Tag: Irish
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The Solution to the Chin Rest Problem on Backpacker Violins and Fiddles
Our continuous improvement efforts related to the Backpacker and Travel Fiddles by Don Rickert Lutherie (the Neil Gow 21C2 Travel Violin, the NEW Neil Gow 22C Travel Violin, Adventurer IId Travel Violin and Mountaineer Backpacker Fiddle) has kept us on a relentless search for a truly usable chin rest solution. Customers who otherwise love these small, durable and sonorous instruments have…
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Is it a Tailpiece or a Chin Rest? How About BOTH!
The Tailpiece-Chin Rest Combination from Dov Schmidt Dov Schmidt, himself a violinist and conductor, is also one of the most innovative suppliers and inventor of ground-breaking bowed string instrument accessories such as chin rests and tailpieces (http://www.dov-music.com/). We have begun using Dov Schmidt Harp-style tailpieces on a number of Don Rickert Lutherie instruments. These tailpieces…
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So You Think You Know about the Banjo in Irish Traditional Music?: Part 1
Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. There are many myths about the banjo in traditional Irish music. It is commonly believed that a special type of tenor banjo (a 17 fret, 4-string banjo tuned in 5ths to G d a e' ), called the "Irish Tenor Banjo", has been part of Traditional Irish Music since at least…
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Why the F-Type Mandolin Dominates Bluegrass – Flatirons Dominate Celtic (UPDATE)
Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Have you ever seen a Bluegrass mandolin player playing anything but an F-Type or a Celtic player ever playing an F-Type (the photo with the scroll on the left). There are reasons. Read on… Musicians in just about every genre except Bluegrass, including Old-Time (lots of F-Styles and…
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A Brief History of Flatiron-Type Mandolins (UPDATE)
Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Flat-Top Flatiron-Style Mandolin by Don Rickert Design (now Don Rickert Lutherie) and available from the Adventurous Muse Store is of the general type known as either "pancake" or "flariron". It has that mellow, yet still loud and powerful sound sought by Celtic (both Irish and Scottish) players, as well as…
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Gourd, Tackhead and Minstrel Banjos: Clearing Things Up (Maybe?)
When people talk about the old-style banjos, they often use the terms gourd banjo, tackhead banjo and minstrel banjo as if they are synonymous. Hopefully, this post will clear matters up a bit. There are a number of photo thumnails in this article. Click on them for larger views. First Things First: Where was the…
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