Albert Consort Concludes First Season 2 Revised October 21.pdf · Hutchins as a member of the...

Newsletter of the New Violin Family Association

Octet

Albert Consort Concludes First Season

Vol. 2, No.2, Fall 2004

Violin

new voices for the 21st century

It’s been a busy year for thenewly formed Albert Consort,which completed its first sea-

son in May 2004 with concertsin Binghamton and Ithaca, NY.The ensemble, which plays on

second-generation octet-familyinstruments, has managed tocope with a host of unexpected

events, according to luthierRobert Spear, who built the in-struments.

Becoming an Octet.The group began as a tenor

quartet consisting of soprano,mezzo, alto, and tenor violins.Music using these four voices

was arranged for the perfor-mance given at the Ithaca FirstUnitarian Church on November

30, 2003. However, by thatdate Spear had completed abaritone, so the quartet be-

came a quintet, and several se-lections including the baritonewere added.

The consort performed anabridged version of the Novem-

ber program in April 2004 at theSteadman Theatre for the musicdepartment at Mansfield Univer-

sity in Pennsylvania, followed bytwo May concerts in New Yorkstate. Between the April and May

performances Spear finished abass, so the quintet suddenlybecame a sextet. While Spear

rushed to finish adapting musicto include the latest addition,bassist Michael Griffin accepted

the daunting challenge of prepar-ing a solo on an unfamiliar instru-ment in two weeks. “When Mike

The Albert Consort (l to r); Rachel Evans, soprano, Carrie Reuning-Hummel, mezzo; Michael Griffin, bass(foreground); Stephen Stalker, alto; Elisa (Lizzy) Evett, baritone; Sera Jane Smolen, tenor, performing at the

First Unitarian Church, Ithaca (NY), May 23, 2004.

took the bass, I wasn’t sure thatthe varnish was dry,” Spear says.

Both the smallest and the larg-est of the instruments are cur-rently on Spear’s bench, but

since the treble violin will likelybe finished first, the next concertwill see the sextet grow into a

septet. Spear doesn’t know howlong it will take him to finish thecontrabass--the smaller bass re-

quired more than 350 hours--butwhen he does the group will fi-nally be at full strength.

see Albert, next page

Photo: Green Bean’s Productions.

and supportive audience wehave. Any individual or group of

octet instrument players whoperforms for such an audiencewill find the experience extremely

rewarding.”

Growing Pains.Spear notes that plans for theensemble have changed from his

original idea to have one or twoconcerts each year. Followingtheir debut, the group received

many requests to play, but onlyone could be accepted. Albert

Consort is presently an all-volun-teer group, and many membershave what Spear calls “real jobs”

and other obligations that mustreceive priority.

“We had to cancel a major con-cert because two of our playersencountered conflicts that could

New Violin Family Association Newsletter2

Albert Consort programs usuallybegin with a short lecture by

Spear and include demonstra-tions of the individual instrumentsby members of the ensemble.

Each talk has been a little differ-ent, touching sometimes moreon acoustics and sometimes

more on history. These talkshave been so well-received that

they have become a regular partof each concert.

The first program included soloson the tenor and baritone violins,and works arranged for various

groupings of the five instruments.This included four excerpts fromBach’s Art of the Fugue for so-

prano, mezzo, alto, and baritone;pieces for string quartet byMendelssohn arranged for tenor

quartet (soprano, mezzo, alto,and tenor); and two works for thefull quintet, Conrad’s Elegie,

which received its world pre-miere, and Vaughan William’sPhantasy Quintet. The latter

brought the audience to its feet,and the players were recalled tothe stage several times.

After the performance, attendeeswere invited to meet the players.

Many present were student mu-sicians, private music teachersand faculty from area institutions

of higher education, and sometried their hand at playing the newviolins. This practice has become

a part of most public perfor-mances since. Audiences haveshown keen interest in the octet

concept, and many in attendancehave lingered for almost two

hours after the performance totalk with the players. RobertaCrawford, a violist who served as

the house manager for the firstconcert, commented that everysingle piece of literature about

the new violin family had beensnapped up from the foyer desk

before the concert, and when thehouse was cleaned up afterwardnot a single one had been left be-

hind. Crawford said this was a“first” in her experience.

Spear, who studied with CarleenHutchins as a member of theMontclair “Garage Gang” in the

1970s, formed the Albert Consortin the spring of 2003 and namedif for Albert Mitchell Zalkind, his

late father-in-law. The grouppresently consists of six instru-ments; the soprano, mezzo, alto,

tenor, baritone, and bass violins.

Spreading the Word.For their second performance,tenor violinist Sera Smolen ar-ranged to have the group play in

the Steadman Theatre atMansfield (PA) University whereshe teaches cello. The consort

played a shortened version oftheir November program for asmall but rapt audience of stu-

dents in the department of mu-sic. “The question-and-answerperiod after the concert was most

gratifying,“ Spear says. “It be-came very clear to me that youngmusicians are the most receptive

I think it’s safe to say there is tremendous interest in the new violin family.Robert J. Spear, luthier

Albert Consort playing at Mansfield University.

not be resolved,” Spear notes.“Our alto player has retired and

moved on to other things, so we’llhave to regroup before we canperform again.”

Concert-date conflicts with play-ers in other ensembles happen

all the time and are usually re-solved by engaging a substituteplayer. This is not yet an option

for the Albert Consort. Spearnotes that there aren’t any avail-able soprano, alto, or tenor play-

ers out there yet, but he believesthe problems faced and resolvedby groups like his and the

Hutchins Consort will one dayprove of great value to others

who form octets. He is optimisticabout the future of the group inparticular and the new violin fam-

ily in general. “The response tothe Albert Consort has been won-derful,” he says.“ I think it is safe

to say there is tremendous inter-est in the new violin family herein Ithaca. We’ll be back.”

Interim President

R. J. Miller

Vice-President

Joseph F. Conrad II

Secretary

Margaret H. Sachter, Esq.

Treasurer

Charles J. Rooney, Jr.

Executive Director

Carleen M. Hutchins

Trustees

John CavanaughFrancis FurlongDaniel Heifetz

Godfrey HowardTheodore A. JonesPaul R. LairdAndré P. Larson

Donald Joseph McNalleyEdith MunroJoseph Peknik, III

F. Scott PonicsanPamela ProsciaD. Quincy Whitney

Letter From the Editor

Violin Octet Newsletterpublished twice each year by

The New Violin FamilyAssociation, Inc.

42 Taylor Drive, Wolfeboro NH03894

EditorRobert J. Spear

The NVFA encourages thedistribution and dissemination ofinformation about the new violin

family octet, performers,composers, and luthiers.

Permission is granted for fair useof any material appearing in thenewsletter with proper attribution

of its source. Please notify theeditor when making such use.

Copyright 2004 by the NewViolin Family Association, Inc.

Officers and Board

Dear Readers--There is much of interestpacked into our second issue,so let’s get right to it!

Octet 2005: Celebrating theHutchins New Violin Family.We are pleased to announcethe first internationalconvention of the New Violin

Family Association scheduledfor October 30 - November 3,2005 at the Holiday Inn in

downtown Ithaca, New York.

We’ve been working to make

this event informative and fun,and one that will finally bringtogether everyone interested in

the promotion of the new violinfamily. We need to assess yourinterest for purposes of

reserving lodging facilities andperformance venues, and to geta general idea of numbers to

help us negotiate the best rates.Please take a moment to lookat the enclosed information,

and if you have any questionsabout hotel registration orsuggestions for presentations,

send me an email or letter.

Interesting and informative

presentations are in the works,and, best of all, a great concertwith a joint performance by the

Hutchins Consort and theAlbert Consort. There will bemore octet instruments under

one roof than have ever beenseen before, and othersurprises, too!

Many Thanks.We (the editorial “we”) thank all

the readers who sent us somany nice comments about our

first newsletter. A number of

people who made importantcontributions deserve to berecognized. Margaret Sachter

gave much time and manythoughtful suggestions forimproving clarity and

readability, and she alsoassisted with editing our leadstory. Edith Munro supplied

many of the photos we used indigital format, and AndréLarson made available

photographic materials for thearticles about holdings at theNational Music Museum.

Paul Laird contributedinformation for our article on the

Hutchins Consort, as did AlanCarruth and Don Bradley forour piece “Generations” on the

history of the original sine-wavegenerator. Ephraim Segermangave considerable background

for “What’s Old is New Again.”Last, but certainly not least,Carleen Hutchins saved me

(the individual “me”) frominnumerable goofs and gaffes.To say that her experiences are

broad and her knowledge ofthis field encyclopedic would bethe understatement of the

decade.

Luthier’s Workbench.This new feature is intended forluthiers building instruments ofthe new family. We hope to

present useful and practicalinformation to help in theconstruction of octets, and

provide a place where youreditor and other luthiers sharesome of their methods, hints,

tips, and advanced techniques.This should go a long way

toward helping new luthiersavoid reinventing the wheel.Readers, let us know how you

like it, and luthiers, send us yourtips, photos, and drawings!

Survey Results.The returns on our recentquestionnaire are mostly in, and

it is safe to say that ourmembership is not a dull group!The results of what we learned

will be reflected in thenewsletter beginning with thisissue, and a full tabulation will

appear in a future newsletter.

Redesigned Web Site.Our updated web site went online in March, 2004. Bob Miller,our outgoing Webmaster, hasdone a wonderful job initiating

a full redesign of the site, a tasknow assumed by our incomingwebmaster, Tim Trott. Notable

new features include soundclips of the various performingoctets and instruments, links to

musicians who have recordedCDs with octet instruments, anda constantly updated concert

and events calendar. Browse to<www.newviolinfamily.org>.See you there!

R. J. Spear, EditorPO Box 6562

Ithaca, NY [email protected]

New Violin Family Association Newsletter 3

Letters to the Editor

Octets and Museums.Two things could be done to

improve propagation of octetinstruments. The first is to stopgiving them to museums.

I am a member of CIMCIM(Comité International desMusées et Collections

d’Instruments de Musique),which consists mainly ofmuseum curators of musical

instrument collections. I havecome to know curators who arenot interested in loaning out

instruments, although somedo. Most are mainly interestedin historical instruments and

the milieu in which they weremade. The instruments seldomescape their glass cages, and

looking at them doesn’t allowpeople to hear or try them(although many museums

have sound examples of

instruments of all sorts).

Instead of giving instruments to

museums I think they should

be given to teachers who have

an interest in them. They would

encourage their students to try

the instruments and should be

given music for them. Students

of all levels would be encour-

aged to try the instruments and

to play them in groups, as well

as learning the few differences

in technique needed to switch

from one instrument to another.

Many players start to learn

when they are quite young, and

it should be the same for play-

ers of the new violin family of

instruments.

--Fred Lipsett of Ottawa is a re-tired physicist and alto player.

Carleen Hutchins responds: Ofthe eight octets, three are inmuseums, one is in a universitycollection in Scotland, two areavailable for trial and demon-stration in Wolfeboro, one thatlacks a contrabass is in NewYork City, and one is owned bya professional ensemble. Wehave found that having a fewsets in museums is a good wayto introduce them to the public.In the years I traveled and lec-tured with the octet, I showedthem to thousands of people afew hundred at a time. Yet in oneexhibit in one museum, just oneset already has been seen bysomething like 100,000 people,maybe more, and that numberkeeps growing. The result is thateven now we continue to meetimportant and helpful individu-als that we otherwise would havehad no way of meeting.

Although I hope that one daymany octets will be used pri-vately by teachers and their stu-dents, I think that some of theoriginal sets qualify as historicalitems. As such, they will receivethe care of trained conservatorsand technicians, and their pres-ervation will ensure that they arealways available for study. (Thisis implied in the NVFA missionstatement below--ed.).

Errata

In the last issue we incorrectlyidentified the maker of FredLipsett’s alto as Peter Aylmer of

Quebec. We meant to identifyhim as Peter Mach, who lives inAylmer, Quebec.

In our story “New Instruments forNew Times” we got luthier Tom

Knatt in the wrong state. Tom re-sides in Concord, Massachu-setts, not the city of the same

name in New Hampshire.

Our fumble-fingered attempt at

Don Bradley’s email addresswas almost perfect, except for re-versing the last two letters. Try

again! <[email protected]>Thanks to Oliver Rodgers forbringing this to our attention.

The mission of the New Violin Family Association is to educate the public about the new violininstruments through writings, concerts, lectures, and demonstrations; to encourage players to usethe octet violins in public performance and teaching; to stimulate the composition of music for the

violin octet and to make such music available to the public at large; to instruct others in the makingof octet violins; and to sponsor the collection and preservation of documents and other materialrelating to these violins and their development so that such archives are generally available.

Bravos and Baritones.I am so impressed with your

splendid job as editor of theNewsletter! It is fi l led withinteresting articles—beautifully

written and elegantly laid out.Bravo!!

I spent a delightful day recentlywith my former cello teacher andgood friend, Lynden Cranham,

who was visiting from Englandwith her husband. She is afabulous cellist and up until

recently played with theAcademy of Ancient Music, theHanover Band and others in

England. I of course told herabout the New Violin Family andshe had to see and play the

baritone. She was quite smitten!She kept repeating how beautifulit was to look at, marvelled at

how big the sound was for sucha narrow-ribbed instrument, andwas delighted by how

responsive it was to the bow.She was beguiled by its uniquesound quality, commenting that

she had never heard anythinglike it. She told me that if she hadheard it without seeing it, she

never would have guessed whatshe was listening to. She madeit sound gorgeous.

--Elisa Evett ofIthaca, NY is a

founding baritoneplayer of the AlbertConsort.

A Colleague Compliments.A very nice newsletter! I like the

feel and the many photos ofpeople with instruments. I alsolearned a lot of things going

through this newsletter, and Ithought the piece on the CAS/VSA merger was overall pretty

accurate. I think your newsletteris outstanding!

--Jeff Loen ofKenmore, WA isa violin maker,

researcher, andpast editor of theCAS Journal.

The opinions expressed by our

readers are not necessarily those

of the NVFA. We welcome your

letters and would like to include

your photo with anything we print.


continues to play violin in theSt. Petersburg Philharmonic

and arranges some of his for-eign appearances as a treblesoloist in places where the

larger group is traveling. For hiswork Sedukh has been madea Knight of Honor of the Order

of St. John of the JerusalemKnights of Malta.

Chien Tan had a sudden andalmost unexplainable urge toplay the treble violin and do

what she could to further theacceptance of the violin octet.She believes that “interest in

the new violin family is wide-spread and growing,” and shewants to play a meaningful part.

Tan trained at the ClevelandInstitute and the California In-

stitute of the Arts, working to-ward a career as a violinist thathas led to her current position

as principal second violin in thePortland (OR) Symphony. Butshe wanted to avoid being de-

fined as only an orchestra vio-linist. That led her to purchasea treble violin from Carleen

Hutchins late in 2003 and be-


The tiny treble violin presents both unique challenges and special opportunities for the musician. Fourmusical pioneers share their thoughts and experiences about the small instrument with the big voice.

Treble Delights

Sir Grigory Sedukh first saw

the treble at St. Petersburg inNovember 1993 when hisfriend, Josef Levinson, asked

him if he wanted to see “oneinteresting violin” that he hadrecently received. Sedukh

thought he would be shown anice 18th-century Italian instru-ment, but the violin he saw was

the smallest member of a newviolin family octet sent fromAmerica by Carleen Hutchins.

“Josef has showed me smallcase,” Sedukh recalls. “I was

amazed. I was wonder-struckon the spot when I opened thecase. I told Josef that I begin

to play this violin immediatelyand took [it] home.” Alone in hisroom, Sedukh‘s enthusiasm

wavered. How would he play sosmall a violin in tune? Howcould he switch between the

treble and larger violins?

Sedukh worked out many diffi-

culties over time. He realizedthat the key to playing the treblewas “clean intonation” and

keeping the intervals close--not

an easy thing on the treble’s

short string length. It tookweeks of practice just to playconsecutive semitones in tune.

Sedukh played treble in the St.

Petersburg Octet during the fol-

lowing three years. He recallsthe octet’s first performance inthe Small Hall of the St. Peters-

burg Conservatory and how hewas moved by the sight of Car-leen Hutchins in the audience

weeping tears of joy.

When the St. Petersburg Phil-

harmonic came to play atCarnegie Hall during its 1995US tour, Sedukh visited

Hutchins in Montclair (NJ) and

I was amazed. I was won-der-struck on the spot whenI opened the case. It waslove from first eye. I toldJosef that I begin to playthis violin immediately. Grigory Sedukh

played his treble in her livingroom. “He played like a god,”

Hutchins recalls. “I went intomy shop, got a treble violin andgave it to him.” Margaret

Sachter recalled that Sedukhwas ecstatic. “He wrapped hisarms around it,” she says, “and

hugged it like a baby.”

“My solo career began at this

moment,” Sedukh writes. It wasthe first career of its type in theworld. He soon discovered that

there was little music to play.He arranged over 100 piecesfor treble, and he shares these

and his years of experience

with other musicians just start-

ing out on the treble. Althoughthe St. Petersburg Octet hastemporarily disbanded, Sedukh

It’s been a joy performingand learning to play thetreble violin. It allows me toimmerse in a new level ofcreative process and tothink outside the box. Chien Tan

continued next page

The beauty of thisinstrument is not only thevirtuoso aspect of it but theability to play in such a highrange without losing anyquality of tone.

Reginald Clews


gin making adjustments to itssmall size.

“Everything is micro,” Tan says.“The intervals between thenotes are smaller, and the vi-

brato is smaller. You have tocoax the sound. I’ve had tolearn to be patient.” Tan soon

realized that the little violin hadmade a big impact on her life,a common thread in the stories

of the treble violinists we inter-viewed. “The treble violin haschanged the way I perceive

myself,” Tan says. “It’s openedthe definition of who I am.”

Tan’s career as a treble violin-ist had a modest start. Her firstpublic performance was for

“Chamber Music on Tap” at theBridgeport (OR) Brew Pub onFebruary 18, 2004 playingMozart’s “Queen of the Night”

aria accompanied by a groupcalled “Four Violas to Go.” “Thesoprano who was going to sing

the aria fired herself,” Tan toldus, “and I offered to play thepart on treble.”

The pace has quickened sincethen. Tan has created her own

web site devoted to the trebleviolin <www.trebleviolin.com>,the first of its kind. Tan’s site

also includes audio clips of thetreble that visitors can down-load and hear for themselves

how Tan’s patient practicinghas paid off.

The Oregon Public Broadcast-ing station’s Art Beat, a showfeaturing Oregon artists, be-

came interested in producinga story about the treble violin.A music video featuring a

movement of a Baroque con-certo played on the treble wasdone over a period of three

weeks in March 2004. Tan be-lieves combining the treble vio-lin with the distribution of a clas-

sical music video will allow awider audience to experience thenew sounds of her playing.

Broadcast of the video is sched-uled for November. In June 2005Tan hopes to perform a recital

with members of the Albert Con-sort in Ithaca, NY.

Reginald Clews’ associationwith the treble violin and theHutchins Consort began at the

same time with a phone call frombassist Joe McNalley asking himto play violin in an octet. Clews

says that he jumped at thechance. “I loved the idea somuch I said yes before Joe toldme what kind of organization it

was,” says Clews. “I figured itwould just be a group of peoplegetting together to play chamber

music.”

Clews’ choice was somewhat

proscribed since McNalley hadalready found players for the so-prano and mezzo, and the treble

was the only instrument left. Thatwas fine with Clews. “It was theinstrument I would have picked

anyway,” he told us. “It fits mypersonality.” Playing the trebleviolin is something that Clews, a

fourth-generation musician in hisfamily, has come to consider hismandate. “It’s what I do for a liv-

ing now,” he says, which makeshim a member of a rather exclu-sive club.

Like Sedukh, Clews wentthrough a major learning curve

when he began playing thetreble. “Adjustment is the firstthought that must go through a

player’s mind when he sees thetreble violin,” Clews says. “Con-secutive semitones require a

great knowledge of half position,

and above fourth position one fin-

ger must be moved out of theway before the next can be ac-curately placed.” Clews devoted

months of exercises training hismuscles for new fingering pat-terns.

Clews sees the treble violin asthe “perfect solution” for moderncomposers looking for something

new. “New frequencies, a newspectrum of overtones, and, ofcourse, that rich, resonating E

string that sounds oh, so pure.”Clews recently released a newCD, Praeludium in the Park, that

features the treble violin on halfthe tracks and his conventionalviolin on the other half so that lis-

teners can hear a good compari-son between the two.

Clews writes that during his re-cording session he could not re-sist the temptation to take the ar-

peggios at the end of Elgar’sSalut d’Amour yet another octavehigher. He says, with evident sat-

isfaction, “I believe I reached 12notes beyond the highest note onthe piano with that one.”

Linda Case, who studied violinat Indiana University with JosefGingold, is the newest player to

take up the treble violin. Casesays she was brought to thetreble by her inquisitive nature.

“I was looking for something new

and unusual to do musically, and

the treble violin certainly fits thatdescription!”

Case met Chien Tan in June,2004 when the two attended aclass together in Ithaca, NYwhere Case lives. Tan had

brought her treble violin andCase tried it out. Altough luthierRobert Spear has begun work on

a treble for Case to play in theAlbert Consort, Case is tempo-rarily playing treble SUS 336,

begun in 2001 by CarleenHutchins and completed byCarolyn Wilson Field.

Case notes that the difficultieslearning the upper positions are

complicated by the treble’s smallsize and short neck. “I find therecan be no excess body motion,

and shifting is scary--there’snothing to hang on to!“ Still, Casehas taken to the mighty mite. “I’ve

just loved having this violin,” shesays. “I love its quick and clearresponse. The only problem is

that when I go back to my regu-lar violin, I expect the samesmoothness and it isn’t there!”

I took this instrument homeand played it every wakinghour for two straight days.I gave myself a terribleheadache, but I learnedwhere all my fingers go. Linda Case

squeaky and with almost no“ring.” I took a half-round file and

filed a smooth groove all aroundin the center of the ribs, checkingsound qualities as I progressed.

To my delight, the tone gradually

improved as the groove wasdeepened and made the sides

more flexible.

Then Schelleng suggested I

bore holes in the ribs at certainplaces to raise the frequency ofsome of the lower cavity air

modes, but this was a step in thewrong direction. With severalchanges based on Chladni free

plate tests and lowering platefrequencies, which required

Nobody has been more surprised than I that of theeight octet violins the treble has been the first to

gain a reputation as a solo instrument.Carleen M. Hutchins


The tiny treble violin is the smallest member of the violin octet, but it presented its designers with thebiggest problems. Carleen Hutchins explains why it was originally called

Treble Trouble

With strings tuned an octaveabove the normal violin, the

treble violin is the smallest andhighest-sounding instrument ofthe New Violin Family Octet. It

was the hardest instrument todesign and construct as aplayable, good sounding

instrument – so much so that itscreators called it “Treble

Trouble.” Almost everything

about building a violin had to berethought. Rembert Wurlitzerloaned me a “dancing master’s”

pochette – so called because itsnearly cylindrical body shapemade it possible for the dancing

master to slip it into his coat tailwhen not in use. We learned thatthis small instrument was tuned

like a violin.

Design Dilemmas.The first problem was size. Nostring instrument was availablethat sounded a full octave above

the violin. Our treble was one ofthe last octet instruments to be

developed. By then we hadcreated and refined the scalingcurve, based on my empirical

experiments and Schelleng’sscaling theory, on which thelengths of the other successful

octet instruments had been built.We extended the curve anotherhalf-octave on the chart and

came up with a body lengthapproximately that of child’squarter-size violin.

I had a pattern this size I hadgotten some years before from

Pasqualini in Italy, so we kept itsoverall shape and dimensionsbut made longer f-holes and

shallower ribs. We also designeda violin-type neck for adultfingers with a string length as

long as possible to avoid theneed to slide the fingers aroundwhen playing consecutive

semitones. We also tried manyexperiments to raise the A1 (air)frequency such as shallower

ribs, larger neck and tail blocks,and thicker plates, as well aslonger, narrower f holes.

Construction Complications.The ribs posed another real

problem. How thick would theyneed to be to withstand the extraforces from strings tuned an

octave above those of the violin?Could wooden sides supportthese increased forces? How

shallow could the ribs be and stillprovide adequate support for theneck? I was so concerned that

the thin wooden ribs would notwithstand the extra tension that

I decided to make the first set outof 1 mm thick aluminum strips cutfrom leftover edging I was using

to remake my kitchen tables. The

edging was in the shape of a rightangle, so I sawed it off at the

bend to get the strips for the ribs.

I experimented for months

learning how to bend the materialsmoothly. We finally found a gluethat would join the ribs to the back

and belly, but I had to use rivetsto join the ribs at the cornerblocks. At last the metal-ribbed

treble was ready to play. Itsounded awful-- thin andJohn Schelling worked out

the scaling equations forthe original octet family.

Prototype treble violin showing varnished aluminum ribswith hand-filed groove and riveted corner.


removing both top and backplates, the resulting sound

became clearer and had more ofa ring--especially on the two

lower strings. In the end wereturned to wooden ribs and the

results were even better. I stillhave that first instrument.

String Strife.We could find no material with

enough tensile strength towithstand the tension of e”’ (1325Hz) at a length dictated by the

standard violinmaker’s formulafor neck dimensions. At first weused conventional violin strings

in all sizes and got a surprisingnumber of them to work, butnothing we tried would suffice

for the E string. To keep a morecomfortable string length, wemade the neck two centimeters

longer and tuned the stringsdown a step, but we still couldnot find an E string that would

not break.

Finally, through the Bell

Telephone laboratories, welocated carbon “rocket wire”manufactured by the National

Standard Company in Niles,Michigan. Even though the wireis only 0.007” in diameter, this

space age-material had a tensilestrength of 530,000 psi (poundsper square inch) as compared to

350,000 psi for standard steel Estring wire. Rocket wire workedquite well, but musicians still

complained that even if the stringdid not break, the instrument wasmuch harder to play with strings

tuned a tone lower.

We made a longer nut, thusshortening the string length so a

rocket-wire E could be tuned to1325 Hz and still hold. The stringlength of 8-2/3 inches continues

to pose problems for manyplayers, especially those withwide fingers, and it is still difficult

to finger consecutive semitoneswithout sliding the fingersaround.

A Duckling Becomes a Swan.This small “violin,” known to

those of us who developed it as“Treble Trouble,” is now verymusically successful, although it

is the most difficult to play welland requires the best players.Nobody has been more

surprised than I that of the eightinstruments in the octet, thetreble has been the first to attain

a reputation as a solo instrument.After Max Polikoff played thetreble at the YW-YMHA in New

York, which was the first concertwe ever gave, he was so excitedhe asked to take the instrument

with him to Mexico where he wasscheduled to play solos with anorchestra. This was my first

indication that the treble wasdesirable to a fine concertviolinist as a solo instrument.

A CD recorded by Sir GrigoriSedukh is available from the

New Violin Family Association.Sedukh was knighted for hismany beautiful performances,

compositions, and arrangementsas well as music he hasdeveloped for the treble violin.

Carleen M. Hutchins

Hutchins Consort Featured in Strings Magazine

Treble Violin SUS 336 byCarleen M. HutchinsMontclair, NJ 2001

Quite a bit of attention has been

focused on the Hutchins Consortrecently, and the Encinitas, Cali-fornia-based ensemble will be

featured in the October 2004 is-sue of Strings Magazine. Consortfounder and contrabassist Joe

McNalley (see photo, right) will

also be featured in the winter is-

sue of Double Bassist Magazinefrom the same publisher.McNalley tells us that the latter

article will detail the way he builttravel trunks for the baritone,small bass, and contrabass vio-

lins.

Ongoing ExhibitMetropolitan Museum of Art. “The New Violin Family: Aug-menting the String Section.” André Mertens Galleries for Musi-

cal Instruments, Metropolitan Museum, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82ndSt., New York City. To confirm viewing hours and to obtain fur-ther information: Joseph Peknik, III, 212 570 3919.

October 29, 2004Hutchins Consort. Neurosciences Institute, 10604 John Jay

Hopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Program with J. Schneiderman,lute; Kohaut, Deak, Schubert, Elfmann. 8:00 p.m. $$

October 31, 2004Hutchins Consort. Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Drive,Irvine, CA. Repeat of October 19 program. 4:00 p.m. $$

November 20, 2004Concerts at the Church at Aust, South Gloucestershire onthe English side of the River Severn, UK. Programme of musicfor the New Violin Octet; Skeaping, Mann, others. 8:00 pm. £ 5-8. Info: Peter or Gina Dobbins, 01454 632306 or email<[email protected]>.

November 26, 2004Hutchins Consort. Neurosciences Institute, 10604 John JayHopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Program with Alan Vogel, oboe;Vaughan Williams, Zavateri, Torelli, Sweelinck, plus world

premiere of Amos’ Concerto for Octet. 8:00 p.m. $$

November 27, 2004Hutchins Consort. Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Drive,Irvine, CA. Repeat of November 26 program. 4:00 p.m. $$

January 21, 2005Hutchins Consort. Neurosciences Institute, 10604 John Jay

Hopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Fifth Anniversary Concert:Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Janacek, others.. 8:00 p.m. $$

January 22, 2005Hutchins Consort. Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Drive,Irvine, CA. Repeat of January 21 program. 8:00 p.m. $$

February 11, 2005Hutchins Consort. Neurosciences Institute, 10604 John Jay

Hopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Program with Charles Curtis, cello;Ulisse, Greig, others. 8:00 p.m. $$

February 12, 2005Hutchins Consort. Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus Drive,Irvine, CA. Repeat of January 21 program. 8::00 p.m. $$

Events Calendar


February 18, 2005Albert Consort. First Unitarian Church, Ithaca, NY. Programwith composer Laurie Conrad; Original quintets for New Violins.4:00 p.m. Free

March 18, 2005Hutchins Consort. Neurosciences Institute, 10604 John JayHopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Program of Improvisation:

Premiere of Davis work for Octet, Brubeck, Kenton, Gershwin.8:00 p.m. $$

March 19, 2005Hutchins Consort. St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, NewportBeach, CA. Repeat of March 18 program. 8:00 p.m. $$

May 6, 2005Hutchins Consort. Neurosciences Institute, 10604 John Jay

Hopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Program of Movie Music withEvren Ozan: Barber, Corelli, McNalley, others. 8:00 p.m. $$

May 7, 2005Hutchins Consort. Balboa Theater, 3638 Balboa St. at 38thAve., Newport Beach, CA. Repeat of May 6 program. 8:00p.m. $$

(For additional information about the Hutchins Consort: Joe

McNalley, 760 632 0554; <[email protected]>)

Please note that concert times and venues are subject to change.For updated events information keep visiting our web site at

http://www.newviolinfamily.org/events

Planning an Event?? Giving a Concert?? Know Who Is??

Please send all concert and event announcements to R. J. Spear<[email protected]> or by mail to PO Box 6562, Ithaca,NY 14851.

We also welcome submissions for articles, Letters to the Editor,Luthier’s Workbench, and Lighter Moments. Please include yourname, address, and a small photo of yourself (digital format

preferred) with your submission.


People in the News

Sera Smolen played Medita-tion from the Jules Massenet

opera Thais at the 2003 Christ-mas Eve service of the FirstPresbyterian Church in Rome

(NY), accompanied by EdrisKalin, pianist. Smolen, whoplays tenor in the Albert Con-

sort, reports that the congrega-tion was stirred by the tenorsound and that she was

stopped “at least 40 times” byindividuals who wanted to knowmore about the tenor. Other

musicians present remarkedthat the sound of the tenor“filled the entire church.”

John Cavanaugh, President

of the Super-Sensitive Stringcompany, announced a pro-gram to upgrade and improve

the quality of the strings made

by his firm for the new violinfamily. Cavanaugh is looking

for players and makers to testthe strings and report back theirobservations and suggestions.

Readers can email Cavanaughat [email protected] information is available

on the company’s web site<www.supersensitive.com>.

Peter Chandler of Ilderton,

Ontario, Canada tells us thathe has constructed nine altoviolins so far, and that he has

one of each in Italy, South Af-rica, and Wales, and five in theUnited States--but only one in

Canada! Inspired by the sightand sound of an octet CarleenHutchins brought to London,

Ontario in the 1960s, Chandlerobtained an original plan andstarted building altos. He says

at first nobody wanted them.That changed when RalphAldridge, a professor of viola,

heard two altos at a musiccamp and reconsidered hisunfavorable opinion of the in-

strument. Chandler did not be-gin making instruments until heretired from farm work 18 years

ago when he was 57 years old.

He has since made 154 instru-ments, including a harpsichord,

two harps and 50 contrabasses.

Dr. André Larson, director of the

National Music Museum in Ver-million, SD announces an exhibitof three experimental instru-

ments donated in 2001 by Car-leen Hutchins. These include thefamous “Swiss Cheese” violin,

so-called because it has 65 holesdrilled in its ribs, the flat-top violaon which more than 100 acous-

tical experiments were per-formed, and one the earliest vio-lins ever made with a graphite-

epoxy top. Much of the informa-tion gained from these instru-ments has found practical appli-

cation in the violin octet. The ex-hibit began in May and is sched-uled to run until sometime in

2006. A report on these instru-ments was published in the Win-ter, 2004 newsletter.

Michael Griffin, assistant prin-cipal bass with the Rochester

(NY) Philharmonic, has joinedthe Albert Consort as an occa-sional bassist. Griffin became in-

terested in the octet in 1983when he corresponded with Car-leen Hutchins about his Italian

bass. Griffin owns Luthier’s Care,

a Rochester violin repair shop,and he is familiar with plate tun-

ing from his early studies in In-dianapolis with luthier Al Stancel,who learned the system from

Hutchins. Griffin says the violinoctet is going to be “the newphenom,” and he looks forward

to playing in an ensemble with adistinctive new sound.

Ted Mook recently performedselections from Harry Partch’sSeventeen Lyrics of Li Po in Alice

Tully Hall during a concert for theChamber Music Society of Lin-coln Center. Mook played a

Hutchins tenor violin in place ofthe “adapted viola” originallycalled for by the composer.

Partch developed the unconven-tional instrument by grafting acello neck on the body of a viola.

Mook has used the tenor violininstead because it is more suitedto the range of the music and has

better acoustical properties. Inaddition to being one of New YorkCity’s best tenor players, Mook

is a composer who also has usedthe alto violin in some of his com-positions.

If you can find a large cello neckblock it will yield an alto back andscroll (see photo above). To

have enough width for the earsof the scroll, the center of thealto back, normally its thickest

part, must be placed at the nar-row edge of the scroll block. Forthe original Hutchins model, the

neck may have to come from adifferent piece.

Tip #4: Tonewood Sources.Bruce Harvie, proprietor ofOrcas Island Tonewoods

< w w w . r o c k i s l a n d . c o m /~tonewoods/>, sells handsplitbillets of Engleman or Sitka

spruce (originally intended forarch-top guitars) that will easilyyield an alto top, and the ones

we have seen are so nice thatwe bought four of them!. Othersuppliers also should have this

size, giving you a choice of spe-cies and price. Two sets of stan-dard viola ribs will provide

enough material for the ribs ofan alto with starter pieces leftover for the next one. Tenor

back and scroll wood can oftencome from a bass scroll block.

Tip # 1: Molds for Treble andSoprano.For a soprano or a treble violinmold, 3/8-inch (app. 9 mm) soft-

wood plywood stock representsa good size compromise. MDO(medium-density overlay), avail-

able at most lumber centers, isanother good material. Importedhardwood plywood 11 mm thick

is best if you can find it. Heavierstock can be planed down.

Tip # 2: Setting Blocks forSmall Instruments.The usual methods of gluing theblocks to the molds do not workwell with the two smallest octet

violins. Normally, the mold is seton spacers and the blocks areglued in the

middle, whichcenters themold on the

blocks andleaves enoughroom to attach

the lower lin-ers. For thetreble and so-

prano theusual proce-dure must be

altered due to


Luthier’s Workbench

their shallow rib heights of 18mm and 21 mm respectively.

All six blocks must be exactly thesame height. Spacers are still

used, but sized so that they raisethe upward-facing surface of themold flush with the tops of the

blocks as they rest on a true flatsurface (see photo, below). Vio-lin or viola bass bar stock planed

flat makes excellent temporaryspacers if youdon’t want to

create a perma-nent set . Theupper and lower

blocks areplaced first andheld with small

clamps, afterwhich the re-maining four

blocks can beeasily set inplace. Before

gluing you canvisually align them flush with thesurface of the mold if the weight

of the clamps causes any rock-ing.Tip #3: Alto Back from CelloNeck Block.

On this soprano violin, the spacing alignsthe mold with the surface of the blocks.

Tenor top woodcan come from

a standard cellotop withoutmuch waste,

but sometimescello wood hasknots or other

defects that canbe cut awaywhen building a

tenor. If you arewilling to do alittle searching

and glue a crack or two, you canoften negotiate a saving. Somedealers have spruce for bass

gamba tops 32” (813 mm) long,which yields a tenor top with lesswaste than a 36” (914 mm) cello

billet.

S.V.S. Tonewood often has cello

wood in lengths up to 94-96 cm,which is long enough for eithersecond-generation small bari-

tones or the original Hutchins /Schelleng model. Widths varyconsiderably, and it may be nec-

essary to wing the lower bout.Strad did this on his big cellos,so you’ll be in good company!

<www.tonewood.sk>

Finding wood for the contrabass

generally has been a seriousproblem, but International Violin<www.internationalviolin.com>

almost always stocks backs thatare 51” (1296 mm) or a bit longerwith tops to match. While this

wood is still too short for the origi-nal contrabass design, CarleenHutchins recommends reducing

the model slightly in length andwidth in exchange for reliablesources of material.

On this alto violin, the spacing of the moldto align with the center of the blocks can beseen. The same for the cello in the rear .

An alto back and scroll laid on top of a celloscroll block. The narrow edge of the blockis raised with a glued shim underneath tofacilitate square cutting with a band saw.


June Board Meeting

NVFA bylaws require the boardto meet twice each year, and the

first meeting for 2004 took placeon June 26 at the Wolfeboro, NHhome of Executive Director Car-

leen Hutchins. Interim PresidentRobert J. Miller could not bepresent due to the recent arrival

of a new family member, andVice-President Joseph Conradwas in the hospital for coronary

bypass surgery. In the absenceof the Treasurer and Secretary,Hutchins conducted the meeting.

In addition to Miller, TrusteesPaul Laird, Joe McNalley,

Pamela Proscia, MargaretSachter, and Treasurer CharlesRooney participated by means of

a conference call. Present wereFrancis Furlong, Scott Ponicsan,Joseph Peknik III, and D. Quincy

Whitney. Also attending wereRobert J. Spear, newsletter edi-tor, and Alan Carruth in an advi-

sory capacity.

Changes in the Board.Ted Jones and John Cavanaughwere elected as new trustees.

J o n e s

was theo w n e rand edi-

t o r - i n -chief ofCoastal

Cruisingm a g a -zine and

is the au-thor ofe i g h t

books on sailing. He says he isfrom a musical family anddabbled at the string bass “a

long, long time ago!”

Cavanaugh (see picture on page10), who was out of the country

on business at the time of themeeting, is president of the Su-per-Sensitive String Company

and brings much expertise in themusic industry. Interim PresidentMiller said that he will step down

no later than January 1, 2005 todevote more time to his familyand to NVFA activities that he

feels best utilize his talents innon-administrative areas such asproviding services, advice, ex-

pertise, composition, and the for-mation of an octet in Denver.Trustee D. Quincy Whitney was

given a leave of absence for re-search (more on p. 16).

Reports.The treasurer’s report was readand accepted. NVFA is running

a deficit of $8,685, but Rooneysaid that cash assets of $11,673more than cover the shortfall. He

noted that the fiscal year doesnot end until September 30 andthat donations are still coming in.

Liens against musical instru-ments in the amount of $60,000,formerly held by the Catgut

Acoustical Society, have beentransferred to the NVFA and maynow be restructured to release

additional cash assets. Normally,the liens are paid when instru-ments are sold with the remain-

ing balance going to the maker,Carleen Hutchins, who is nowfree to repay the liens personally.

Newsletter editor Spear pre-sented the results of the ques-

tionnaire included in the Spring2004 issue (more next issue).Spear also announced that his

preliminary work indicated that it

was both feasible and desirableto hold the first NVFA interna-

tional conference in Ithaca, NYin October of 2005. The boardvoted to authorize the formation

of a special bank accountthrough Smith Barney to allowSpear meet organizational ex-

penses and receive revenues.

President Miller ’s report ad-

dressed the need to reprint andpress additional copies of the St.Petersburg Violin Octet CD. Less

than 300 copies remain of thisdisc, which has long been theassociation’s best-seller. Al-

though 500 copies would suffice,Miller recommended a morecost-effective run of 1,000 cop-

ies. He also recommended thatliner notes be revised to replacethe Catgut Acoustical Society

logos, listings, and copyrightswith those of the NVFA.

Miller reported that the FrankLewin CD project is now com-plete, and that he will mail cop-

ies to all North American classi-cal music radio stations, selectedpublications, and periodicals.

Miller cautioned that new ac-counting methods will be neededas additional NVFA CDs are re-

leased. He urged the board tobegin publishing music written forthe octet. At least 45 pieces are

in the central office files, and oth-ers are being written. This wouldbegin to address a serious short-

coming on our web site, whereat this time only a few pieces areavailable for purchase.

Miller stated that the job of de-veloping and maintaining the

NVFA web site has become too

demanding to handle in the timehe has available and notified the

board that he will relinquish hisposition as volunteer webmasterno later than January 1, 2005.

Fees and expenses for the siteare paid through the end of theyear, Miller said.

Other Reports.Joe Peknik reported on the octet

exhibit at the Metropolitan Mu-seum of Art (see “News in Brief”on p. 14). Ted Sheridan’s report

stated that the project to convertoctet construction drawings intodigital format was halfway com-

pleted, with drawings of the fourlargest instruments now availablein three common computer for-

mats, PDF, DWG, and DXF.

Edith Munro’s written report on

her archival project revealed thatshe has indexed at least 458photos and charts and converted

them to digital format. LinTolefsen of Green Bean’s pro-duction wrote that her video

project on the octet has spannedtwo years, and that she is pre-paring a proposal for the NOVA

series on public television. JoeMcNalley’s report reviewed theHutchins Consort for the 2003-

2004 season and provided thetentative schedule for the 2004-2005 season, including proposed

tours of the octet to Australia andNew Zealand.

Special presentations were madeby Dr. Robert Nersasian fromBoston and Jack Koefed, former

CEO of Binney and Smith. Thenext board meeting is scheduledfor October 23 in Wolfeboro, New

Hampshire.

Ted Jones

old Helmholtz-like character wascertainly there for the “main air”

A0, but it had a companion modeA1 that is coupled to it and fallsabout 1.7 times the A0 frequency.

A1 is an air mode that sloshesback and forth along the violinfrom top block to bottom block,

meeting up with the A0 mode airsloshing in and out of the f-holesin the C-bout region. It actually

makes the plates move and iscapable of radiating this way (butnot out the f-holes) significantly

at times, but for a violin never somuch as the B1 modes. A1 co-habits the frequency range of the

“main wood” B1 modes and isgenerally lost in their radiation,but this changes as the instru-

ments increase in size. In the

by George Bissinger

A distinct stutter in the rote tradi-tion of violin making occurred inthe 1960s when Carleen

Hutchins and John Schellengcollaborated in the first-ever at-tempt to apply scientific precepts

to the art of making higher andlower-pitch violins. What turnedout to be important was the vi-

brational behavior of the instru-ment body in conjunction withthat of the strings at the low end,

and the limitation of materialstrength at the high end.

In retrospect the approachadopted by Hutchins andSchelleng might seem simplicity

itself, but that would be illusory.There were two main steps: first,determining the most important

resonance modes for the violinand second, applying physics toscale these selected mode fre-

quencies to larger and smallerinstruments, which, by the way,

happens to be something thathad never been attempted be-fore in the 400-year history of vio-

lin making.

Two major radiating modes in theopen string region of the violin

were chosen based mainly onthe Saunders loudness test per-formed with a sound level meter.

One of these modes - the “mainair” - was a cavity air mode (nowgenerally labeled A0 and thought

to be a Helmholtz-like mode),and the other was a “main wood”(now generally labeled the B1

modes). Each had an entirely dif-ferent physical mechanism, andneither was fully understood.

Unaware that equations wereavailable to reliably predict these

mode frequencies, the Hutchins-Schelleng team scrutinized abroad range of bowed string in-

struments in order to understandtheir “main air” and “main wood”properties. They hoped that

mode properties of octet violinscould be determined from theseinstruments. This purely empiri-

cal approach was augmented bySchelleng’s simplified “scaling”

approach, a first in

violin-making. Hemade all the instru-ments the “same

shape” and he as-sumed they were allflat plates. After the

shock of this passeslet me note that thegeneral acoustic ra-

diation properties ofthe violin actually turnout not to be too far

removed from thoseof the flat plate.

To make a long story short, Imeasured the normal modeproperties of a full octet in my lab

at East Carolina University and


Hammer it, Zap it with a laser – “Modaling” the Violin Octet

Bissinger takes a break from one ofhis favorite activities-- taking data

from violins!

Contrabass of the St. Petersburg Octetunder test in Bissinger’s lab at East

Carolina University.

did some room-aver-aged sound output

analysis to see whichmodes radiated thestrongest. The setup

for the large bassstretched our capa-bilities (and overhead

clearance!) to thelimit. All octet mem-bers were measured

pretty much the sameway. The instrumentwas hung by elastics

underneath theincurved section atthe lower end of the

C-bouts. A smallforce hammer struckthe bridge at the low-

est string corner, par-allel and approxi-mately perpendicular

to the “plane” of theviolin while a scan-ning laser vibrometer

traversed about 500points over the entire surface in-cluding the bridge, tailpiece, and

neck-fingerboard assembly.

We generate a “resonance pro-

file” for each instrument this wayand then by looking at anima-tions we can go back and iden-

tify common vibrational modesacross the whole octet. In thisway we were able to conclude

that generally flat plate scalingprocedures work (!!) because themain wood resonance always

appeared close to where it waspredicted to be (except for thebaritone, which has top and back

plates a bit thick).

As for the air modes (note the

plural!)? Lots of surprises! The


NVFA News in Brief

Concert in the Church at Aust.The period of octet inactivity thathas manifestly ended here in the

States seems to have its coun-terpart across the Pond. The oc-tet presently kept in the

Edinburgh University Collectionof Historical Musical Instrumentswill come out for inclusion in the

delightful series of Concerts atthe Church of Aust on Novem-ber 20, 2004. Under the direction

of Roddy Skeaping, who hadcharge of this octet during thethree years it was at the Royal

College of Music in London, theinstruments will be played by mu-sicians local to Bristol and Bath,

led by players in a string quartetbased at Bath University.

The program includes pieces ar-

ranged for octet plus other piecescomposed by Skeaping, includ-ing Crossing the Ether,

Chaconne After Purcell and theG minor Prelude after Bach. Apiece by Terry Mann, Eight

Verses for St. Augustine, will re-ceive its premiere performance.A full report will appear in the next

newsletter.

Met Exhibit Extends.The temporary special exhibit of13 Carleen Hutchins instru-ments, including a full octet, has

proved to be less temporary thanoriginally expected, according toJoseph Peknik, III, principal tech-

nician for the Metropolitan Mu-seum of Art’s department of mu-sical instruments. The display,

set on the north balcony of theAndré Mertens Galleries forMusical Instruments, began on

May 10, 2002 and was sched-uled to close on March 20, 2003.

Sera Smolen, tenor violinist ofthe Albert Consort, told us that

she had visited the Met in earlyMay, 2004, and that the exhibi-tion was still running. Peknik says

that the display has been both

popular and well-received, butsince the museum does not takeattendance for special exhibits,

exact figures must be estimated.The octet was exhibited once be-fore as part of the Met’s Centen-

nial Exhibition in 1989, at whichtime it was viewed by over45,000 visitors.

Peknik says that the HutchinsOctet “continues to be a major

attraction in the department’sgalleries, with visitors particularlyintrigued by the displays of early

experimentation,” and that thelarge bass has “especially at-tracted both young and old. Ev-

ery time I pass the case, thereare people in front of it.” The dis-play will continue in the absence

of a fixed closing date, but Peknikadvises visitors to call ahead toverify the status of the exhibition

and museum hours. Readerscan call Peknik directly at 212570 3919 or send email to

<[email protected]>.

Frank Lewin CD Explores NewString Sonorities.A CD released by the New ViolinFamily Association (see insert)demonstrates many aspects of

the eight new violin family instru-ments designed and constructedby Carleen M. Hutchins.

Employing acoustics as well asthe empirical practices of hertrade, Hutchins created eight vio-

lins ranging from the tiny trebleviolin, tuned an octave above theviolin, to the seven-foot contra-

bass violin. The instrumentscombine beauty of sound with re-markable speaking power.

On this CD, composer Frank

Lewin shows the instruments indifferent types of music. The vio-lins’ ability to blend while preserv-

ing the distinct tone color of eachinstrument can be heard in thearrangements of two movements

from the Palestrina mass,L’Homme Armé.

Introduction on a Psalm Tunepresents the instruments ingroupings throughout their

gamut. In the four movements of

Joseph Peknik, III

Frank Lewin

Hutchins contrabass I tested, the“main wood” radiation is almost

all from A1! I observed this againrecently when I tested a Spearsmall bass, and in these largest

instruments the higher air modesA2 and A4 start to radiate signifi-cantly, too!

While others will determine mu-sically where the violin octet will

land and whether it will becomesome significant part of the mu-sic landscape in the future, I can

say that measuring the violin oc-tet was a high water mark for mein terms of understanding some

of the acoustic behaviors linkedto varying size, especially howthe increasing wall compliance

affects how it radiates.

It is also an encyclopedia of in-

formation for makers interestedin understanding the violin. Thefact that cavity modes that can-

not radiate through the f-holes,even those restricted to the lowerbout or upper bout of an instru-

ment, can radiate significantlythrough forced plate motion is awonderful example of the impor-

tance of wall compliance in thesound of these instruments. Theexperiences with the construc-

tion of the octet related by Car-leen Hutchins in her JASA paperwill tickle your ribs (inside joke).

These combined with all themodal analysis and radiationmeasurements now available

across the octet are certainlysomething that makers will beable to draw on for the foresee-

able future.


Lewin’s composition, DramaticSuite for New Violins, the instru-

ments demonstrate their wideexpressive power. The CD maybe obtained from the New Violin

Family Association, 42 TaylorDrive, Wolfeboro, NH, or on theweb at http://www.newviolin

family.org. For information, emailthe Association office;<[email protected]>.

NVFA Gains New WebMaster.NVFA Executive Director Car-

leen Hutchins has announcedthe appointment of Tim Trott aswebmaster for the association’s

website. Trott will take over fromoutgoing webmaster R. J. Millereffective immediately. Trott is the

son of Doris and the late James(Jim) Trott, who will be familiarto many readers as a former

CAS member and respectedlong-time acoustical researcher.

Trott comes from a backgroundin recording and both radio andtelevision broadcasting. He was

active for many years in the con-

struction of broadcasting studiosand as a contractor for commer-

cial sound, fire, and burglar

Lighter Moments

Your fearless editor varnishes a small bass whileperched atop a 4-foot stepladder. He did not manageto get his apron strings into the varnish bowl!

alarm systems. Trott entered thefield of web hosting and design

in 1994 and sold his contractingbusinesses in 1996.

Trott has been married toMarianne Trott for 36 years andhas one daughter and a new

granddaughter. The couple livein Florida where Trott runsCyberchute, an Internet web

hosting firm.

Changes in Central Office.Louisa Jones, who has beenserving the NVFA as central of-fice secretary two days a week,

has nowt a k e non du-

ties asDirectorof De-

v e l o p -m e n t ,accord-

ing toExecu-tive Di-

rector Carleen Hutchins. This willallow the central office to bestaffed three days a week--Mon-

day, Wednesday, and Friday--in-stead of just Tuesday and Thurs-day as has been past practice.

Jones is the former publisher ofCoastal Cruising and author ofnumerous articles and columns

for national magazines. She wasformer director of developmentfor the New Hampton School in

New Hampshire.

Hutchins Biographer ExpandsResearch.

D. Quincy Whitney wasgranted a leave of absence from

the NVFA Board of Directors to

further her project as CarleenHutchins’s official biographer.

Whitney received a grant fromthe Metropolitan Museum of Artto work with Joe Peknik, and be-

ginning October 1 she will spend

at least six months working inNew York City. Late in the sum-mer, Whitney made a month-long

tour of Europe. After arriving inLondon on August 20, Whitney

made stops in Cambridge andMalverne, England; Edinburgh,Scotland; Aberystwyth, Wales;

Westerlo and Brussels, Belgium;Paris and Nancy, France;Corseaux, Switzerland; Genova

and Cremona, Italy; Munich,Mittenwald, Wolfenbüttel,Braunschweig, and Göttingen,

Germany; and Stockholm andTyreso, Sweden.

Whitney interviewed historians,scholars, violin makers, acousti-cians, physicists, musicians,

wood technologists, museum di-rectors, and other colleaguesand friends of Carleen Hutchins.

Louisa Jones

Tim Trott

D. Quincy Whitney

The New Violin Family Association, Inc.

42 Taylor Drive

Wolfeboro, NH 03894phone: 603 569 7946

email: <[email protected]>

This Issue: FOCUS on the TREBLE VIOLIN

Albert Consort Debuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Editorial Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Treble Delights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Treble Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Events Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

People in the News . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Luthier’s Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . 11

June Board Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Octet Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

NVFA News in Brief . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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Sunday, October 30 Afternoon Arrival and RegistrationEvening Reception

Monday, October 31 Open Exhibition RoomLecturesDemonstrations

Tuesday, November 1 Open Exhibition RoomLecturesDemonstrations

Wednesday, November 2 Open Exhibition RoomLecturesDemonstrationsEvening Gala Concert with

Hutchins ConsortAlbert ConsortSurprise Soloist!Works for Double Octet

Thursday, November 3 Morning Departure

Great Fun with Great Friends and Great Music! More Details Inside!

OCTET 2005Celebrating the Hutchins New Violin Family

October 30- November 3, 2005Downtown Holiday Inn

Ithaca, New York 14850

Albert Consort Concludes First Season 2 Revised October 21.pdf · Hutchins as a member of the...

Documents

Transcript of Albert Consort Concludes First Season 2 Revised October 21.pdf · Hutchins as a member of the...