Category: Observations and Opinion
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What is Tap Tuning and Why Does it Matter?
Tap-tuning is an art (grounded in science) that is shrouded in mystery. While some luthiers tap-tune only by ear, computer-assisted tap tuning allows the luthier to actually see a computer-generated frequency spectrum graph when muting a specific spot on the plate (e.g., top or back). Computer-assisted tap tuning has only been possible for a few…
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Donald Rickert is In the March/April 2023 Issue of Strings Magazine
I (Don Rickert) am in the March/April issue of Strings Magazine! I am honored to have been one of several experts interviewed for the article, A Pocket Full of Sound, by Karen Peterson in the March/April 2023 issue of Strings Magazine (No. 311, March/April 2023). I wish I could share the entire article here, but…
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Celebrating 10 Years of Gangnam Style – Way to Go, Psy!
Originally known in Korea, not as a K-pop artist, but as a controversial and satirical hip-hop artist, Psy (slang for “psycho” – real name, Park Jae-sang) achieved international fame in 2012 with the music video to his humorous pop song “Gangnam Style”. Psy is considered to be the first K-pop artist to make a breakthrough in…
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The Mezzo Violin: One Way to Achieve Deeper Timbre with Outstanding Projection
Many players of violins, especially fiddlers, spend much effort dreaming about and seeking instruments that, while tuned the same (for a fiddler, this is often something different than the standard G3 D4 A4 E5) but with a less shrill, indeed darker, timbre, with excellent sonority. As Darol Anger colorfully put it, many fiddlers… "…tire of…
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International Strange Music Day 2022
Do you have a taste for the bizarre when it comes to music? Well, I sure do! Well, today is our day, International Strange Music Day (August 24, 2022). Here is a snippet from the website, www.daysoftheyear.com. “For those who have a tendency to lean toward the unique and bizarre, this is one day that…
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What Makes the Difference Between Pretty Good and Great Acoustic Stringed Instruments?
This article has been updated. See: What Makes the Difference Between Pretty Good and Great Acoustic Stringed Instruments? (Revised 6-2023) Introduction Before I start, what are the criteria for judging the sound quality of musical instruments? I hope that the reader can agree that this is largely subjective, and often, culturally relative. Take the Great…
D Rickert Musical Instruments 