Sometimes I’ll run across something interesting and then put it aside until I can find out more about it later. Last month the amazingly talented Jake Von Slatt from The Steampunk Workshop made a post about a commission he took for a friend – he doesn’t usually take commissions, but this one was interesting to him because it involved making some repairs to a Stroh violin.
Never heard of a Stroh violin? I hadn’t either. So here’s one next to a regular violin for comparison:
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The Stroh violin – also known as a horn-violin – is a turn of the (20th) century invention that put out directionally-amplified sound, making it useful for getting a good, clear phonograph recording of violin music in the days before electronic mics and amps existed. They were also used in concert halls and the like, and they were about five times more expensive than a standard violin. And not nearly as pretty, at least not in this picture.
The one Jake repaired, however, is gorgeous:
But does it sound like a regular violin? When I looked it up, some said yes and some said no. I think it does, just a little bit twangier in a banjo sort of way, but I’ll let you judge for yourself.
You can also watch Lindsey Stirling play one in Roundtable Rival this week on The Happy Page.