. If you wish to discuss your particular needs, that is what we are for at D. Rickert Musical Instruments. The email address is [email protected] and the phone number is 404-828-0136.
Opinion 1: This is actually a rule. If you use ANY kind of piezo pickup, you MUST use a preamp designed for adjusting the signal impedance. Impedance is an extremely complex topic and my goal here not to bore you into a catatonic stupor, I will try to simplify. Impedance is essentially the degree to which an electrical signal is obstructed (i.e. impeded), so high impedance is not good. Impedance is usually expressed in Ohms. In general, paradoxically, the more powerful a pickup is, the higher its impedance. Piezo transducer pickup output impedance is always quite high.
The output impedance of a violin pickup can be up to 1 MOhm (that is 1,000,000 Ohms); whereas the typical amplifier works most effectively with something less than 4 KOhms (4000 Ohms) and a sound board (via DI box) NEEDS a signal of 4 KOhms at most. With an amplifier, NOT using a preamp will sound thin and lifeless. If plugging into a DI (i.e a "direct box"), it just will not work without an impedance-matching preamp. The good news is that impedance matching pre-amplifiers do not cost very much. You can get a really good mini preamp that clips onto your belt for $100 or less.
Opinion 2: If you are playing in a recording session and you do not require any of the cool effects discussed earlier, you are probably better off with using one or more high-end microphones used in recording studios and relying on recording engineer mojo.
Opinion 3: If you are going for a really natural violin/fiddle sound, and you are playing a sound-reinforced acoustic performance without effect processing in a small (e.g. pub, square or contra dance, wedding reception) to medium-sized (e.g. a 500 to 1000 sear auditorium), the Realist pickup, or better still, a Realist Pro Amplified Acoustic Violin is usually an ideal choice.
Opinion 4: If you play in any type of "plugged-in" band, the volume will most likely be high enough that feedback will be issue, any of the bridge pickups with embedded transducers mentioned earlier will work well. Further, with these pickups, some cool effect processing, such as as an octave converter, is possible.
Opinion 5: Regardless of the size of venue or the volume at which you will be playing, if you intend to make substantial use of the cool but problematic effects, you will need a Barbera pickup (or a full-on electric violin) in order to ensure reliable and consistent performance.
Opinion 6: If you have an acoustic violin with a Barbera pickup installed, you will want to designate it as a dedicated amplified performance instrument. Due to the mass of a Barbera pickup (about twice that of a normal bridge), the instrument will not sound as good when played acoustically.
Return to the Widespread Misinformed Beliefs Listed at the Beginning of This Article
Most effect processors do not work with violins.
Most effect processors DO work with properly equipped violins. Of the widely recognized top tier electric violins (Wood Violins, Jordan, Jensen, Vector, EVL Violins, Stratton, NS Design, Bridge, Yamaha and Fuse), the majority of these work perfectly with most effect signal processors. The best electric violins all use pickups that capture energy mostly from their bridge tips. It is not coincidental, that many of the top electric violins utilize Barbera pickups.
Further, the several dozen acoustic violins and fiddles on which we have installed Barbera pickups, all have worked perfectly with any effect signal processor tried. All of the aforementioned pickups consisting of a bridge with embedded piezo transducer elements work well, as long as the overall volume in the room is not too high. What is too high is a bit of an unknown here; however, I can tell you with certainty that if feedback from the violin is a problem, there will also be problems with driving your effects.This gets us back to the Barbera pickups, which are the most feedback-resistant pickups made.
A bowed note is different from a plucked note and, therefore, somehow does not “track” with many effect processors.
Whether a note is bowed, or generated with a pick, has NOTHING to do with ability to function with effect signal processors. It is all about generating a signal comprised of frequency spectra with a dominant fundamentals (i.e. higher amplitude than the overtones).
All guitars, regardless of their pickups, do work with most effect processors.
We did not really cover this one. The fact is that all guitars do not work well with signal processors. There are older guitars with lousy pickups that fail to generate a signal compatible with effect processors. Further, most new “value priced” acoustic-electric guitars use under-saddle piezo transducers. These do not work any better with effect processors than under-bridge piezo transducers on violins.
