387-3544 online.) When building any instrument, it helps to be a player-and Aceto has been a devoted player since 1971, when he started fiddling for square dances. (The company recently split off amicably from its parent, the well-known Ithaca Guitarworks, and is located at 6115 Mount Rd., Trumansburg, NY 14886 phone and fax The NV is the product of almost 20 years of research and development by violin and guitar builder Eric Aceto and his partner, Dan Hoffman, of Ithaca Stringed Instruments. This enables the player to get a presence and immediacy in performance or on tape that was never available in the past with anything less than an acoustic instrument and a microphone (a combination that unfortunately becomes useless when you’re playing with a really loud band). The high strings, always a problem with electrics, sound particularly good on this instrument, with a natural openness, flexibility, and what I can only describe as “gravy”, that rich, dark punchiness that seems to add soul to whatever is played. Using this violin, I have been able to go on stage with large electric bands on practically no notice, plug into a direct box, and play loud, open, acoustic-sounding fiddle with no additional EQ. I believe it constitutes a quantum leap forward in electric-violin tone. It is capable of tonal colors and a dynamic range much closer to an acoustic violin than any other electric I’ve ever tried. Its builders have departed from conventional wisdom about amplified tone by envisioning the pickup and body as a dynamic unit, and by making changes in the body to modify the pickup’s sound. #Five stringed instrument professional#Eric Aceto’s NV five-string electric violin, while at the high end of the price spread at about $5,000, is a must for the regularly performing professional violinist who absolutely has to play amplified and for whom tonal nuance is critical. The Zeta Strados, Tucker Barrett’s four-, five-, and six-string Luma and KoaLuma models, and Rich Barbera’s newest five string Acoustic-Electrics, to name a few, have taken electric-violin tone to impressive new levels.īut here’s a tip about a new instrument that, tonally, is as far beyond other electric violins as a $40,000 modern instrument is beyond the factory fiddle you played in high school. And the sound of these instruments is improving. Just about any form that can be fitted under the chin and bowed is now available to the adventurous fiddler. These days, there’s an embarrassment of riches in the multifarious and whimsical shapes available that can be played like a violin. In this article, Darol reviews the NV violin. As we saw above, the initial shape of the string when it is plucked or struck determines which harmonics are more present.From Strings Magazine September/October 1998 The clavichord, harpsichord and piano sound different in large part because the strings are set into vibration by different mechanisms. As long as the key is held down another set of levers keeps the damper off the string. The back check keeps the hammer from bouncing back and striking the string twice. #Five stringed instrument series#When the key is pressed a series of levers acts to throw the hammer upward so that it hits the string. Below is a very simplified diagram of the mechanism of the strike action of the piano (more details can be found in this animation of a piano mechanism). Because it was significantly louder it was originally called the 'piano forte' (forte is Latin for loud). The piano was developed in the early 1700s This instrument overcame several limitations of the earlier harpsichords and clavichords. A spring mechanism moves the plectrum out of the way while the mechanism returns to its starting point (see Wikipeda for details). The harpsichord was developed in about a century later and uses a quill (originally from the feather of a bird) called the plectrumto pluck one or two strings when the key is pressed. In the clavichord, developed in the 15th century, a small metal piece called the tangenthits the string (sometimes two strings) when a lever is pressed by the performer. Strictly speaking keyboard instruments such as the piano, harpsichord and clavichord are classified as percussion instruments because there is a mechanism that strikes or plucks the string. The process of how they were made was a secret that was lost hundreds of years ago and has not been replicated. It has been claimed that the famous Stradivarius violins have a special sound in part because the wood was treated with special chemicals. The more uniform the wood grain the less likely there will be an unwanted resonance. More expensive guitars and violins are made from wood that is picked to be very dense and have very uniform and fine grain. \( \newcommand\) for a violin.Īnother factor that affects the sound of a string instrument is the material of which it is constructed and the finish.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |