I made this fiddle as the first of a series to explore the sources of variety that we see in violins. I'm also thinking about traditional violinmaking in the Digital Age. A broader discussion of the ideas behind this series is laid out in an earlier post. Variations...
Last month I had the opportunity to fill a gap in my luthier's education. Even during the Redwood Violin project where I made a violin from scratch, I did not cut and process my own wood, yet this is something that some violin makers do for themselves, and I had...
In a previous post about the Freestyle Violin Project I documented how two violins, a "dark" sounding one and a "bright" sounding one , were made without the use of measuring tools. The actual dimensions of the materials used and the parts created were recorded and...
Some years ago, in reaction to the modern violinmaking trend in towards "hyper-copying", I made a violin without a predefined outline. I built the body of the Cadenza Violin without the use of templates and without using any graduated measuring tools (no numbers)....
Antiquing. Why it is attractive, and what's wrong with it. I normally antique my instruments and I do it for two main reasons: for visual richness, and for variety. Visual richness and variety are two features of objects that have aged naturally and Nature is supreme...
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...
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...
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...
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.
On January 1st this year I effectively quit my violinmaking day job and devoted myself fulltime to the Redwood Violin Project. The idea was to make a violin, from scratch, using only materials from within 25 miles of my house. I asked for help with making the violin...