Electric Strings Monthly

Web Site Changes

New Pictures

New Links

The E.V. Book

New Music

Ask Andy:
All About Midi
 
 

Editorial:
Andy
Design&Production:
Andy
Administration:
Andy
Finance:
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Advertising:
This is it
Marketing:
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Correspondence:
20 Brewers Wharf, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 1ET, U.K.

Telephone:
(44)(0)1636 677416

If you would like to contribute to this newsletter with details about new products, new music or just news, then please send me an email.

Although this newsletter is light-hearted in it's style please note that the content is copyrighted and remains the property of Andy Holliman, Achieve Instruments. No part of the contents may be reproduced, in print or electronically (except for your own personal use) or stored in an information retrieval system or workshop or bathroom without the prior permission of the author. 
 
 

In Previous Ask Andys:

#1-Do I need a Preamp?
#2-What wood is best?
#3-LR Baggs Para DI Box
#4-Strings fitting & Octave
#5-Bow Bugs
#6-Anti Virus Software
#7-All about Midi and Zeta

Web Site Changes
You may have noticed that during the month I have revised how I display the makers in the picture gallery. In order to produce a frame that can be seen by all browsers I have had to drop some of the 'clever' stuff and revert to a simple, yet highly attractive page instead(?). If you have any problems with it please let me know.

I have also started to add things during the month rather than one big set of changes at the end of each month. I will tell you what the changes are as usual but if you visit at random times you may see new things that I have not yet announced. Exciting isn't it!

New Pictures
This month I have added new pictures from: Alison, Alter Ego, Spencer, Satoshi Orisaka, CETVS, Cantini and Steinberger. The instruments from 53 different makers are represented in the gallery. I have also found a picture of L.Shankar's 10 string double necked violin and Ed Alleyne-Johnson's purple violin!

New Links
I have added links to the new makers that are mentioned in the new pictures list above. The current total is 125 but as some of you may have noticed my arithmetic is not always accurate but it is in this ball park.

The Electric Violin Book 
I may have found a distributor for the Electric Violin book in the States. As soon as the deal is done I will let you know. In the mean time if you wish to see a review of the book click here and if you would like to order a copy, click here.
 

New Music
I will use this section to inform you of new music that I have been introduced to that features electric violin. So if you have something to contribute to this column, please let me know the details.

Mary Lou Newmark uses a T.F. Barrett Luma violin which you can hear on her new CD 'Green Angel' available for sale and with sound clips at:  http://www.greenangelmusic.com

Stuart Wyatt makes some very interesting music using his Barnshaw 6 string electric violin and a Line6 DL4 box with it's 15 second loop sampler. I personally like this CD so much I have ordered a DL4 box for myself. But will it help me play better?! Check out Stuart's site at:
http://www.solostring.com/

Ask Andy
This month I have been asked to pass on some information about MIDI and bowed stringed instruments. So here goes...

Bowed stringed instruments and MIDI are difficult to get working correctly and that is why there are so few makers of Midi equipment for violin etc. To my knowledge only ZETA have managed to solve the problem. But why is this difficult?

Midi is controlled by an electronic switch. Extend your finger, press a key on a keyboard and you hear that note, only that note and no other note. The key you pressed is a switch that tells the circuitry to generate a specific frequency and send it to the output circuit. Keyboards can do this very easily as they have switches (the keys) that look and feel just like a piano. Guitars can do it because the string (a piece of metal) touches the fret (another piece of metal) and a circuit is made that tells the circuit to generate the required frequency. But bowed stringed instruments are difficult for several reasons. 

You could perhaps make one, like a guitar, as a  fretted violin with lots of wires under the fingerboard but that would make the instrument heavy and would sound like a piano as you slid a finger up the fingerboard. You could use an analogue to Midi convertor which takes 'standard' sound and attempts to decide which frequencies you are playing and then electronically cause switches to close to make the desired sound. This has been tried but usually falls down because of the instrument itself. The violin need a lot more circuitry/software and intelligence to translate all the violin effects into MIDI (decrescendo/crescendo, marcato, martele, spiccato, detache, glissando, etc. etc. The sound is rather 'eunuched' without these dynamics). The Zeta equipment is based on a commercially available analogue to digital convertor but Zeta add additional hardware and software to support the unique sound and parameters of the bowed stringed instrument. The violin and other bowed stringed instruments are very vibrant. The colour of the string sound is more than just a single note. When you play a note the nature of the instrument is to cause harmonics to sound. How you play a note (the bowing) also varies enormously. If you play a G note on the D string then you will hear the G on the D, the open G on the G string, perhaps a G on the E string and depending on the quality of the instrument you will hear other tonal values that will vibrate in sympathy to the original note being played. This is great and what the violin is all about. This is also the main problem. When you play that note, that G on the D string what do you want the Midi device to play? It will play the note you fingered OK but when the other notes and harmonics come in, sound and fade away you don't want them hitting the loud speaker at the same volume and attack as the main note. But the poor old MIDI device doesn't know this. It has a volume setting for the note you are playing and will trigger these other notes sometimes successfully but more often than not very unsuccessfully and usually very badly. This is called false triggering. Other notes will pop out of the speaker and it might even be difficult for you to understand the relationship of the note being sounded to the original note.

So these are some of the problems that have to be overcome. I know of only the Zeta equipment and can tell you how they have overcome these problems. (If there are any other Violin specific MIDI makers, please let me know)

The Zeta Midi system relies on several parts to produce a brilliant MIDI sound. The Zeta Jazz pickups are the most powerful on the planet. They have 2 transducers per string and together with the circuitry, remove all bowing noise, that background hiss and clonks that many other pickups transmit. This removes a lot of false triggering from the MIDI system. Then the onboard circuit has separate preamps, one per string. Each has tone filters that stop that string sending any redundant information. Each string can only generate the primary sounds of the string. Some harmonics can get through but only from the primary string. No cross over sounds come through. The violin and it's on board circuit is then connected to their MIDI controller. If you do not use MIDI and have one of their instruments, the standard 1/4 inch output is clean, powerful and distinctive because of the circuitry described above.

Their MIDI controller is essential. You cannot use some other makers midi controller or convertor. With their Synthony II controller which has a built-in sound module you can control what happens to the sound you are making. Each string could be a different instrument, each note could be a different piece of kit from a drum set or more usually all the strings are set to a single sound type, harmonica, flute, oboe, trumpet, grand piano, rock guitar, sitar etc. etc. You can program many different effects with all the usual midi and guitar based sounds. You can program different sounds and store them as parts of a 'song' and  store many different 'songs'. You can mix the standard output with the midi output and do so many things that would take too long to describe here. (You can download the instruction manual from the Zeta site if you want the full specification). Playing a MIDI violin takes a few moments to get used to. Classically trained players seem to get to grips with it very quickly. This is because they play very positively. There is no doubt about what note they are playing as their bowing movements are positive and even. Like many things you have to give some commitment to the task. Just like playing a 5 string for the first time you need to keep at it to get the desired results. The Zeta midi controller also has a sensitivity setting which you can adjust. This allows the controller to match your playing style to the triggering of notes. Have the setting too high and it will mis-trigger, get it just right and play consistently and you will be fine. The Zeta Synthony II can also provide MIDI to their non Jazz pickups, the Strados and E series pickup instruments. 

Midi however is a solution looking for a problem. If you don't have the problem then you don't need the solution. You have to have a very clear idea of what you want to do and why you want to do to go down this route. If you do and you have the need it is superb and opens up a lot of possibilities.

I hope this explains a bit about MIDI for you.

Zeta produce a full range of instruments (and electric violin specific amplifiers) in different styles, colours and pickup options. In view of the world coverage by a certain other manufacturer I thought I would just finish off by telling you about Zeta's  'practice' violins which have the following features:

• Silent Practice using headphones and the auxiliary output jack. 
• “Play-a-long” with the music by connecting a CD player or other music source into the auxiliary input jack. 
• Use the built-in volume control to blend the level of the incoming music signal with the volume of the instrument to get the perfect “practice mix”. 
• For recital performances use the standard 1/4” analogue output jack and Zeta’s AE-12 Amplifier or your own amplifier/PA to fill the concert hall with rich, feedback free sound. 
• Explore the world of digital music through Zeta’s proprietary mono-MIDI output jack and rack-mountable Synthony II MIDI Controller / Synthesizer.

If you want to keep in touch with things happening at Zeta, they have a monthly newsletter  that you can sign up for at their site http://www.zetamusic.com

Happy new year to you all and lets get out there and make some music!

I would appreciate ideas for future 'Ask Andy' questions - product reviews, technical discussions, making items??? 
Let me know what you would like to know.
 
 
 
 

I hope this has helped you.

Any suggestions for future discussions, Click to Email me

I am not sure if I have created a monster with this page! Will I be able to keep it up and create a full newsletter each and every month? Will you help me by sending in details of CD's, instruments, suggestions? We will have to see and you will have to come back again to check it out.

Achieve Instruments:
Chief Designer, Paint Sprayer, Varnish Consultant, Marketing Manager, Receptionist, Secretary, Web Designer, Tea Boy  and Newsletter Editor.
 
 

See the New Steinberger Violin and other new instruments in the Picture Gallery 
 

 Links from around the World
 

The Electric Violin Book
The Only book on Electric Bowed Stringed Instruments in the World
 
 

Zeta Jazz Pickup
Fully Poly Phonic Midi

Zeta E Series Pickup 
Mono Phonic Midi

Zeta Strados Series Pickup
Mono Phonic Midi
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Zeta Synthony II Midi Processor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Zeta E Series Amplifier specifically designed for piezo pickups
 
 

Full details of the Zeta pickups and instruments can be found by clicking here.