Strad Magazine (March 2023) published an article on my Off-Beat Violins There's some online companion material , and the full online feature for subscribers
Off-Beat Violins
Mia Pixley and the Ripple Cello – in Strings!
There’s a great feature on Mia Pixley and her Ripple cello in this months Strings Magazine. This project was so much fun…..and it’s still making waves! To read the full article you'll have to subscribe to Strings
Making Waves, a New Sound. Part 2: The Ripple cello
Having run through the process once with the Ripple Fiddle, I was ready to tackle the cello, starting with a review of the "prototype". I met with Mia and her colleague, violinist and musical improvisor Alisa Rose, who is interested in the project. They were both...
Making Waves, a New Sound. Part 1: The Ripple Fiddle
A commission from Bay Area cellist, composer, and songwriter, Mia Pixley led to a creative partnership and the development of one of the few new sounds ever to be added to acoustic bowed instruments. Mia was interested in the Off Beat Fiddles. In her performances Mia...
Tabolin – Part 3, Sound Test
The Tabolin was strung up and played with different configurations of weights on the velum panels. https://youtu.be/cMvSN32r9Pc Thanks to my friends Gabriel Wheaton and Joe Peterson, who helped me sound test the Tabolin Results With no weights The Tabolin is...
Off-beat Violins
A collection of instruments for tonal and aesthetic exploration. This began as a Covid project. I'd long wanted to make an instrument that showed off some of the the attractive stages that the violin goes through during the construction process. The Dimpled Viola made...
The Tabolin – Part 2, Construction and Exploration.
In part 1 of this post I discussed the ideas behind the hybrid "Tabolin". The instrument is part violin, part tabla drum and will feature tunable, resonant panels of velum in the body. I hope that the fiddle will have will have playing qualities similar to a Viola...
The Tabolin. Part1. Concept
Following on from earlier experimental fiddles I’ve been thinking of making a violin with very thin areas or cells in the upper and lower bouts. This has led to the idea of a violin with many drum like panels.
Cellular Fiddles – Part 3. Finished and Compared
Carving the plates Carving the plates for the X and O fiddles was fairly straight forward. The basic design of the plates is "strong in the middle with thinner areas in the upper and lower bouts". The plates ended up with thicknesses in the bouts that ranged...
Turtle fiddle sound comparison
When I presented the first two unusual fiddles on social media people naturally wanted to know how they sound. Here they are compared to two instruments of the same model, dimensions and wood. Make your own judgement, but to me they sound quite normal, I think that...