Electric violin

Classification Bowed string instrument Related instruments Violin

An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member The term can refer to a standard violin fitted with an electric pickup of some type, or to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. A pickup device acts as a Transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped Stringed instruments such as the Electric guitar

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. Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith ( August 14, 1909 - September 25, 1967) better known as Stuff Smith, was a Jazz Violinist 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. George D Beauchamp (1899 &ndash 1941 inventor of musical instruments and co-founder of National Stringed Instrument Corporation and Rickenbacker. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the Larger scale manufacture of electric violins did not happen until the late 1990s.

Acoustic violins may be used with an add-on piezoelectric bridge or body pickup. Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably Crystals and certain Ceramics including bone to generate an Electric potential in response to 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. In Music, timbre (ˈtæm-bər' like timber, or, from Fr timbre tɛ̃bʁ is the quality of a Musical note or sound that distinguishes different This raw sound is often preferred in rock, pop, and some avant-garde genres. Experimental music is a term introduced by composer John Cage in 1955 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 violins typically have a non-traditional, minimalistic design to keep weight down. Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design especially Visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features

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. A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a Stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck A machine head, also called a tuner, gear head, or tuning machine, is part of a string instrument ranging from guitars to double basses a geared apparatus This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety

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-flat for 7.

Electric violin 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. For the album by The Jam see Sound Affects. Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced Sounds

Pickups

A traditional acoustic violin and a modern electronic violin.

Electric violins commonly use either magnetic or piezoelectric pickups. In Physics, magnetism is one of the Phenomena by which Materials exert attractive or repulsive Forces on other Materials. Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably Crystals and certain Ceramics including bone to generate an Electric potential in response to A pickup device acts as a Transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped Stringed instruments such as the Electric guitar Magnetic pickups require the use of violin strings that have ferrous (iron-containing, as in steel) metal cores. A Violin consists of a body or corpus a neck a bridge, a soundpost four strings, and various fittings 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. A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic Transducer for the Electric guitar and the electric bass. [1] 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. [2] A few systems use transducers oriented in various directions to differentiate between bowed and plucked string motion. [3]

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). Any linear electronic circuit or device which supplies a current may be modelled as an Ideal voltage source in series with an impedance. A preamplifier (preamp or control amp in some parts of the world is an Electronic amplifier which precedes another amplifier to prepare an electronic A charge amplifier is a circuit whose equivalent input Impedance is a Capacitance that provides a very high value of impedance at low frequencies 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.

Genres

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. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to a period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. The electric violin is more frequently used by non-classical musicians in popular genres such as metal, rock, hip hop, pop, jazz, country, New Age, and experimental music. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. New Age music is peaceful Music of various styles which is intended to create inspiration relaxation and positive feelings often used by listeners for Yoga, Experimental music is a term introduced by composer John Cage in 1955 Famous rock violinists include David LaFlamme, Darryl Way, Jerry Goodman, Eddie Jobson, Mark Wood, and Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band. David LaFlamme (born May 4, 1941, New Britain Connecticut) is a virtuoso Violinist in both classical and rock music Darryl Way (born 17 December 1948, in Taunton, Somerset) is a British rock and classical musician who together with Jerry Goodman ( Chicago Illinois, March 16 1949) is an American violinist best known for playing electrically amplified violin in the bands Edwin (Eddie Jobson (born 28 April 1955 in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English Keyboardist and Violinist Mark Wood is an electric violinist and string master of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, as well as the founder of Wood Violins a company that makes high quality unique electric Boyd Calvin Tinsley (b May 16, 1964, Charlottesville Virginia) is the Violinist, mandolinist and one of the backup singers in the Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is a United States -based rock band originally formed in Charlottesville, Virginia It is used extensively in folk rock; one prominent exponent in the area being Dave Swarbrick. Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of Folk music and rock music. David Cyril Eric 'Dave' Swarbrick (born 5 April 1941 in New Malden) is an English folk musician Folk metal band Turisas also puts a lot of emphasis on the electric violin in their compositions. Folk metal is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s Turisas are a Finnish Viking metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström It has also found its way into modern musical theater, a recent example being Whistle Down the Wind by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Whistle Down the Wind is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the 1961 Film Whistle Down the Wind. Andrew Lloyd Webber Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948 is a British Composer of Musical theatre, the elder son of William Lloyd Webber One popular band that uses the electric violin is the pop punk band Yellowcard. Pop punk (also known as punk pop and other names is a Fusion genre that combines elements of Punk rock with Pop music, to varying Yellowcard is a Pop punk band from Jacksonville Florida. Their music features a rare contribution to the genre incorporating the use of a Violin. Classically-trained violinist Emilie Autumn has also made extensive use of the electric violin, particularly on her instrumental Laced/Unlaced album. Emilie Autumn (born September 22, 1979) is an American Singer-songwriter, Poet, and Violinist currently living in 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 band Flogging Molly.

Tape-bow violin

Laurie Anderson's tape-bow violin, an electronic instrument developed in 1977, resembles an electric violin but does not have strings. Laurie Anderson (born Laura Phillips Anderson, on June 5 1947 in Glen Ellyn Illinois) is an American experimental Performance artist and Laurie Anderson (born Laura Phillips Anderson, on June 5 1947 in Glen Ellyn Illinois) is an American experimental Performance artist and 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. "Scratching" is also a Present participle of " Scratch " and may also refer to a form of street art Scratching Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with

MIDI violin

In the mid 1980's, Zeta Music[4] developed a prototype violin for Laurie Anderson that, through the employment of a custom pickup and a conversion module, sent MIDI data, allowing the violinist to control synthesizers. Laurie Anderson (born Laura Phillips Anderson, on June 5 1947 in Glen Ellyn Illinois) is an American experimental Performance artist and MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers This design was later refined and turned into a commercial product. While no other dedicated violin-to-MIDI systems have been manufactured, more generic pitch-to-MIDI systems like those from Roland and Yamaha can be adapted to use standard electric violin output. is a Japanese manufacturer of Electronic musical instruments electronic equipment and Software. Most systems allow only monophonic operation—only one pitch can be detected and digitised at a time—but through the use of proprietary pickups, some limited MIDI polyphony can be achieved. Monophonic, with respect to synthesizers refers to the ability to only sound one Note, or voice at a time

Notable artists who have performed using a MIDI violin include Jean-Luc Ponty, Charles Bisharat, Drew Tretick, Gregory Docenko, Sean Mackin from Yellowcard, Ivonne Saraí Pacheco Turcios member from Wrecked Strings. Jean-Luc Ponty (born September 29, 1942, Avranches, France) is a virtuoso French Violinist and Jazz Composer Charlie Bisharat, is a Grammy -winning Yellowcard is a Pop punk band from Jacksonville Florida. Their music features a rare contribution to the genre incorporating the use of a Violin.

External links

General

• Bowed Electricity — website linking many electric violin players, makers, equipment, and other resources.
• Digital Violin - A survey and review of the violin today, including patents, makers, players, recordings and technique.
• Electric Fiddler: home for the electric violin player
• Fiddle and Alternative Strings Forum — forum with large section dedicated to electric bowed instruments, effects and amplification.

Audio links

• Bowed Radio — podcast focusing on new music for bowed string instruments (particularly electric ones)

See also

• Electric cello