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)....
Definition Films is a young video production company in Santa Rosa. About five years ago the founder, Justin Liddell, asked if they could film me building a violin. They collected hours of video over 17 days of shooting....and then everything went quiet. Despite the...
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
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
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...
The concept of the project is covered more fully in a previous post. This post follows the violin's progress through the hands of 10 violinmakers around the world as they each add to the instrument. The project can be followed in more depth on Instagram: @Violinabox....
Violinmakers often like to collaborate on making instruments. Its a great way to learn from each other and has been major feature of the annual Oberlin violinmaker's Camp for years The idea This year at Oberlin a group of us decided it would be fun to build a violin...
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...
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...