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===Violin Octet=== | ===Violin Octet=== | ||
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Early in her acoustic experiments Dr. Hutchins was inspired to build a set of instruments with various ranges that all had the acoustic balance found in the violin. She was led to this idea by recommendation by Henry Brant in 1957 when he mentioned that violins don't have a clear instrument family like those found in woodwinds. Hutchins saw the many flaws and uneven pitch distribution of the string family and sought to correct these issues by first making the distribution of instruments more even, adding a member between the cello and viola, redesigning the viola so that is is far more acoustically balanced, adding two members above the tuning of the violin and finally making two new members below the cello that take on the range of the contrabass. Taking influence from wind instrument families all of the instruments are evenly distributed two to an octave and all of them are tuned in half octave increments that repeat throughout the range. Her work on creating the violin octet represents the first time that there was a truly balanced consort of string instruments since the viol da gamba family. | Early in her acoustic experiments Dr. Hutchins was inspired to build a set of instruments with various ranges that all had the acoustic balance found in the violin. She was led to this idea by recommendation by Henry Brant in 1957 when he mentioned that violins don't have a clear instrument family like those found in woodwinds. Hutchins saw the many flaws and uneven pitch distribution of the string family and sought to correct these issues by first making the distribution of instruments more even, adding a member between the cello and viola, redesigning the viola so that is is far more acoustically balanced, adding two members above the tuning of the violin and finally making two new members below the cello that take on the range of the contrabass. Taking influence from wind instrument families all of the instruments are evenly distributed two to an octave and all of them are tuned in half octave increments that repeat throughout the range. Her work on creating the violin octet represents the first time that there was a truly balanced consort of string instruments since the viol da gamba family. | ||
The instruments in the Violin Octet are- \\ | The instruments in the Violin Octet are- \\ | ||
- | Treble Violin | + | ==Treble Violin== |
- | Soprano Violin, tuned to C4–G4–D5–A5, | + | Tuned to G4–D5–A5–E6\\ |
- | Mezzo Violin, tuned to G3–D4–A4–E5, | + | The treble violin is tuned one octave above the violin, |
- | Alto Violin, tuned to C3–G3–D4–A4, | + | |
- | Tenor Violin, tuned to G2–D3–A3–E4, | + | |
- | Baritone Violin, tuned to C2–G2–D3–A3, | + | |
- | Bass Violin, tuned to G1–D2–A2–E3 or A1–D2–G2–C3, | + | |
- | Contrabass Violin, tuned to C1–G1–D2–A2 or E1–A1–D2–G2 (same as double bass tuning) like the double bass but with a larger body. \\ | + | |
- | Her first octet was first presented in 1965. Several | + | ==Soprano Violin== |
+ | Tuned C4–G4–D5–A5\\ | ||
+ | The soprano violin is tuned one octave above the viola, another new member somewhat like the violino piccolo and the size of a 3/4 violin. \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Mezzo Violin== | ||
+ | Tuned to G3–D4–A4–E5\\ | ||
+ | The treble violin is tuned the same as the violin. The instrument has a longer body by 12-22mm with the same string length as a violin. \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Alto Violin== | ||
+ | Tuned to C3–G3–D4–A4\\ | ||
+ | The Alto Violin has the same tuning as a viola but is played upright like a cello due to the larger body size. \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Tenor Violin== | ||
+ | Tuned to G2–D3–A3–E4\\ | ||
+ | The tenor violin one tuned octave under the standard violin, and acts like as a similar instrument to the tenor violin or viola da spalla. \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Baritone Violin== | ||
+ | Tuned to C2–G2–D3–A3\\ | ||
+ | The baritone violin is tuned the same as a cello but has a larger sized larger body. \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Bass Violin== | ||
+ | Tuned to G1–D2–A2–E3 or A1–D2–G2–C3\\ | ||
+ | The bass violin acts as a new member between the standard tuning of the cello and the double bass with a body about the size of a double bass. \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Contrabass Violin== | ||
+ | Tuned to C1–G1–D2–A2 or E1–A1–D2–G2 (same as double bass tuning), with one 5 string instrument that is tuned to A0-C1–G1–D2–A2\\ | ||
+ | The contabass violin is tuned like the double bass but with a far larger body to balance the instruments acoustics, notably the instrument stands at over 7 feet tall, and cannot be fully played by short players. \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Lineage=== | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Octets in Use== | ||
+ | Her first octet was first presented in 1965. Several | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Second Generation Instruments== | ||
+ | Several of Dr. Hutchins students have continued to make instruments, | ||
===New Methods for Acoustic Tuning=== | ===New Methods for Acoustic Tuning=== | ||
- | Dr. Hutchins developed new methods for tuning the top and bottom | + | Dr. Hutchins developed new methods for tuning the top and bottom |
+ | |||
+ | ==Acoustic issues represented in Research== | ||
+ | Three primary innovations of how to construct a string instrument are presented by Dr. Hutchins- | ||
+ | |||
+ | Size and resonant tuning of the front and back plates of an instrument. These plates are tuned in relationship to the playing range of the instruments strings and most of the plates are wider than their orchestral counterparts.\\ | ||
+ | Construction of the internal chamber of the instrument to better match playing range, many of Hutchins' | ||
+ | Adjustment of playing length of the strings to match the acoustic range, most of the violin octet have longer fingerboards and strings than their orchestral counterparts. \\ | ||
===Academic Career=== | ===Academic Career=== | ||
- | Hatchins | + | Hutchins |
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===Notes=== | ===Notes=== | ||
+ | Plans are available for the violin octet on Joe McNalley' | ||
Hutchins consort website- ((https:// | Hutchins consort website- ((https:// | ||
Biography on the Catgut Acoustical Society website- ((https:// | Biography on the Catgut Acoustical Society website- ((https:// | ||
- | |||
Other earlier attempts to create a more balanced string section include the work of Alfred Stelzner, and Fred L. Dautrich who both built missing members of the string ensemble.\\ | Other earlier attempts to create a more balanced string section include the work of Alfred Stelzner, and Fred L. Dautrich who both built missing members of the string ensemble.\\ | ||
- | |||
All authentic Hutchins instruments are labelled with a SUS numbers inside of the sound body of the instrument. The SUS number means pig in Latin. \\ | All authentic Hutchins instruments are labelled with a SUS numbers inside of the sound body of the instrument. The SUS number means pig in Latin. \\ | ||
+ | Joe McNalley is the director of the Hutchins Consort and also a scholar of Dr. Hutchins work. \\ | ||
+ | The current Hutchins consort was founded in 1999 after Joe McNalley had a phone conversation with Dr. Hutchins and transported the octet from New Jersey to Southern California. \\ |