An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally 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 then.
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 String Instrument Corporation and Vega Company sold electric violins in the 1930s and 1940s;[1]Fender advertised an electric violin in 1958 (first production model pictured at the head of this page) but withdrew it at the point of production.[2][3] After Fender was bought by CBS, the electric violin went into production in 1969 until 1975.[4]
Barcus Berry have been producing electric violins since the mid-1960s[5] and in the early 1970s Max Mathews began developing an electric violin[6] which reached completion in 1984[7] During the 1980s more companies were formed producing their own brand of electric violin, such as RAAD[8] or The Amazing Electric Violin[9] and ZETA.[10] There has been a great deal more commercial success for manufacturers of electric violins since the 1990s, both for well known, established companies and new independent makers too.
Acoustic violins may be used with an add-on piezoelectric bridge or body pickup, or a magnetic pickup attached to the fingerboard end. Alternatively, an electrodynamic pickup can be installed under an acoustic violin's fingerboard avoiding interference with any tone-producing parts of the violin, and therefore keeping its acoustic resonances and tone intact.[11]
A traditional acoustic violin and a modern electronic violin from Marc Capuano
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, but so depending on how the signal is picked up, an electric violin may have a "rawer" or "sharper" sound than an acoustic. 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 violins typically have a non-traditional, minimalistic design to keep weight down. 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. Luthier Yuri Landman built a 12 string electric violin for the Belgian band DAAU. The strings on this instrument are clustered in four groups of three strings tuned unison creating a chorus. Also the instrument features an extra pickup in the tail piece for extra amplification of string resonances.
Acoustic 5-string violins are becoming more common, and it is not unusual for an electric violin to have 5, 6, 7 or more strings. 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 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.
Today electric violins are even being used to reinvigorate music education. NBC, for example, recently featured a "music camp that combines rock and orchestra" by Mark Wood, who was chosen as the "person of the day" and featured on Today for bringing fresh interest to music education with rock performances all on electric violins where proceeds are donated back to school music programs. Today stated "The perfect blend of classical instruments and rock and roll is giving kids across the country a whole new appreciation for music."
Pickups
Acoustic-electric violin bridge with piezoelectric element inlay
Electric violins may use magnetic, piezoelectric, or electrodynamicpickups. Guitar/coil type magnetic pickups require the use of violin strings that have ferrous (iron-containing, as in steel) metal wraps or cores. A few single-coil guitar-style magnetic systems are available, The small body size and arced string arrangement of a violin limit the amount of space available for coil placement. One unusual acoustic/electric violin system uses the string itself as a linear active pickup element. Made to fit standard acoustic violins, the only requisite is that the string is electrically conducting, so the common synthetic or steel core strings can be used.[11]
Generally, piezoelectric pickups are inexpensive and more common. Piezo elements come in the shape of ceramic discs, cylinders or a plastic film. They detect physical vibrations directly, sometimes placed 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.[12] 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.[13]
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 provide internal housing for preamp circuitry.[14][15]
Amplification
Essentially, amplifying an electric violin is exactly the same as amplifying a guitar. They both produce an audio output which is transferred through an audio cable into an amp or PA. For this reason, there are few amps that are specifically for violin, and even those can be repurposed for guitar. Most electric violinists use standard guitar amplifiers. The advantage with using guitar amps is that they have been used for years and their sound is reliable, though not all guitar amps will give a desired tone. Some prefer the more mellow tone of tube amps over solid state amps and digital PA's for violins.[16] Similar to how electric guitar amplifiers are typically used for electric violins, guitar effect pedals, or effects units can be and are used for electric violins.
Artists such as Tracy Silverman and Daniel Bernard Roumain have popularized violin "looping". Instead of playing strictly with a band or as a traditional soloist, these musicians use a loop pedal to layer sound and effectively become a one-man band. Using a variety of pedals and techniques on the violin, these musicians yield a wide array of sounds, allowing original compositions and arrangements for electric looping violin of popular rock and hip hop tunes.[17]
Classically trained violinist Emilie Autumn has also made extensive use of the electric violin, particularly on her instrumental Laced/Unlaced album.
In Brazil, the Electric Violin appears in the work of Marcus Viana, like "Sagrado Coração da Terra" (Sacred Heart of Earth), a Symphonic Prog/Progressive Rock, and Transfonika Orkestra (soundtracks), besides many others.
Daiana Mazza is another violinist from Brazil. She appears in works of Rock, Brazilian Music, Brazilian Gospel, Jazz and Folk, like Braia, Kernunna, Carol Carolo, Os Minervas, Leonardo Araujo, Transfonika Orkestra, Sagrado Coração da Terra, etc.
In the mid-1980s, Zeta Music developed a prototype violin for Laurie Anderson. Through a custom pickup and interface, it sends MIDI data, allowing the violin to control synthesizers. This design was later refined and turned into a commercial product. Unlike most pickup designs of the time, the Zeta pickup has the ability to output the signal from each string to a separate audio channel. Using a multi-pin cable to their pitch-to-MIDI converter, this allows for polyphonic MIDI control, and each string may be set to an independent MIDI channel.
In 2010, Keith McMillen, a founder of Zeta Music, announced the StringPort polyphonic string-to-USB 2.0 converter for the Zeta polyphonic pickup and other polyphonic pickup systems.[22] While no other, dedicated, polyphonic, violin-to-MIDI systems are manufactured, there are a number of general, pitch-to-MIDI violin systems, and general pitch-to-MIDI computer accessories available today. General, monophonic pickup-to-MIDI systems, such as those manufactured by Roland and Yamaha have been available for decades, and may be adapted to standard, electric violins. Without polyphonic instrument output, these systems[citation needed] tend to be monophonic, allowing only monophonic operation—only one pitch can be detected and digitised at a time— but through the use of proprietary pickups, some MIDI polyphony can be achieved. Some pitch to MIDI interfaces from Axon/TerraTec will give full per-string polyphony, interfacing with multi-pin output from Zeta MIDI pickup.
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length. The bass most commonly has four strings, though five- and six-stringed models are also relatively popular, and basses with even more strings or courses have been built. Since the mid-1950s, the bass guitar has largely come to replace the double bass in popular music due to its lighter weight, the inclusion of frets in most models, and, most importantly, its design for electric amplification.
An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities from that of an acoustic guitar via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz, rock and heavy-metal guitar-playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of the electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument, that is usually fretted and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range of electric guitars and basses.
In musical instrument classification, string instruments or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than, a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar and the double bass, the acoustic bass guitar commonly has four strings, which are normally tuned E-A-D-G, an octave below the lowest four strings of the 6-string guitar.
An instrument amplifier is an electronic device that converts the often barely audible or purely electronic signal of a musical instrument into a larger electronic signal to feed to a loudspeaker. An instrument amplifier is used with musical instruments such as an electric guitar, an electric bass, electric organ, electric piano, synthesizers and drum machine to convert the signal from the pickup or other sound source into an electronic signal that has enough power, due to being routed through a power amplifier, capable of driving one or more loudspeaker that can be heard by the performers and audience.
A guitar amplifier is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet. A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet that contains only the power amplifier circuits, requiring the use of a separate speaker cabinet–or it may be a "combo" amplifier, which contains both the amplifier and one or more speakers in a wooden cabinet. There is a wide range of sizes and power ratings for guitar amplifiers, from small, lightweight "practice amplifiers" with a single 6-inch speaker and a 10-watt amp to heavy combo amps with four 10-inch or four 12-inch speakers and a 100-watt amplifier, which are loud enough to use in a nightclub or bar performance.
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is best known for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Precision Bass, and the Jazz Bass. The company was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. Andy Mooney has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) since June 2015.
Jazz bass is the use of the double bass or electric bass guitar to improvise accompaniment ("comping") basslines and solos in a jazz or jazz fusion style. Players began using the double bass in jazz in the 1890s to supply the low-pitched walking basslines that outlined the chord progressions of the songs. From the 1920s and 1930s Swing and big band era, through 1940s Bebop and 1950s Hard Bop, to the 1960s-era "free jazz" movement, the resonant, woody sound of the double bass anchored everything from small jazz combos to large jazz big bands.
A pickup is a transducer that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these to an electrical signal that is amplified using an instrument amplifier to produce musical sounds through a loudspeaker in a speaker enclosure. The signal from a pickup can also be recorded directly.
The electric upright bass (EUB) is an instrument that can perform the musical function of a double bass. It requires only a minimal or 'skeleton' body to produce sound because it uses a pickup and electronic amplifier and loudspeaker. Therefore, a large resonating structure is not required to project the sound into the air. This minimal body greatly reduces the bulk and weight of the instrument. EUBs must always be connected to an amplifier and speaker cabinet to produce an adequate audible sound. The EUB retains enough of the features of the double bass so that double bass players are able to perform on it.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to guitars:
A solid-body musical instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electromagnetic pickup system to directly detect the vibrations of the strings; these instruments are usually plugged into an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker to be heard. Solid-body instruments are preferred in situations where acoustic feedback may otherwise be a problem and are inherently both less expensive to build and more rugged than acoustic electric instruments.
A bass amplifier is a musical instrument electronic device that uses electrical power to make lower-pitched instruments such as the bass guitar or double bass loud enough to be heard by the performers and audience. Bass amps typically consist of a preamplifier, tone controls, a power amplifier and one or more loudspeakers ("drivers") in a cabinet.
An acoustic-electric guitar is an acoustic guitar fitted with a microphone, or a magnetic or piezoelectric pickup. They are used in a variety of music genres where the sound of an acoustic guitar is desired but more volume is required, especially during live performances. The design is distinct from a semi-acoustic guitar, which is an electric guitar with the addition of sound chambers within the guitar body.
A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities.
A bridge is a device that supports the strings on a stringed musical instrument and transmits the vibration of those strings to another structural component of the instrument—typically a soundboard, such as the top of a guitar or violin—which transfers the sound to the surrounding air. Depending on the instrument, the bridge may be made of carved wood, metal or other materials. The bridge supports the strings and holds them over the body of the instrument under tension.
This is a glossary of jazz and popular music terms that are likely to be encountered in printed popular music songbooks, fake books and vocal scores, big band scores, jazz, and rock concert reviews, and album liner notes. This glossary includes terms for musical instruments, playing or singing techniques, amplifiers, effects units, sound reinforcement equipment, and recording gear and techniques which are widely used in jazz and popular music. Most of the terms are in English, but in some cases, terms from other languages are encountered.
References
↑ instruments surviving today first found listed in sales catalogues and contemporaneous advertising
↑ Richard Smith, "Fender: The Sound Heard Around The World" (pg.180-181)
↑ Forrest White, "Fender: The Inside Story" (pg.108-109)
↑ Listings begin again in 1969 Fender Sales Catalogues and contemporaneous advertising
Bowed Electricity — website linking many electric violin players, makers, equipment, and other resources. Not updated since 2001
Bowed Radio — podcast focusing on new music for bowed string instruments (particularly electric ones)
The Digital Violin Database - A survey and review of the violin today, including patents, makers, players, recordings, articles and resources for technique.
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