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...
In part 1, I described a plan to make a pair of violins with structural features that I think will have effects on the way those instruments sound. I decided to base the designs for the two violins around two of the vibrational modes that have been studied and used as tools by many violinmakers in an attempt to control the tonal qualities of our instruments. This second part describes the designs that I came up with for the two fiddles I intend to build.
The idea of "Cellular Fiddles" has evolved out of two earlier projects. The Dimpled Viola made a feature of some of the visually interesting rough carving of a violin that normally get lost in the finished instrument. The Turtle Fiddle which took one of the visual...
This is a follow up to the Dimpled Viola project and develops some of the ideas sparked by that project. With the viola I made an instrument that made a feature of the gouge work that appears in early stages of carving an instrument but that normally gets completely...
Talking with Master Fiddler Brandon Godman some months ago, he asked me if I’d ever made a five string fiddle. I never had but I was intrigued. There are five string cellos and five string…..
Searching for the spirit of early craftsmanship. For many years I have been looking for ways to emulate the spirit of the craftsmanship that I see in the work of many of the Classic period violins. There is a liveliness and freshness in these early instruments which I...
My latest rendition of the Ex-Korchanski Guarnieri Del Gesu violin
My latest rendition of the Ex-Kochanski Guarnieri Del Gesu violin
I’ve just finished my 100th violin and can’t decide whether that is a lot or a little. You need to make a certain number to work out the kinks and to establish a reputation. Ultimately of course, we are going to value quality over quantity but numbers do say something.