Darcy, That's cool info about the Kronos instruments. I haven't been following them in recent years, so I'd like to hear that one.
As for loud, yeah, this is the guy in Bruges, and he was loud: <http://maltedmedia.com/photos/stroh.jpg> I build a cello with a resonator bowl rather than a horn; it is very quiet, and perhaps that's what the Kronos instruments were like. It's about midway down the page, the "Uncello": <http://maltedmedia.com/people/bathory/instruments.html> Dennis On Sat, December 11, 2010 3:37 pm, Darcy James Argue wrote: > Hi all, > > Definitely Stroh violins. I heard the Boardwalk Empire MD talk about them on > WNYC. > > Terry Riley's Transylvanian Horn Courtship for Kronos calls for custom-built > Stroh instruments (not just violins but Stroh viola and Stroh cello) built for > them Walter Kitundu, and tuned a full fifth lower than the standard > instruments. You can read more about these instruments, and the piece, here: > > http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_13018_pn.html?selecteddate=03112010 > > I'm not sure if it was because of the lower tuning, but the instruments Kronos > used were very soft -- much softer than standard string instruments. The > authentic Stroh violins are supposed to be louder than a standard violin, that > being the whole point of the resonator -- but for whatever reason, these ones > were eerily quiet, even when played forcefully. > > Cheers, > > - DJA > ----- > WEB: http://www.secretsocietymusic.org > > On 11 Dec 2010, at 2:25 PM, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz wrote: > >> On Sat, December 11, 2010 2:19 pm, Blake Richardson wrote: >>> I've been watching the HBO show "Boardwalk Empire" lately, which is set in >>> 1920s Prohibition-era Atlantic City, and they've had several scenes set in >>> a >>> dance hall with a band in a reverse orchestra pit (in a balcony up near the >>> rafters as opposed to below the stage). One instrument they use is >>> something >>> I've never seen before and I was wondering if anyone knows what it is: it >>> looks like and is played like a standard violin but there's a big >>> trumpet-like >>> brass bell attached to it that extends up over the neck of the instrument. >>> Seems like some kind of string/brass hybrid thingy. >> >> It's probably a Stroh violin. Quirky history, including used for recording >> in >> the pre-electric days. >> >> I saw one in Bruges just this spring, where the musician was playing a >> csárdás >> on it. >> >> Dennis >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Finale mailing list >> Finale@shsu.edu >> http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > > > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > Finale@shsu.edu > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
