NEW Specialized Bows by D. Rickert Musical Instruments: Why?

Posted by Donald Rickert on 22nd Feb 2015

The NEW Specialized Bows by D. Rickert Musical Instruments are available at the Don Rickert Musician Shop

The bows that violinists, fiddlers, violists and cellists use are generally not optimal for the instrument or the player but “good enough”…a far cry from extraordinary! The fact is, humans are amazing at making due with imperfect tools, including instruments and, especially, bows.

Introduction

The dimensions and weights of bows for contemporary normal violins, violas and cellos were standardized over a century ago. The sizing of bows for “fractional” sized instruments, intended for children (but played by some adults with small physiques) came later and continued to be tweaked well into the 20th Century until, ultimately, they split decades ago into the “European” and Suzuki sizing systems. For instance, a ¼ size cello in the Suzuki system is approximately equivalent to a 1/8 size cello in the European system. So, there are two “standards” for fractional instruments and the bows with which to play them; however, these two standards are quite stable today.

In the second half of the 20^th Century, another radical sizing system was introduced. This system, closely associated with one of the best violin acoustics researchers in history, Dr. Carleen Hutchins, had a violin family of 8 instruments, rather than the traditional 3 plus the bass (not a bass violin, but a descendant of the viol instrument family). This 8-member group of instruments was originally called the “Violin Octet”, but is called the “New Violin Family” today. Alas, the New Violin Family never caught on in a significant way; however, there are makers of the instruments and people who play them.

So what if your instrument is NOT one of those played in a modern orchestra, such as a 5-string violin, octave violin or octave viola? Or, perhaps even a violoncello da spalla (shoulder cello), a baroque instrument that appears to be gaining popularity once again. You make due with a bow that has the characteristics closest to what you need in order to coax a reasonable sound out of your unique instrument. Fortunately there is enough variation in bow-makers’ interpretation of standards that one can usually find an adequate, if not optimal, bow for his or her “non-standard” specialized instrument

D. Rickert Specialized Bows

If you know anything about D. Rickert Musical Instruments, we are musical instrument designers who invent, design and make replicas of old instruments, many for which there are no known authoritative blueprints, new takes on old bowed instruments as well as pretty much completely new kinds of instruments. Most, but not all of our instruments, are played with a bow. We have made mandolins and are getting ready to introduce two new mandolin-type instruments. I will not get into some of our more exotic instruments right now.

For many of our bowed instruments, there is no established precedent (escaping the self-appointed standards “police” is a benefit associated with making and playing non-orchestral instruments) for the appropriate bow used to play the instruments.

A few examples:

Our modernized versions of 18th Century pochettes, which we call either “travel” or “backpacker” violins and fiddles:

Should one use a short bow as was the practice with pochettes in the 1700s or a 4/4 size bow in order to play as one would a violin or fiddle?

Our 5-string Fat Strad Deux Mezzo Viola:

We use the Italian word “mezzo” (literal translation: "half", "middle" or "medium", as in mezzo forte meaning medium loud), because the instrument is truly between a violin and a viola in many ways. Should the player use a violin bow or a viola bow? Or is a new kind of “mezzo” bow needed?

Octave Violins (e.g. our Fat Strad 8vb Octave Violin):

One should definitely not use a regular violin bow for such an instrument (although many do, much to our annoyance and the player’s disappointment). Should the player use a light viola bow, a heavy viola bow (just as viola dimensions are not as standardized as those for violin, there is more variation in bow weights) or even a cello bow, as at least one player of one of our octave violins does?

Octave Violas (e.g. our T-Rex 4-String or 5-String Octave Viola):

Using a regular violin bow on one of these behemoths draws barely more sound than the harmonics (i.e. doesn’t work at all!). Only the finest viola bows (which tend to be quite stiff) draw anything close to a good sound. A cello bow is more reliable for pulling notes from large octave viola strings. So, a cello bow has become our recommended bow type, even though a cello bow is generally stiffer and heavier than necessary, which limits the player’s ability to express him or herself musically. This is indeed another case where a new kind of “mezzo” bow would solve the overkill problem.

Besides coming up with completely new bow stick designs (some have done so, such as the makers of IncrediBows), the bow hair seemed like the only reasonable variable, but there really is not that much difference between sources (Mongolian vs. Siberian) and grades of horsehair. Yes, “AAA” Siberian sounds better than “A” Mongolian, but we are talking about a need for a much bigger difference.

Taking a new look at synthetic hair:

My first experience with synthetic hair, about 40 years ago, was with the fibrous stuff on the original Glasser fiberglass bows. Neither the bows nor the hair were that great; however, I, and just about every other fiddler I knew, owned one for use outdoor in hot, humid weather. The original synthetic-haired Glasser bows were so impervious to moisture that I think that one could have played with one underwater…oh wait, we tried that once (inconclusive results, as the fiddle was not water-proof!)

My next experience with synthetic hair was with the original IncrediBows about 10 years ago. These strange highly cambered bows actually looked like a bow that you could shoot an arrow with. They were invented to play musical saws (no, really!). An IncrediBow, at about half the weight of a regular bow, could pull notes like nothing we could have imagined. Happily, IncrediBow, after a period of hard times, seems to be going strong once again.

This brings me to Zaralon™, invented by the ever-iconoclastic Dr. Peter Zaret (Peter Zaret & Sons Violins). The attributes of Zaralon™:

Better Grip for a Bigger and Better Sound
No Stretching or Breaking
Unaffected by moisture, humidity, and temperature
Easier Playing
Does not Oxidize or Attract Finger Oil
Better Consistency
Any Bow can use Zarelon™
Takes rosin easier than horsehair
5 Year Warranty

The thing about Zaralon™ that made it the “magic bullet” for developing a new set of graduated bows for our unique instruments is that it is available in four grades:

Light – Has the same feel as horsehair when played.
Light Soloist - A little more pull or “stickiness” than horsehair
Medium - Considerably more grip than the light soloist grade and tends to produce a bigger sound on the same bow with even the finest horsehair
Heavy – Has the kind of grip normally appropriate for bass bows

Our New Specialized Bows (Available in the Bows Category at Don Rickert Musician Shop)

By varying 3 grades of Zaralon™ (Light Soloist, Medium and Heavy) with 3 different master level solid acoustic core braided carbon fiber bow shafts (a 58.8g “violin” stick, a 67g “viola” stick and an 81g “cello” stick), came up with the following bow variations:

D. Rickert Performer Pro Specialized Violin / Fiddle Bow

58.8g Violin stick with Light Soloist Zaralon™
- This is the best bow possible for just about every 4-string violin or fiddle that we make and/or sell (See table at the end of this article).

D. Rickert Specialized Light 5-String Violin or Fiddle Bow

58.8g Violin stick with Medium Zaralon™
- The Light bow is designed for fast response (yet ability to make the C string sing) needed by lead fiddlers using a 5-string fiddle, such as our Fat Strad Deux Mezzo Viola (Violin-Viola Hybrid)

D. Rickert Specialized Heavy 5-String Violin or Fiddle Bow

67g Viola stick with Light Soloist Zaralon™
- The Heavy bow is designed for accompanying (aka "second") 5-string fiddlers who make extensive use of double string playing (i.e. drones, double-stops/chords)

D. Rickert Specialized Octave Violin or Fiddle Bow

67g Viola stick with Medium Zaralon™
- This is unequivocally recommended bow for our Fat Strad 8vb Acoustic Octave Violin (See table at the end of this article).
- Note: This would also be an ideal bow for a conventionally tuned 4 or 5-string viola

D. Rickert Specialized Light Octave Viola (Chin Cello) Bow

67g Viola stick with Heavy Zaralon™
- The ideal bow for players of our T-Rex Octave Viola for whom fast bowing speed is a priority

D. Rickert Specialized Heavy Octave Viola (Chin Cello) Bow

81g Cello stick with Light Soloist Zaralon™
- The ideal bow for players of our T-Rex Octave Viola (especially the 5-String option) for whom pulling power (lots of chords, droning and double-stops) is a priority

D. Rickert Specilized Violoncello da Spalla (Shoulder ‘cello) Bow

81g Cello stick with Medium Zaralon™
- An excellent bow for any of our “da Spalla” (on the shoulder) instruments
- Note: This is also an excellent bow for a conventionally tuned 4/4 size cello (See table at the end of this article).

Excellence in Fit and Finish, Including Aesthetics

All of our D. Rickert Specialized Bows are a darkish-brown (sometimes called “coffee-colored”) braided carbon fiber. This is about the same color as a CodaBow Diamond Series Gold.

Acoustic core: Proprietary

Shafts: Round

Violin snail tail full shaft tensioned

Winding: All are fully wound with fine nickel-silver and wrapped (what some call the “thumb pad”) with genuine leather.

Frogs and Screws:

For the violin and viola sticks, choice of…

Genuine black ox horn “snail tail” with French eye and nickel-silver/ebony short baroque-type screw with decorative pin; MOP slide…the whole affair has a very baroque-modern look…unique and very cool!