An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fitted with an electric pickup of some type, although "amplified violin" or "electro-acoustic violin" are more accurate in that case.

Electrically amplified violins have been used in one form or another since the 1920s; jazz and blues artist Stuff Smith is generally credited as being one of the first performers to adapt pickups and amplifiers to violins. The Electro Stringed Instrument Corporation, National Valco and Vega attempted to sell electric violins in the 1930s and 1940s; Fender produced a small number of electric violins in the late 1950s.

Acoustic violins may be used with an add-on piezoelectric bridge or body pickup, or a magnetic pickup attached to the fingerboard end. Alternatively, a magnetic String pickup can be installed under an acoustic violin´s fingerboard avoiding interference with any tone-producing parts of the violin, and so keeping its acoustic resonances and tone intact without feedback problems.

To avoid feedback from the resonances of the hollow body under high amplification on stage, many instruments have a solid body instead. The timbre (tone color) of a standard unamplified violin is due in large part to these resonances, however, so depending on how the signal is picked up, an electric violin may have a "rawer" or "sharper" sound than an acoustic instrument. This raw sound is often preferred in rock, pop, and some avant-garde genres. Several "semi-hollow" designs exist, containing a sealed but hollow resonating chamber that provides some approximation of acoustic violin sound while reducing susceptibility to feedback.

Solid-body electric violin manufacturer typically have a non-traditional, minimalistic design to keep weight down since they are manufactured from wood. Lately, materials such as kevlar, glass and carbon fibres, are used in the build process.

They are often seen as "experimental" instruments, being less established than electric guitar or bass. Hence, there are many variations on the standard design, such as frets, extra strings, machine heads, "baritone" strings that sound an octave lower than normal, and sympathetic strings.

Acoustic 5-string violins exist , but it is much more common for an electric violin to have 5, 6 or 7 strings than an acoustic instrument. The typical solid body also accommodates the extra tension caused by more strings without stressing the instrument too much. The extra strings are usually a low C string for 5-strings, a low C and low F for 6, and a low C, F and B? for 7.

Electric violin china signals usually pass through electronic processing, in the same way as an electric guitar, to achieve a desired sound. This could include delay, reverb, chorus, distortion, or other effects.
Electric violins commonly use either magnetic or piezoelectric pickups. Magnetic pickups require the use of violin strings that have ferrous (iron-containing, as in steel) metal cores. A few single-coil guitar-style magnetic systems are available, and one unusual acoustic/electric violin system uses the strings as a linear active pickup element. Also useable in standard acoustic violins, the only requisite is that the string is electrically conducting so also synthetic core strings can be used. Since no coils are used, this circumvents the problem that the small body size and arced string arrangement of a violin often limit the amount of space available for coil placement.

Generally, piezoelectric pickups are more common. They detect physical vibrations directly, sometimes in or on the body, or in some cases actual string vibrations directly, but more commonly general bridge vibrations are sensed. Some piezo setups have a separate pickup (or two, or even four in the case of some Barbera Transducer Systems pickups) within the bridge under each string. A few systems use transducers oriented in various directions to differentiate between bowed and plucked string motion. Operating a switch then selects the preferred mode.

Piezo pickups have a high (capacitive) output impedance, and must be plugged into a high impedance input stage in the amplifier or a powered preamp (a charge amplifier is best). This buffers the signal to avoid low frequency loss and microphonic noise pickup in the instrument cable. Preamplification is often done by an external signal processor, but some electric violin body designs can provide internal housing for preamp circuitry. 

 

from:answers

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music”, said by Sergei Rachmaninov. It is the truth that you can find music everywhere. Even though our business is to sell musical instrument , but we believe, the most important thing is that we can help people make music. How lovely work it is! Look, the picture below shows that our double bass appears in the Shetland Blues Festival in UK.

 

Pictured from left: Blues Festival vice-chairman Jimmy Carlyle; Steven Spence of Uyea Instruments; Mark Anderson of Allied Taxis. Steven Spence is one of our loyal customers, he was known as ‘Spencie’, one of Shetland’s most renowned and prolific composers of tunes in the Shetland idiom. His work has become highly popular and creating much demand for commissioned tunes for special occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, retirements etc. The list is endless….The package available is: The Commissioned Tune eg; Reel, Jig, Waltz etc., Framed Manuscript (with dedication), and studio recording of the tune on CD.

 

The famous actor Martin Clunes who stars in” Doc Martin” and “Men Behaving Badly” was in Shetland recently filming for a programme called ‘Islands of Britain’ which will be shown on ITV early 2009. During their time in Shetland, Martin and the film crew traveled to the island of Unst to meet Steven Spence of Uyea Instruments where he purchased a 1/2 size VG102B violin for his daughter Emily. Martin was very impressed with all the musical instruments , and the running of such a successful global business from the most northerly island in theUnited Kingdom.

 

Enjoy the music, enjoy your life! Musical instruments can make your life more wonderful!

 

from:a-violin.blog|violin

The violin is a bowed string instrument in western instruments. The violin family consists of the violin ( our main products: electric violin VG106,VM120,VH600K-A) , Master Viola (LG102,LH200) and cello(CG103,CH400C), along with the double bass (BH600).

In stringed instruments family, violin is the most popular one and has been one of the most important instruments in western music since the 17th century. Now modern four strings violin developed from the old style three strings violin in the 16th century. Then, it was improved and perfected by the Stradivaris, the Amatis and the Guarneris during 1650-1730. Our company also has the copies of these master’s products, for example: VHVH600E-Veuxtemps 1741, VH800E-Maggini 1630, VH900K-Niclas Amati 1658 etc.

A violin consists of 70 component parts. Its main components are scroll, body, neck, peg, strings, bridge, chinrest etc.

The major parts of the violin and their names are showed as follows:

 

 

Top: the top plate, also known as belly, is the board in the front of the violin. It has a curved surface which is always thicker in the middle and gets thinner and thinner as it reaches the edges. Wood used to make a violin can also affect the shape of the top plate, which is usually made from spruce.Back: it is at the back of the violin. The vibration of the back plate comes from the sound post, ribs and the air inside of the violin. Back plate is usually made of maple.Ribs: they are at the sides of the violin. They are 6 strips of maple which make up the structure connecting the front and back of the electric violins . Ribs are made from the same wood as the back.

Scroll: it is the carved head at the end of the neck.

Peg: It is a piece of hard phellem with cone-shaped. Insert it into the cone-shaped hole fixed on the side of the peg-box. Thread the strings through the peg and tighten them so that the Moderate Violin has the needed tension.

Peg-box: It is placed in the hollow part of the neck so that the four strings can go across it.

Nut: It is a piece of black wood which is placed between the peg-box and the fingerboard. There are four ditches which are used to maintain the position of the strings.

Fingerboard: It is a long piece of black wood with radian. It is affixed to the neck providing the surface where the player can press the strings.

Bridge: It is a piece of maple wood chip with fixed shape. Standing on the panel, it supports the strings with precise height. Its two feet are the parts which touch the panel.

Tailpiece: It is a hard piece of wood and the strings are tied with it. It can keep the string stretched.

End button: It is a cone wooden pillar which was settled on the center of the ribs at the bottom of the violin, usually is made of black wood or mahogany, and with the function of hooking string tail rope of the tailpiece.

“F” holes: It is also called sound hole. There is a f-shaped cut on both sides of the top of the General Grade Violins .

String adjuster: It is composed of peg, hook body, fastening screws and adjustment screws, and, by wresting the adjustment screws to achieve the destination of fine-tuning the tension of the strings.

Chinrest: It is a fitting settled on the left bottom of the top, fastened through the Chinrest screws. And, it helps the player to grip the violin tightly. 

 

 

from:a-violin|electric violin

China has become a veritable “world factory”, it should be said that the people all over the world are enjoying a “made in China” merchandise. How to purchase in China? Who are your best suppliers? How to get the merchandise you wanted in the most economical way? These are the questions that all of the buyers should be considered.

There are two basic ways to choose suppliers in China. One is directly from factory; another way is purchase through the trading company. A lot of foreign buyers consider that they can get more favorable price directly purchase from the factory than through trade company. Sure it is. During the purchasing cost, the price of product is indeed accounted for nearly 90%. But is that the most favorable price be the lowest purchasing cost? In light of our experiences over the years, let’s talk about as following and hope it could help the buyer from oversea market a little. 

1.The industry’s professionalism.

Our company is engaged in professional musical instruments more than 10 years, start from making white violins which exported toJapan. The people engaged in the production of violins all know that, the production of white violin is the basic of violin production. All the problems will be exposed to the electric violins .Therefore, when we select the suppliers, we already have our own a complete set of screening methods. In addition, we also have a professional fiddler personally tested, whether from the process or the tone are carefully selected. On this point, the vast majority of Chinese factories are very difficult to do that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no professional inspectors, no electric violin player. They just make the violin which only can make out the voice. As for some work and painting, there are even more problems, such as the location of the installation is incorrect, bridge repair is not correct, etc. And even some so-called factories are only 1-2 individuals. When guests order, they can make dozens or even over 100 violins in a very short period. Actually a lot of violins are purchased from other place. The violins are all different every time. Can they guarantee the quality of the Moderate violins ? Receiving the goods every time that are inconsistent, how to sell them? There are a lot of our customers also be regarded as the Chinese hand, in cooperation with us before and have worked with a lot of factories, but each time they were very dissatisfied with the products, or even feel that they are deceived, and received goods often have to throw half away. So that how to save the cost.

2.Professional communication.

In China, many factories’ staff does not speak English, so the communication is a very headache problem. Even though there is a lot of factories now found a lot of English major students to do the translation, but they can not translate the professional instruments knowledge. We usually see at the factory that the works can not do some of the details in the order, or even they failed to understand. Some of our customers also complained that the factory give no reply to their requirements. And received goods are much difference with their own demands. Actually the people in these factories are not to ignore him but did not understand. On this point, because our company is a professional Moderate Violin maker and exporter, we are quite proficient of these products’ details, descriptions and the English name of any parts. Over the years, our company’s professionalism is praised by a lot of our customers.

 

 

from:A-violin|violin

 Concertgoers filled every seat in the Armstrong Theatre, Saturday night, for the Torrance Symphony's "Internationale Musica" concert. In fact, some disappointed patrons had to be turned away at the door for lack of space in the 502-seat venue.

As a way of addressing the issue - and exposing the symphony to more people - maestro Frank Fetta is considering adding a third rehearsal on Saturday afternoons before each concert, a preview that would be open to the public.

Those who did make it in to the concert were treated to performances by a pair of charming and accomplished soloists: 23-year-old cellist Indira Rahmatulla, a 2009 Young Artists Concerto Competition winner; and 25-year-old violist Zach Dellinger, a Special Honorable Mention winner. The two are classmates at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles.

Dellinger and his viola took center stage first with "Harold in Italy," Symphony with Viola Solo, Op. 16, written in 1834 by French composer Hector Berlioz.

Reportedly based on Lord Byron's poem "Harold's Pilgrimage," the symphony seems instead to reflect Berlioz's own wanderings in the Italian mountains.

Reminiscent of Beethoven, the first movement, "Harold in the Mountains," seems to echo Berlioz's feelings in scenes of sadness and joy. A calm and dignified Dellinger was focused on coaxing a beautiful tone out of his electric viola and, indeed, succeeded in making his instrument a melancholy dreamer representing the romantic Harold.
Uncharacteristically, the audience applauded enthusiastically after each movement, and, truly, the dusky tone of the electric viola is pleasant to listen to and we need to hear more of it.

 

 

 

 

This Symphony may be unfamiliar to many, but it is melodic and provides easy listening - even if at times it seems repetitive as it progresses through the second and third movements, "March of the Pilgrims" and "Serenade of a Mountaineer to his Mistress."

In the fourth movement, "Orgy of the Brigands," the revelry bursts forth suddenly with no introduction, and Fetta literally jumped up and down on the podium in excitement.

Although not a virtuosic piece for the soloist, it is difficult for the orchestra because of the many meter and tempo changes, but the players handled it well. Because of the challenge to the orchestra, Fetta scheduled only two works for this concert, with no overture.

After intermission, it was Rahmatulla's turn with the more familiar Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, written in 1892-95 by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak.

A native of Uzbekistan who came to the United States in 2004 to continue her cello studies, Rahmatulla is not yet at the level of Yo-Yo Ma, whom many may have heard play this stirring piece. However, like Dellinger, she played from memory and with conviction and made her cello soar in the rousing finale of this favorite of many cellists.

A memorable melody by the French horn added to the performance.

The Torrance Symphony's next free concert is scheduled for March 27 at the same venue and will feature more Concerto Competition winners and music by Shostakovich, Haydn and Sarasate.

Kari Sayers is a freelance writer based in Rancho Palos Verdes.

 

 

from:dailybreeze

By Robert Trussell, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Jan. 17--I f you happen to be a guitarist who plays just well enough to understand how limited your talent is, you can't listen to a Django Reinhardt recording without thinking, "How on earth did he do that?"

What you hear is this: Delicacy balanced against power, speed juxtaposed with lyricism, virtuosity within a band setting. You hear lightning arpeggios, elegantly bent notes, endlessly creative improvisations -- and a rock-solid rhythmic frame to hold it all together.

Violinist Mark O'Connor hears all that and a lot more. On Django's early recordings he hears the cool/hot violin work of his own mentor, Stephane Grappelli, who in the 1930s created with Reinhardt a unique musical genre we call Gypsy jazz.

O'Connor, a genre-busting composer and performer, is scheduled to appear with his Hot Swing ensemble Saturday at the Folly Theater on the 100th anniversary of Django's birth.

"We're actually doing the 100th birthday celebration in several cities in a row," O'Connor said by telephone from New York.

The tour kicked off last weekend at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and has included stops in Minneapolis; Columbia, Mo.; and Fayetteville, Ark. It wraps up next weekend in Wellington, Fla.

Performing with O'Connor are guitarists Frank Vignola and Matt Munisteri, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and vocalist Heather Masse.

"Obviously the guitar players in the group are hugely influenced by Django," O'Connor said. "But our Hot Swing group also celebrates my teacher, Stephane Grappelli. My goal was always not to be simply a tribute group but a breathing, living legacy of creativity that hopefully developed and grew in the same way as Django and Stephane."

Born in Belgium, Django (his name means "I awake" in Romani) grew up in Gypsy camps near Paris, learning to play banjo, guitar and electric violin in childhood. He became one of the major figures in jazz by virtue of his exceptional technique and bold musical imagination.

He hooked up with Grappelli, whose Italian-immigrant father raised him in poverty in Paris, when they both landed jobs in a tango band. Backstage, they began trying to emulate American swing records with their respective stringed instruments and ultimately created a startling new sound.

"They were secretly listening to American jazz, and they couldn't wait for the tango set to be over so they could go backstage and grab their instruments," O'Connor said. "I think they gave each other the voice of jazz. If it wasn't for each other, maybe Stephane would be playing classical music or classical, and maybe Django would become an incredible Gypsy guitarist."

In 1934, they formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France, which was unusual in two ways: There was no percussionist and the guitar, traditionally used almost exclusively for accompaniment, moved front and center as a solo instrument. It bubbled up out of Parisian jazz mania in the 1930s, which can hardly be overstated.

"Being a jazz fan in the 1930s was like being a Christian in Imperial Rome, in the words of one Hot Club acolyte," wrote Michael Dregni in his 2004 biography, "Django." "Jazz was so new, so novel, that it inspired adherents like a revolutionary political cell or a secret religious cult. Or an addictive opiate."

O'Connor, 48, grew up in Seattle, listening to a wide range of musical styles as he studied guitar and violin. He met Grappelli in San Francisco when he was 17. Grappelli was putting together an American tour and was auditioning musicians.

"As fate would have it, I got the job," O'Connor recalled. "I auditioned for him on guitar ... but somebody tipped him off that I played the violin, and he wasn't going to let me out of the room until I played for him. So I did. He said, 'You and I will play violin duets on the concert tour.' He became essentially my last teacher."

O'Connor went on tour with Grappelli twice, but the teaching was never formal. It was basically on-the-job training.

"It was because of the road that he was able to be my teacher, because he didn't want to be a teacher," he said. "So I'm probably one of two or three who can actually say I was mentored by him."

They remained friends but didn't see each other that much in the subsequent years, and O'Connor went on to forge a unique place for himself in music, shifting between and incorporating classical music, bluegrass, jazz and various other genres. He has written formal, classical works and recorded with the famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

"I loved Stephane so much I felt I was part of his legacy," O'Connor said. "Although I didn't pursue a jazz career, I always kept his creativity and the fact that he was such a visionary on the instrument close to me."

When O'Connor was about 30, he felt a need to reach out to Grappelli. He contacted him and offered to take a few months off. He could come to Paris and they could just sit around the house and play their electric violins all day long. The proposal was gently rejected.

"He said, 'Ah, young Mark, I don't teach the violin, as you know, and it's just as well, because I'm off to Australia,' " O'Connor recalled. "I took that as, 'Mark, you're already set, you're on your way, don't let me bother you.' "

Grappelli died in 1997, but a few months earlier, O'Connor had seen him one last time.

"I went to his concert, and he had me sit in, and then we went to a party in his honor, and he grabbed my left hand and kept it in a grip for two hours," O'Connor said. "He was gripping it, and he was like 88 and at some point my arm started turning numb, and he wasn't going to let go. It was if he was channeling his spirit into me. And when he died a few months later, I took it hard. I took it much harder than when my own father died."

O'Connor also counted among his friends Claude "Fiddler" Williams, the Oklahoma-born jazz violinist who made his home in Kansas City for decades before his death in 2004. About 16 years ago, O'Connor began annual string camps for young players, and Williams taught at several of them.

O'Connor surveys the music world these days and sees a time when the power of the record companies is breaking down and a lot of musicians are documenting music from the past, often putting it up on YouTube. The big record companies created a legacy, but they also need to be held accountable, he said.

"It will be interesting to see what history writes about the recording industry of the last 60 to 70 years," he said. "They've obviously done a great service. They've exposed a lot of people to good music, but they've also done some damage."

The A&R scouts who ventured into the American South practiced segregation, racially and musically, which allowed them to establish genres that made it easier to sell records.

"They're the reason we don't have many African-American violin players anymore," he said. "It was the music police, you know. So consequently, you have legends like Robert Johnson, who was an incredible guitar player, but word is he was equally good on the violin, but he wasn't allowed to record. Wouldn't that be amazing? To hear Robert Johnson play the violin?"

 

 from:californiachronicle

SUZUKI is a well-known brand for stringed instruments worldwide. Its founder Masakichi Suzuki was born in 1859 in Nagoya, Japan. At age 14 he had worked in a lacquer-ware shop and then later began his studies to become an elementary school music teacher. It’s a solid foundation for him to originate Suzuki Method successfully afterwards. Suzuki started to make his first violin by chance and it only spent a week. A few months later he officially decided that violin making to be his vocation. In 1888, SUZUKI began his great life. It’s a historic year.1889, Suzuki’s first retail store opened in Tokyo;

   1890, suzuki built a new violin factory;

   1900, suzuki made first violin of small size;

   1914, suzuki factory already had 1000 workers;

   1916, the second factory had been opened;

   1918, the third factory had been opened;

   1930, SUZUKI VIOLIN CO., LTD became a world-renowned trading company.20 years of the last century, Dr. Albert Einstein in Germany highly praised SUZUKI VIOLIN and said, “I would like to play this violin all my life , and keep it forever as a family treasure .”

With over 100 years of instrument making excellence and experience, SUZUKI has refined the process to perfection with unparalleled quality in materials, workmanship, tone and overall performance. The musical instruments are the wonderful conglomeration of gorgeous and pragmatic. They are more worth having.

Nowadays, the latest action in SUZUKI VIOLIN is to enhance their brand at student level besides their high reputation in professional level. To serve this aggressive strategy, SUZUKI promoted two kinds of violins in the worldwide, which is made in China with their partner: NANJINA AILEEN TRADING CO., LTD. . The two suites entirely follow up strict Japanese tradition of craftsmanship but in cheaper price. It has great new sound and become the star product among SUZUKI VIOLIN family. They are suitable for the people who are brand hunter.  

Being the strategic global partner of SUZUKI VIOLIN, NANJING AILEEN TRADING CO., LTD. has put great efforts to improve the quality and optimize all logistics and after-sales service. The result was quite good till now. The two suits have been shipped to many countries, such as Korea, Italy, Thailand and Singapore. The consumer’s feedback was exciting for SUZUKI.

Meanwhile, the advertising on The Music Trades for North American market has been on air. Furthermore, these two suites have been displayed in Music China 2009. In the near future, it will set off a higher wave of SUZUKI VIOLIN worldwide again.

 

 

from:a-violin|SUZUKI VIOLIN

Musikmesse – the biggest fair for musical instruments, live music and the music business!

The Musikmesse in Frankfurt am Main is the world's international fair for musical instruments, sheet music, music production and music business connections and has been the most important meeting place for the musical-instrument industry for over 25 years. Musikmesse 2010 will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 24 to 27 March 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive product overview on four days
For the four days of the fair, manufacturers, dealers and professional, semi-professional and amateur musicians meet in Frankfurt am Main to discover the latest product innovations. At the Musikmesse, manufacturers from all over the world present an extensive range of products for making music. No matter whether they are looking for classical instruments, acoustic or electric guitars and basses, brass and woodwind instruments, percussion, keyboard instruments, electronic equipment or computer hardware and software, the Musikmesse is where visitors from all around the globe will find all the latest innovations. Additionally, all major publishing companies take part in the Musikmesse and show their products for all genres, from classical to rock, pop and jazz. The last Musikmesse in 2009 set another new record with 1,563 exhibitors from 47 countries and around 78,500 visitors.    

Musikmesse und Prolight + Sound – complementing each other perfectly
Musikmesse is held parallel to Prolight + Sound, International Trade Fair for Event and Communication Technology, AV Production and Entertainment. The extensive range of products to be seen at Musikmesse is supplemented and extended by the event technology products to be seen at Prolight + Sound. Holding the two events at the same time and place generates a host of synergetic effects for exhibitors and visitors. Musikmesse admission tickets entitle the holder to attend the Prolight + Sound trade fair and vice versa.

 

 

It’s very honored, that  We NANJING AILEEN TRADING CO., LTD., Will attend the Frankfurt Music Festival.

 (NANJING AILEEN TRADING CO., LTD., is professional musical instruments supplier! "Aileen" trademark has been registered in United States Patent and Trademark Office (Reg.No. 3109527) and International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organozation (WIPO) (International Registration No. 849076) in musical instruments field. It will be protected by law in the USA and the EU market.)

 

 

 

 

Time: March 2010 24-27

Location: Frankfurt, Germany

Booth: Hall 1.2 E31

 

 

 

Vorläufige Ausstellerliste Musikmesse 2010 (Stand 14 Dezember 2009)

Preliminary Exhibitorlist Musikmesse 2010 (as of 14 December 2009):

 

http://musik.messefrankfurt.com/content/musikmesse/frankfurt/en/besucher/ausstellerliste/_jcr_content/mainParsys/downloadbox/downloadboxParsys/download/file.res/Internetliste+2010.pdf

 

 

from:a-violin|violin

 

 

The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the symphony orchestra and smaller string ensembles in Western classical music.

Concord,
Upton, Karr-Koussevitsky and Poellmann-contrabass are all famous brands in making double bass. Our clients are mostly distributed in America and Europe, such as Lima Music, Bassico and Mastri.Mostly double bass is as a solo instrument. The popularity of the instrument is documented in Leopold Mozart’s second edition of his Violinschulë. In addition, it is used in other genres such as Jazz, 1950s-style Blues and Rock and Roll, Rockabilly/Psychobilly, Bluegrass, and Tango.

Lack of standardization in design means that one double bass can sound and look very different from another. In general, there are two major approaches to the design outline shape of the double bass, these being the violin form, and the viol da gamba form. A third less common design called the Busetto shape (and very rarely the guitar or pear shape) can also be found.

 

 

 

Double bass is very sensitive to changes in heat and humidity, which can cause cracks in spruce tops. Also, due to environment protection issue, it is really hard to find good top or back for this instruments. Nowadays more and more double bass are made with laminated top/back, especially for school market. Normally, people just buy veneer to make back and top. To have the arched shape, they used hot-press machine to make it. The problem of this structure is obvious. It will be much heavier than solid wood instruments. Also, with the changing surrounding situation and time, the arched shape might be twisted and back to flat. Furthermore, the most negative aspect is that the veneer stops the sound spreading. The sound quality is much lower than solid wood.

Nowadays, after several years hard working and reforming the process, we almost overcame all these problems technically through our unique making method. Our double bass is made with our special laminated top or back. The weight will be same or even less than solid wood. Meanwhile, we can keep almost 70%~ 85% of sound spreading just like through solid top or back. Of course, you never need to worry about cracks and the top/back rebounding at all. Some photos from our factory just for you reference. 

 

from:a-violin|violin

The cigar box guitar is a primitive chordophone whose resonator is a discarded cigar box. Because the instrument is homemade, there is no standard for dimensions, string types or construction techniques. Many early cigar box guitars consisted of only one or two strings that were attached to the ends of a broomstick that was inserted into the cigar box. Other cigar box guitars were more complex, with the builder attempting to simulate a traditional string instrument such as a guitar, banjo, or fiddle.

Cigars were extremely popular in the 19th Century, and therefore, many empty cigar boxes would be lying around the house. The earliest proof of a cigar box instrument found so far is an etching of two Civil War Soldiers at a campsite with one playing a cigar box fiddle. The etching was created by French artist Edwin Forbes who worked as an official artist for the Union Army. The etching was included in Forbes work Life Stories of the Great Army, copyrighted in 1876. In this work, the cigar box fiddle appears to sport an advanced viola length neck attached to a ‘Figaro’ cigar box.

 

The cigar box guitars and fiddles were also important in the rise of jug bands and blues. As most of these performers were black Americans living in poverty, many could not afford a "real" instrument. Using these, along with the washtub bass (similar to the cigar box guitar), jugs, washboards, and harmonica, black musicians performed blues during socializations.

The Great Depression of the 1930s saw a resurgence of homemade musical instruments. Times were hard in the American south and for entertainment sitting on the front porch singing away their blues was a popular pastime. Musical instruments were beyond the means of everybody, but an old cigar box, a piece of broom handle and a couple wires from the screen door and a guitar was born.

 

from:wiki

Although the violin is an instrument used extensively in classical music, electric violins are generally employed by classical performers only in the performance of contemporary classical music. The electric violin is more frequently used by non-classical musicians in popular genres such as metal, rock, hip hop, pop, jazz/jazz-fusion, country, New Age, and experimental music. Famous electric violinists include Jean-Luc Ponty, Jerald Daemyon, David LaFlamme, Darryl Way, Jerry Goodman, David Cross, Eddie Jobson, Nash the Slash of FM, David Ragsdale and Robby Steinhardt of Kansas , Simon House of Hawkwind, Mark Wood, and Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band. It is used extensively in folk rock; one prominent exponent in the area being Dave Swarbrick. Folk metal band Turisas also puts a lot of emphasis on the electric violin in their compositions. Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani also focuses in Hittavainen's e-violin parts.

 

It has also found its way into modern musical theater, a recent example being Whistle Down the Wind by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Several popular bands that use the electric violin are Zox, Operator Please and pop punk band Yellowcard. Classically-trained violinist Emilie Autumn has also made extensive use of the electric violin, particularly on her instrumental Laced/Unlaced album. Another area in which a traditional usage of the violin has been once again popularized in modern music is in the area of the Irish fiddle. The fiddle is quite prominently featured in such bands as the Celtic punk bands Flogging Molly, and The Levellers.

Laurie Anderson's tape-bow violin, an electronic instrument developed in 1977, resembles an electric violin but does not have strings. It produces sound by drawing a bow, strung with a length of recorded magnetic tape rather than hair, across a magnetic tape head mounted on the instrument where the bridge would normally be. This anticipates the later technique of "scratching" in rap and hip-hop music, where a vinyl recording is turned back and forth on a turntable.

Since the late 1980s, numerous instrument makers, including Eric Jensen, Francois Danger, Jan Goorissen, and Jonathan Wilson, have experimented with the design and construction of electric viols . Their range of approaches, from Danger's minimally electrified acoustic/electric Altra line to Eric Jensen's solid-body brace-mounted design, have met with varying degrees of ergonomic and musical success.

In the early 21st century, the Ruby Gamba, a solid-body seven-string electric viola da gamba, was developed by Ruby Instruments of Arnhem, the Netherlands. It has 21 tied nylon frets in keeping with the adjustable frets on traditional viols and has an effective playing range of more than six octaves.

Electric viols have been adopted by such contemporary gambists as Gilles Zimmermann, Loren Ludwig, Jay Elfenbein, Paolo Pandolfo, Tina Chancey, and Tony Overwater.

 

 

 

Choose your first high-level violin to capture last year in "Bach violin and Oboe Concerto", I know that I have ready. I am an adult violin for three years, and has already begun to serve as first violin in string quartets. I think my violin sound that the students became harsh, the reaction insensitive, while the sound is too bright, seemed incompatible with the quartet. Is time to change the time for violin. In formulating a budget of about, after I went to a better violin twisted my reputation. 6,7 probably tried the violin, I quickly targeted at the two on the violin. I put two violin home, attempting to pull in the class. In which a price 4000 U.S. dollars, the sound sweet; another a 2000 U.S. dollars, origin in Chicago, I used to call it "Chicago." I began to prefer the cheaper it the violin, because I like it a full, detailed sound and rapid response. But I still was not certain, so I did not tell my teacher and friends violin price, ask them to appreciate both the violin. Each time cheaper "Chicago" are won - the teachers and friends were all amazed at its performance. My heart particularly happy. Buy Qin's experience can be very simple, but for junior or mid-level players who may be more troublesome. Many people would consider buying high-qin is a painful experience. However, if there is adequate preparation and the right attitude, then you can easily buy a good violin. The key is to make the right decisions for themselves, sellers and music industry friends ask some proper questions. Ask the right questions How do I know you're ready to buy your first high-level violin to do? Susan Likebeideng now at St. Thomas College of Music to teach part-time in St. Paul, Minnesota Miller Finn violin sale violin. She believes that whatever the juvenile or adult beginners, usually a 800 U.S. dollars may be accompanied by violin students of violin who for several years. Has 20 years of teaching experience Likebeideng, said: "For the beginners usually are. Then you are still learning how to hold bow. But you reach a certain level, your violin can not meet you begin the requirement that. "" For example, you are playing a section, you may find the sound of the violin because you are not clean enough to respond too slowly. or the place in high places, sounds less than satisfactory. Another sign is the 'wow, even though I in accordance with the teacher taught me ways of doing this, both tried to bow, or not I want explosive power.' "In determining an incumbent, you are ready to a new violin, you should seriously consider look at what is the purpose of your playing.?????is a Minneapolis?????violin owner. She usually will ask buyers how to use the violin. In the Concert Hall? In the church? You are a music prodigy, or entertain adult amateur players? "After answering these questions, and then open the eyes to select the violin sound and response.", Jain said, "can buy the most appropriate customer violin would not say: 'I want a guqin', or 'I really like the brown violin', or 'it was suggested that I do not want to buy French violin'. they will usually come into my shop, said: 'I really want to try all of these violin to see which the right for me '. "develop a budget has often been asked Jain price issues. She believes that there are four factors that influence the price of the violin: pure nature, technology level, preservation status and tone. Inexperienced buyers may not identify genuine nature and technology. However, Jain said that if you go to the credibility of a good violin, they will simply teach you how to listen to violin sound and check the state of conservation. Likebeideng that the amount of money to spend depends on many factors, but generally speaking your new violin for a more reasonable price should be your existing primary violin two to three times the price. "I have a young female customers, violin less than a year.", She recalls, "She played the level is not high, but she was considered a more balanced, while there is a good ear, it should be relatively large in the future progress. Her teacher told her to spend 3000-4000 U.S. dollars to buy her first the violin. I said: 'ah, I think do not have to spend so much money.' Of course, for me, selling the more expensive the better violin . However, for customers, you may not be ready to use the violin is too expensive. "where to buy your violin while the price of the auction will be relatively low, but many experts recommend not to go there to buy your first put Advanced violin. Like St. Paul's violin making divisions and distributors Yuehanwade pointed out, the auction will be relatively large appreciation room, your right there is relatively unfamiliar, and have many people playing and talking. You do not have enough time to try violin. They will not let you take home violin attempting to pull a week, but also no after-sales service. Teacher's commission for the buyer without the knowledge of it may also be a trap. Some violin will pay a commission to help students pick the violin teacher. Price of the commission are generally linked with the violin. Of course, not all of the violin and teachers have to do so, at the same time to pay a commission if the buyer knows, then the violin teacher by helping students to select work to get some compensation is justifiable. But the buyer should be clear that in some cases, the commission is the case without their knowledge to pay to go. In this case, the recommendations of teachers may not be very objective and fair in. Even if the commission does not consider the teachers, the University of Minnesota Department of Music violin professor and educator Makezuoke recommended buyers consider the recommendations of the teachers not to neglect their own feelings on the violin. He recalled one student to choose between the two violin experience. "I happened to pull off the two before her to violin. 2 violin are good, but I think one of them to sound much better than another. Attempting to pull a week or so she told me she had decided to make . so I did not expect was her violin is not selected and that the better I think. until she was 2, respectively playing violin to me when I came to understand that in her hands which I think the violin sound bad Instead, it sounds even better. "Zucker added that students should give more consideration to the contemporary who sings the violin, because the quality of the violin very well, while the price of Guqin students are often beyond the ability to pay. He said that, in fact, a number of good quality mass production than the lower hand violin violin is sometimes even better. However, if the Sock that students need to choose a better violin, he would immediately point out. He would often remind students of their money invested in the right on the violin. Sock think it is the purchase of the first high-level violin as an investment. He suggested that students buy from a reputable violin. The violin on the violin sold to provide a good buy-back policy, if you decide to sell the original purchase of the violin, they will give you a lot of choices. But Wade noted that some buyers too much emphasis on the investment value of the violin. "A lot of people understand the violin's investment value of the violin sound than the understanding of even higher.", He said. His view is that low-cost violin, for example, less than 2000 U.S. dollars, there is no investment value. So you should think about the investment value of your violin is not very important. Wade recommends that buyers often think they can sit down to acceptable price, then contact the system who sings or a dealer at this price within the selection. In this way, the system sings or dealer can provide the right violin for you to try. (Jain added, it should take you now to go with the violin and the bow violin violin Let the person know you used to listen to sound.) And then through trial and violin narrowing options. How best to buy your next one violin Likebeideng would come into her shop, choose a violin customers ask three questions: This is how clean the violin sound in response to fast? Do you like the sound of the violin do? This is the violin, when you pull hand still feel tired feel comfortable? Wade pointed out that there is a common problem is that when buyers do not have a clear plan. Must have come prepared. "I do not recommend customers shop inside to practice violin," he said, "At the same time, do not show off your Qinji in the store. There are many customers pick up the violin began to play Tchaikovsky's violin Concerto, pulled two small postganglionic have not found violin tuning. "Wade observed another problem is that some very shy young customers, they and the companions to the store to frequent some fear, do not know what to do. "They should have said to myself: 'Yes, I have to pull the G major scale, I began to pull from the G chord, I would have been pulled E string, and then I want to play a simple song may be a slow song, then I will pull a fast song. 'You should pick up the violin attempting to pull. attempting to pull six violin can not spend an hour at most. "" a voice in people's memory will only stay a few seconds . ", Jain said," so do not stretch the song. so you can immediately feel the sound contrast. through the exercise your voice memory may be longer, but the beginning is usually no more than 10 or 15 seconds. I will put a maximum of four violin. Then I put on each shoulder and placed on both violin care, so that you can pick up the violin as soon pull. I let customers elect from the four violin 12, and then I repeatedly used the out of a few to choose for him to continue. I have been doing for customers to go on until the two can not tell the difference until the violin sound. I try to allow customers to quickly accomplish this selection process, because you can only concentrate for 20 minutes . 20 minutes later you're hard to remember, to distinguish sounds and to focus attention of the. "Jain also try to help customers come up with an appropriate word to assess each of the violin. If you are able to use the appropriate words to describe the feeling of your violin, then you can get the best help. For example: "This is the voice of the violin is too bright.", "This is the very sharp," and "I do not like that the violin's E string in the second to place the sound very bad." While we buy second-hand When will the car to find one or two maintenance men judge by car, but Wade said that to a violin store to another store to get the practice of the assessment system will make a lot of sings uncomfortable. "I really do not like some people to shop from my attempting to pull the violin Naqu to get another store to assess - if they can get objective advice from other stores like. If someone told me that they there are other shops where the violin, my first reaction is why they want to ask me? if they do not trust others, then why do they buy from these people, where violin? "to make a final decision to put your gaoals in your locked in 12 Qin, follow the practice of violin you can try pulling away for a week. You can at home, class, and orchestra rehearsal, it is attempting to pull. You should try all possible occasions, played violin. It should be remembered violin playing half an hour later it may be to achieve the best state. "If there is a violin you like the tone or temperament, it would give it more time.", Jain said, "because you need to be fully half an hour to play a violin let it warm up, it can really display colors and response. "Jain also stressed that to save to buy a violin in good condition is very important. Otherwise, over two years after the repair of the places where violin may well be a problem, the old cracks may develop very serious, or neck, may collapse. Once the violin so you have to spend thousands of dollars for major repairs, and complete a, the violin sound will be a substantial change. This may make you very upset. It is best to focus on the state of conservation of the violin at the same time can provide after-sales service to buy violin. violin able to provide the future repurchase or sale of services is also important. Most violin you buy will be 100% of the price of repurchases, if you need to repair violin, then will have to subtract the corresponding costs. At the same time we have to see the future, if you do not want it to violin, then violin consignment can help you. Jain said that some violin will help you, but some will not. In general, buy the first high-level violin should be borne in mind that, are you satisfied with the most important, because people who pull it into your violin. You may need to consider a lot of the audience's taste, but you own is the most important audience. This is under the violin in your ear to the voice of joy you feel. To believe their own judgments on the violin. "When you play violin, you need a really lets you excited to meet the voice," Jain said, "I put in my viola has found that this feeling. When I sit down to play violin in time, no matter how long I've been pulled, that magnificent voice, or let me worth hearing a hundred.

Viola is an important instrument in the orchestra, the viola in an orchestra, voices are also very special nature of the sound department. In an orchestral works, is to serve as a viola harmony, polyphony, etc. in the main-part texture, but also served as a special mood, a special tone of the lyrical passages of the melody played. As a band viola players, it should be the characteristics of this instrument that has a direct experience.

 

Viola's Size: Viola in the origin, when in Italy, is divided into tenor violin (Alto), as well as tenor violin (Tenro) two kinds. Alto violin mostly in the size of 15-16 inches, while the tenor violin larger, we can see more than 18 inches. So now left the Italian viola, in addition to other Alto, most of the Tenro size have been Gaixiao the. This is because they are too bulky and not easy to pull-outs. Gradually, the late production of Alto and Tenor viola no longer be divided by. The composers in their ideas and works, no longer divided into two kinds of voices, viola musical instruments of the. Now most of us are pulling the size of the viola is based on the user's body shape and set. From 12-17 inches between the piano will have a lot of different body size variation. Generally, 15-17 inches as an adult piano, are children below 14-inch piano. Requirements for the viola sound, many people will be allowed in their own body shape as far as a large selection of viola obtain a larger volume. Especially the bass, the piano and viola the greater the resulting easy-to-rich results. However, in penetration, some piano and viola small but well-made play is also often unexpected good effect. The following are a variety of viola Size:

Viola: 17 inches 16.5 inches 16 inches 15.5 inches 14 inches 13 inches 12 inches

Qin Length: 430mm 420mm 410mm 390mm 356mm 335mm 310mm