It's called a Trapezoid Violin, and a hundred years ago one built by a professional Luthier was favourably compared to a Stradivarius in a blind test... The validity of the test may be debatable, my reference: Violin-making as it was and is, by Heron-Allen, Edward Published 1885 Was for many years, including my time as a student Luthier, considered the Violin Maker's Bible; but, it's author's reputation has diminished somewhat, more recently, he was, in truth, a collector, rather than a technician 😉
@@iandeare1 If it stood the test of time and was considered the 'Violin Makers Bible' for so long, then surely it would mean any recent revelations about the authors 'credentials' are purely academic at this point? ;-) If the books information was deemed important (pious even, lol) for almost 150 yrs, then I would assume to dismiss it now is a form of (the all too common) music snobbery, don't you think? Just a thought, peace and best wishes to you all from Ireland, keep making music x
I think the "feedback" sound you're expecting is actually a resonance. I can't tell how it's occurring exactly but maybe has to do with the shape of the chamber
There's a good chance that the amount of movement is simply more than would normally happen for a spring reverb which causes a bit of issues, best I can think of since it sounds a bit like when you hit one. Sadly I don't have one of these so I can't test that theory, and in fact it could just be that it's inside something designed specifically to resonate
@@JGHFunRun I was thinking maybe it was the vibration of the note being played beating on the vibration of the sound held by the springs. It kinda had the beating interference sound to it of 2 close frequencies constructing and destructing with each other.
That strange “feedback” effect is definitely you hitting the resonant frequency of a spring. Sounds exactly like a wolf note on a cello (which is happens when you hit the resonant frequency of the body of the instrument.)
Having a sort of "Dampening" mechanism to mute the springs when you want less or no reverb would be awesome. Bassically like a cloth pad on a lever you can move with your chin to mess with the reverb. Just a thought. :)
I had a home made Valve amp from the 70's years ago. I played around with putting thin bands of ShrinkWrap on reverb springs, also tried adhesive foam. The shrink wrap was cool.
That would sound very cool for mandolin, because the unfreted strings are supposed to resonate for certain styles it would be like having continual ringing strings which would be great
I'm not a professional luthier but I did read up a design document that the soundpost-bridge combo is meant to act as a lever system to convert the horizontal movement of the strings into a vertical movement on the sound board, and the soundpost acts as the stiffness required for one side of the lever to work.
Very cool! You probably won't be able to do this through the sound holes, but I figure adding a bit of damping (like cotton or some thin pieces of fabric) would help control the reverb without reducing it too much.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic Ah, neat! And your crazy sound post tool might work to get things into place. Seems worth a shot to me; it sounds fantastic IMHO, just needs to be reigned in a bit.
Not really - spring reverb is independent of air volume (unless you're intending to pack the spring enclosure itself with fabric... which would have some effect, mainly in reducing the upper frequencies 👍)
I think it'd be quite a good idea to try and maybe ship this out to people and stuff as it's own instrument because it really does look and sound like a whole different instrument from the regular violin
Nice job you got a fine tune for a play wood box. In Mexico the armadillos and turtles shields are used as reverb box. The tuning goes depending the layers of epoxy or resins.. not to hard not to soft Thanks for sharing your masterpiece
So you could put a bit of fabric in the tank and it will act like a gate. You want to place the fabric towards one end of the tank. The closer to the end of the springs gives you max reverb, the closer to the middle gives you much less reverb or none.
Yeah. In cigar box guitars, some makers use box mattress springs with hooks on them and then attach them to screw-in hooks attached at an angle inside the body. You can then turn the screw-in hooks to tighten the springs, or even adjust the height so you can control whether the spring is touching the soundboard or not. Dell Puckett has an excellent video on that: th-cam.com/video/lJDCjoZJY60/w-d-xo.html
This is a rabbit hole that needs deeper diving. One could probably make an amazing-sounding acoustic instrument (or several - what about dulcimers, for instance? erhu? even wind instruments?) by purpose-building a good spring array for this use case.
That‘s a really cool video and I‘m only a few minutes in… The introduction was very good. I like the fact, that you explain, what a reverb spring does.
Love the haunting sound you've achieved with this reverb violin. really hope that you continue to experiment and fine tune it until it's a dependable/useful instrument and... fingers crossed... share the results with us. Good luck!
What a lovely experiment! The finished sound kind of reminds me of a twisted landscape in an RPG style game. Like you've just been teleported to another realm and you have to navigate the strange environment to return home and continue your journey. It reminds me most of the Silent realms in Skyward sword and the Dark realm from a Link to the Past.
I have never played a violin but I have to give this spring reverb thing a try with a diy build, a cigar box guitar maybe? Thanks for all the great vids and inspiration David, peace from Ireland to you and yours mo chara.
This sounds absolutely amazing. Once you get the hang of it, or find a way to slightly dampen it to control it the way you’d like I really hope you start posting some full length songs with this. I’m genuinely excited about this
That's really neat. Really like the sound. I also like your experimentation. I was wondering if you could could dampen the springs? Cotton balls? Felted wood? With some sort of adjustment. Thanks.
When it falls apart, you could maybe rebuild it and make the soundpost go onto the reverb tank where the transducer would go so it vibrates the springs more directly
How David accidentally created a superb sounding violin. I mean you could record it for movie soundtracks and I doubt anyone would think "hmm this violin doesn't sound pro enough". And when it falls apart, just glue it back together! Don't forget to use the same glue for the signature sound %) Let's make a library out of it too!
After watching many videos, I had no idea you played violin like that...nor that you build them. Love finding what other vices each musician I encounter also likes to mess with. Like it's always visable whatever someone is headfirst into...(Like a guitarist for example.) But then, you later find out they play the keys and then the drums and then even wild synths at home, after work, lol. I guess I don't know what I'm really getting at, but it seems we never ever want to stop making music, somehow.
That sense of danger of everything getting too crazy makes it even more poignant to listen to. It can be understated and yet still sound dangerous. The Brown Sound of violins!
Try using different rubber washers with varying softness and rigidity between the chassis and the wood like shock absorbers. I’m going to try this! Thanks for the video!
I've done the same thing decades ago on my 1970's Conn home keyboard organ with that resonation & noise from the spring reverb tank, as when you push or bump around the organ which makes the springs go wack.
Wow, this is my first visit to your channel, and I absolutely love this!! I recently bought a cheap violin neck and hardware to put on a cigar box, also recently set up a cheap violin with octave strings (one fifth above the tuning of a cello!), and have yet another cheap violin I will be setting up with flourocarbon ukulele strings just to see what it sounds like (make sure you get a non-reentrant set, so the low string is the fattest). I have also in the past made a teardrop violin completely from scratch- carved the neck, fingerboasrd, tailpiece, and scratch made bridge. I also have a few reverb tanks sitting in my garage, a couple new old stock and a couple used ones..... I think I might have to give this a try! Thanks for the inspiration 😍😍
Great work! I can't wait to try out the Decent Sample library you posted too. Also, I don't know if this was intentional, but the lighting and colors in your workbench shots (from roughly 0:25 to 5:15 ) are extremely soothing and meditative. Those shots (or similar), possibly at slower speeds, would make a great, ambient "music video" for a track or two of the big, swelling reverbs you're getting out of that great super cool box violin.
Sounds amazing, what I'd suggest as an upgrade would be a muffle button to kill the reverb (including that resonance feeback loop which you noted) - fit a button/switch/pad somewhere accessible which activates a maffle bar to drop across the reverbe springs: similar to a piano's muffle peddle. I'd guess somekind of shaped lever that's activated by laying the pinky side of the fretting hand into it, located around the (vertically) bottom of the body by the neck might be the place to put it? I'm not a violinist but that feels the right place for it as a first go. Great experiment though, sound fascinating!
I would put the original springs back on, and introduce tensioning screws, so you can tighten and dampen those springs, eg adjust the amount of energy that's being transferred from the body of the instrument to the reverb tank. Great sound. Makes me wonder what this would sound like on an acoustic guitar.
Late to the party, but you could try with stiffer springs so that it doesn't overload them? It will cut down the length of reverb, but it will take more to get the springs to start "clipping".
I love your videos, they have such a wonderful aesthetic and I love your filming style and colouring. Also, it goes without saying that your projects and creativity are always a pleasure to watch. thank you for what you do. Take care
There was a device back in the early 80s (if I remember right) called the Aspri reverb. It hooked under the string and against the front edge of the bridge saddle on an acoustic guitar. The other end attached at the butt end of the guitar. It contained springs that were shorter and fatter than those in a reverb tank. It did the same as this, and sounded quite good. I had one. They didn't sell well though so the company went away. I wish I could find one now.
Lots of comments talking about the sound you get and yes it's lovely. But also this was an incredibly pleasant and interesting video to watch and I will absolutely be subscribing :)
I feel like you could really lean into that weird feedback sound and make some pretty haunting horror soundtrack style songs with this thing.
thats how id play it
Yeah, that feedback/resonance sounds very similar to that of a Waterphone
I think it lends it's way to last of us soundtrack feel, right?
Reminds me of the Everything soundtrack (Everything is the name of a neat steam game)
Also my first thought! That would be amazing. Imagine the goosebump potential!
I love how casually you just invented, made and played this amazing instrument. Kudos man 🤘🏻
Me: makes a violin shaped like a violin
The violin: (demonic screeches)
This dude: makes a box with strings
The violin: (angelic chanting)
You should put effort into acoustic qualities for sure, that comes before the looks.
It's called a Trapezoid Violin, and a hundred years ago one built by a professional Luthier was favourably compared to a Stradivarius in a blind test...
The validity of the test may be debatable, my reference: Violin-making as it was and is, by Heron-Allen, Edward Published 1885
Was for many years, including my time as a student Luthier, considered the Violin Maker's Bible; but, it's author's reputation has diminished somewhat, more recently, he was, in truth, a collector, rather than a technician 😉
@@iandeare1
If it stood the test of time and was considered the 'Violin Makers Bible' for so long, then surely it would mean any recent revelations about the authors 'credentials' are purely academic at this point? ;-) If the books information was deemed important (pious even, lol) for almost 150 yrs, then I would assume to dismiss it now is a form of (the all too common) music snobbery, don't you think? Just a thought, peace and best wishes to you all from Ireland, keep making music x
I think the "feedback" sound you're expecting is actually a resonance. I can't tell how it's occurring exactly but maybe has to do with the shape of the chamber
There's a good chance that the amount of movement is simply more than would normally happen for a spring reverb which causes a bit of issues, best I can think of since it sounds a bit like when you hit one. Sadly I don't have one of these so I can't test that theory, and in fact it could just be that it's inside something designed specifically to resonate
@@JGHFunRun I was thinking maybe it was the vibration of the note being played beating on the vibration of the sound held by the springs. It kinda had the beating interference sound to it of 2 close frequencies constructing and destructing with each other.
@@Aeduo that also would make sense
Maybe sympathetic vibrations?
I wonder if larger f holes could help?
Jesus, I have never heard a violin this sad... I love it!!! Will definitely try to simulate the sound digitally.
That strange “feedback” effect is definitely you hitting the resonant frequency of a spring. Sounds exactly like a wolf note on a cello (which is happens when you hit the resonant frequency of the body of the instrument.)
Learned some new today. Thanks
Having a sort of "Dampening" mechanism to mute the springs when you want less or no reverb would be awesome. Bassically like a cloth pad on a lever you can move with your chin to mess with the reverb. Just a thought. :)
This!
Use the chinpiece akin to a pianist pedal, I like it +1
I had a home made Valve amp from the 70's years ago. I played around with putting thin bands of ShrinkWrap on reverb springs, also tried adhesive foam. The shrink wrap was cool.
Oh, I have to try that!
That would sound very cool for mandolin, because the unfreted strings are supposed to resonate for certain styles it would be like having continual ringing strings which would be great
"Looking into the wistful mist, lost in memories one cannot recant.
Mired in the echoes."
Yes it is a very inspiring sound.
I'm not a professional luthier but I did read up a design document that the soundpost-bridge combo is meant to act as a lever system to convert the horizontal movement of the strings into a vertical movement on the sound board, and the soundpost acts as the stiffness required for one side of the lever to work.
Very cool! You probably won't be able to do this through the sound holes, but I figure adding a bit of damping (like cotton or some thin pieces of fabric) would help control the reverb without reducing it too much.
I actually might be able to do this? Somewhere I have a tiny dentist's mirror that I would need to use to actually see what I was doing. :)
@@DavidHilowitzMusic Ah, neat! And your crazy sound post tool might work to get things into place. Seems worth a shot to me; it sounds fantastic IMHO, just needs to be reigned in a bit.
Not really - spring reverb is independent of air volume (unless you're intending to pack the spring enclosure itself with fabric... which would have some effect, mainly in reducing the upper frequencies 👍)
@@brad42948 If the cloth is in the right position, the spring will contact the cloth when it goes out of control, dampening it.
Very eerie and beautiful!
This would be great for acoustic guitar.
I think it'd be quite a good idea to try and maybe ship this out to people and stuff as it's own instrument because it really does look and sound like a whole different instrument from the regular violin
I have been trying to play my sisters cheap violin for years and can’t make it sound as good as this hunk of plywood. This is amazing
could you put like.... a movable level sort of deal that can mute the reverb tank, or dampen?
really cool! I hope new instruments come from this :)
Nice job you got a fine tune for a play wood box.
In Mexico the armadillos and turtles shields are used as reverb box. The tuning goes depending the layers of
epoxy or resins.. not to hard not to soft
Thanks for sharing your masterpiece
Wow 🤩..that’s the effect I was looking for without electronics tweaking. Thanks so much ❤ love it.
I love that you have a jaguar guitar! good taste, man, good taste!
So you could put a bit of fabric in the tank and it will act like a gate. You want to place the fabric towards one end of the tank. The closer to the end of the springs gives you max reverb, the closer to the middle gives you much less reverb or none.
I guess you have to make some sort of mechanic that you can control the tightness of the springs. If you want to controll the vibration ofc
Yeah. In cigar box guitars, some makers use box mattress springs with hooks on them and then attach them to screw-in hooks attached at an angle inside the body. You can then turn the screw-in hooks to tighten the springs, or even adjust the height so you can control whether the spring is touching the soundboard or not. Dell Puckett has an excellent video on that: th-cam.com/video/lJDCjoZJY60/w-d-xo.html
That’s really cool!!
This is a rabbit hole that needs deeper diving. One could probably make an amazing-sounding acoustic instrument (or several - what about dulcimers, for instance? erhu? even wind instruments?) by purpose-building a good spring array for this use case.
I wager a lot of people would enjoy building your hobby ideas and the jobs that would create. I enjoy your videos, thank you.
You never cease to amaze, my friend
That‘s a really cool video and I‘m only a few minutes in… The introduction was very good. I like the fact, that you explain, what a reverb spring does.
Amazing watching someone crossing the border of regular life, congratulation about your creativity
I'm impressed dude !Great stuff
Super awesome. Isn’t this technically a pickup system too? I never seen a non piezo pickup system for a bowed string instrument.
dude glued the back on before testing the electronics... balls of steel, legend lol
The sound of this violin is fabulous and your ingenuity incredible !
Love the haunting sound you've achieved with this reverb violin. really hope that you continue to experiment and fine tune it until it's a dependable/useful instrument and... fingers crossed... share the results with us. Good luck!
Sounds amazing David.
Wow, the first "riff" (if I could call it this way) gave me deep Bioshock vibes. Pretty cool sound.
What a lovely experiment! The finished sound kind of reminds me of a twisted landscape in an RPG style game. Like you've just been teleported to another realm and you have to navigate the strange environment to return home and continue your journey. It reminds me most of the Silent realms in Skyward sword and the Dark realm from a Link to the Past.
Great performance. And the playing only adds to the experience. Nice presentation.
*Very, very clever!*
Think this is my fave of your videos! Lovely project. Really enjoyed it
That’s beautiful man. I found this from the homemade instruments FB page and I think I may be inspired to experiment with springs in my own fiddles.
I have never played a violin but I have to give this spring reverb thing a try with a diy build, a cigar box guitar maybe? Thanks for all the great vids and inspiration David, peace from Ireland to you and yours mo chara.
Dude you have started to become one of my favorite TH-camrs. I love all your work. Really looking forward to seeing more in the future.
This sounds absolutely amazing. Once you get the hang of it, or find a way to slightly dampen it to control it the way you’d like I really hope you start posting some full length songs with this. I’m genuinely excited about this
That's really neat. Really like the sound. I also like your experimentation. I was wondering if you could could dampen the springs? Cotton balls? Felted wood? With some sort of adjustment. Thanks.
This is the violin of the future! Sounds great for sound design in media projects.
When it falls apart, you could maybe rebuild it and make the soundpost go onto the reverb tank where the transducer would go so it vibrates the springs more directly
Super cool David 👍
Oh that’s amazing! I’ll make one if I can get my hands on a reverb tank
Amazing content! I just subscribed this past week and have not been disappointed yet! So many ideas for projects now!
Wow! It sounds really really good David 👍
I like the box look, and that sounds Awesome! 😊
How David accidentally created a superb sounding violin. I mean you could record it for movie soundtracks and I doubt anyone would think "hmm this violin doesn't sound pro enough".
And when it falls apart, just glue it back together! Don't forget to use the same glue for the signature sound %)
Let's make a library out of it too!
Bloody amazing excellent video nice job on the violin!
Holy cow! I need one! Do a bass one with screen door springs next! Haha
Those imperfections sound awesome!
gives off a very Mafia or dramatic Italian movie scene vibe... loved it!
Very cool David, what a brilliant idea! Cheers from Vancouver Canada.
Decent Sample pack worthy. What a great sound.
It sounds so beautiful. Your idea was really cool. If it does fall apart make another one. It's worth it.😊
After watching many videos, I had no idea you played violin like that...nor that you build them. Love finding what other vices each musician I encounter also likes to mess with. Like it's always visable whatever someone is headfirst into...(Like a guitarist for example.) But then, you later find out they play the keys and then the drums and then even wild synths at home, after work, lol.
I guess I don't know what I'm really getting at, but it seems we never ever want to stop making music, somehow.
omg this sounds incredible. I would for sure buy one of those.
That sense of danger of everything getting too crazy makes it even more poignant to listen to. It can be understated and yet still sound dangerous. The Brown Sound of violins!
Try using different rubber washers with varying softness and rigidity between the chassis and the wood like shock absorbers. I’m going to try this! Thanks for the video!
Oh now I want to make my own violin!
Amazing!!
Actually really love the reverb distortions, one of the quirks of the instrument
I've done the same thing decades ago on my 1970's Conn home keyboard organ with that resonation & noise from the spring reverb tank, as when you push or bump around the organ which makes the springs go wack.
Dave, love your explanation and the way you take the viewers through the process…💖👍👏👏👏👏
amazed at the intricate engineering of the reverb tank -- great job explaining it!
i love the texture of the finished product on my ears, what a cool thing you made! music experiments are so beyond worth embarking on. :)
Yep, gonna need a sample library of this.
Very cool! Reminds me of some of the Scandinavian fiddles with resonant strings like the nyckelharpa, hardingfele, and låtfiol.
Wow, this is my first visit to your channel, and I absolutely love this!! I recently bought a cheap violin neck and hardware to put on a cigar box, also recently set up a cheap violin with octave strings (one fifth above the tuning of a cello!), and have yet another cheap violin I will be setting up with flourocarbon ukulele strings just to see what it sounds like (make sure you get a non-reentrant set, so the low string is the fattest). I have also in the past made a teardrop violin completely from scratch- carved the neck, fingerboasrd, tailpiece, and scratch made bridge.
I also have a few reverb tanks sitting in my garage, a couple new old stock and a couple used ones..... I think I might have to give this a try! Thanks for the inspiration 😍😍
this is just plain fantastic!! bravo!!
Those feedback loops would make this a great instrument for a horror/cosmic horror soundtrack
The soundpost: In French this piece is called l'âme, the soul. Poetic.
Great work! I can't wait to try out the Decent Sample library you posted too. Also, I don't know if this was intentional, but the lighting and colors in your workbench shots (from roughly 0:25 to 5:15 ) are extremely soothing and meditative. Those shots (or similar), possibly at slower speeds, would make a great, ambient "music video" for a track or two of the big, swelling reverbs you're getting out of that great super cool box violin.
Wow I really want to hear more music played with this violin
Dave…love your demo!
this totally belongs in a film score!!! so awesome!!!
Sounds amazing, what I'd suggest as an upgrade would be a muffle button to kill the reverb (including that resonance feeback loop which you noted) - fit a button/switch/pad somewhere accessible which activates a maffle bar to drop across the reverbe springs: similar to a piano's muffle peddle.
I'd guess somekind of shaped lever that's activated by laying the pinky side of the fretting hand into it, located around the (vertically) bottom of the body by the neck might be the place to put it? I'm not a violinist but that feels the right place for it as a first go. Great experiment though, sound fascinating!
I love your creativity and excitement. Your ideas are so good. Now I want to make something like this!!
An impulse response recording would be interesting for convolution experiments.
I would put the original springs back on, and introduce tensioning screws, so you can tighten and dampen those springs, eg adjust the amount of energy that's being transferred from the body of the instrument to the reverb tank. Great sound. Makes me wonder what this would sound like on an acoustic guitar.
You are a f.... champion. Congratulations and thanks for sharing
Excellent proyect Mr. David Hilowitz!... Congrats!... Cordial greetings from Madrid(Spain)!!!...
SO good! Love your channel David. Both entertaining and highly educational.
It's got an unusual sound that I can see many musical applications for it nice job!
Late to the party, but you could try with stiffer springs so that it doesn't overload them? It will cut down the length of reverb, but it will take more to get the springs to start "clipping".
you can 'tune' it by changing tension on springs, or adding some damping materials like cotton or tape.
Love your experimenting…thats the head space that will take the violin to the next level!
Love your work! 💖👍
Wow!! Sounds amazing!!!❤️❤️❤️👍
I love your videos, they have such a wonderful aesthetic and I love your filming style and colouring. Also, it goes without saying that your projects and creativity are always a pleasure to watch. thank you for what you do. Take care
Thank you for sharing your exploration, and wonderful discovery that opens doors for those who can imagine and be inspired
Man, music is cool.... This is awesome, dude. Thanks for sharing
this sort of instrument would make really good game sound track for ambience
There was a device back in the early 80s (if I remember right) called the Aspri reverb. It hooked under the string and against the front edge of the bridge saddle on an acoustic guitar. The other end attached at the butt end of the guitar. It contained springs that were shorter and fatter than those in a reverb tank. It did the same as this, and sounded quite good. I had one. They didn't sell well though so the company went away. I wish I could find one now.
Lots of comments talking about the sound you get and yes it's lovely. But also this was an incredibly pleasant and interesting video to watch and I will absolutely be subscribing :)
Both ways sounds really good! When I saw the shape of it I thought it would not work.
Oh, that's very nice to hear. All your videos are rich and interesting. Hope you sell this violins! I wish to have one.
So cool!