There are a number of instruments that qualify as octave violins or fiddles if the criterion for being called an octave violin is that it be a violin-like instrument is that is played under the chin with a bow. If the "played under the chin" part is removed, all sorts of other instruments, such as baritone bowed dulcimers could qualify. We are not interested in qualifying anything...just in explaining what we know and selling our instruments to players seeking high quality and ethical business practices (e.g. NOT using low-cost virtual slave labor to produce the instruments).
The Five Main Classifications:
- Purpose-built octave violins: Instruments in this category are those that are built solely for the purpose of playing an octave (or more) lower than a regular violin. There are only a few lutheries that make these on a large scale such as Fiddarci Lutherie. Tim Phillips, located in Wales, U.K. makes an octave that often gets good reviews; however he only makes several per year. Gianna Violins either sells or used to sell (we can't tell from their website) a "Grizzly" octave instrument; however we consider it to be a converted viola and will stop at that. David Ravinus used to make a purpose-built octave, but seems to be focused on his famous and highly-regarded violas these days.
- Converted Standard Violins or Violas (usually small violas): These are instruments with larger diameter octave strings and the necessary setup changes, such as larger string grooves at the nut and bridge. Some of these instruments sound quite nice; however, it is rare to find one that will have the sonic power and volume of a purpose-built instrument. A notable exception might be a high-quality Maggini copy converted to an octave instrument. This is covered in separate postings. The most important difference between Magginis and other violins is that they were designed prior to Stradiveri and are considerably larger...about a centimeter greater body length and 1 to 2 mm higher ribs and high arching. We estimate that a Maggini copy can have 5 to 10 more cubic centimeters of airspace in the soundbox. This makes a huge difference. With the right strings, Magginis sound great as octave violins and we sell quite few.
- Electric Violins set up as Octave Instruments: This category is sub-divided into...
- solid body instruments
- chambered (semi-hollow)
- acoustic violins with the right pickups installed
Most electrics set-up as octave fiddles don't sound very good. We have found that when any kind of transducer (pickup) that depends on top vibrations is used, it is essential to have some sort of damping device (we use an adjustable internal damper on ours); otherwise you end up with a lot of low-pitch mush! Transducers that depend on bridge movement (i.e. the ususal kind of violin pickup) tend to be "voiced" such that the resulting sound is harsh and thin. Barbera Tranducer Systems makes an acoustic-bodied electric that is legendary for its great sound. This is due, in no small part, to the special multi-transducer pickup used by Barbera that is "voiced" for the lower note ranges.
- "MIDI-Capable" Electric Violins: MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is the standard system of codes used for making one piece of synthesizer equipment communicate and send control messages (i.e. play this note) to another piece of synthesizer equipment. The big name in MIDI-capable instruments is Zeta, who also makes the necessary electronic equipment for converting audio signals from a violin pickup to a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), generally special software running on a computer.
At the risk of over-simplifying, MIDI-Capable means that the instrument (an electric violin) is designed in such a way that there is absolute acoustic separation between each string. A MIDI-capable violin might have 10 separate transducers installed on a very special bridge. The problem with MIDI-capable instruments is the considerable lag time (enough milliseconds that it is noticed by the player) involved in converting the violin's audio signals to MIDI commands, which are then further processed by the DAW software on the computer.
We consider MIDI-capable instruments as potential octave violins, as even the simplest DAW
software can do an octave conversion. It may sound like a toy instrument, but it's still an octave lower.
- True Violin Synthesizer/MIDI Control Surface: There are none on the market yet; however, Don Rickert Research & Design and a firm called Visual Strings are both working on such an instrument. There will be more on the Violin Synth in other postings and demonstrations of prototypes can be seen and heard in videos on this site.
