Tag Archives: Electric Violin

Stunning electric violin has a skeletal body made from 3D printed polyamide and carbon fiber

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While the name Karen Ultralight Electric Violin may not be the best moniker for this instrument, it’s definitely the kind you won’t be able to ignore. Envisioned by Anima Design for Katahashi Instruments the Karen Ultralight is a dynamic electric violin that ditches conventional wooden acoustic chambers for something more eye-catching. The violin comes with a relatively hollow body made through generative design, which still provides strength with minimal use of material. The 3D printed generative frame sits on a carbon fiber body, with a birchwood fingerboard for an elevated yet familiar playing experience. Working just like an electric guitar, the Karen Ultralight has a 1/4-inch jack output, but even sports an internal 9V battery and a headphone jack so you can ‘silently’ play music directly into your headphones without disturbing the neighbors!

Designer: Anima Design for Katahashi Instruments

The Karen Ultralight Electric Violin uses a popular design technique called generative design. If the fact that the violin’s frame seems almost organic and skeletal, it’s because that’s exactly what generative design is. Created to mimic natural growth algorithms, generative design tries to balance functionality with frugality, creating a structure (like our skeletons) that does everything with just the right amount of bone. The Karen Ultralight violin attempts the same thing, achieving rigidity without the extra material and mass. This frame comes 3D printed from polyamide (the generic name for Nylon) and can easily be mass-manufactured, or even printed in left-handed variants.

The violin comes in a 4/4 size, with a carbon fiber body, a birchwood fingerboard, and a composite bow to match. On the inside, the Karen has its own active pickup system and can be connected to an amp using the standard 1/4-inch cable that people use with electric guitars. However, a slot on the back lets you put in a 9V battery and plug your own headphones into the Karen, giving you the ability to play silently, right into your ear.

The post Stunning electric violin has a skeletal body made from 3D printed polyamide and carbon fiber first appeared on Yanko Design.

Yamaha’s uniquely designed e-violin is all about the flair of the performance!

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Short for the Yamaha Eletric Violin, the YEV explores a fundamental truth of electric instruments… and that is that electric instruments don’t need to worry about sound acoustics. A guitar is shaped the way it’s shaped so that air can vibrate in its hollow body. A drum too. Even a saxophone. But when you look at the electric versions of these instruments, you don’t need to worry about resonance, vibrations, and acoustics. That’s why an electric guitar is thinner and doesn’t have a hole. Electric drums are just literally tiles that you strike a drumstick against… and the YEV, just like with other electric instruments, doesn’t need to worry about hollow spaces and sound vibrations. However, what the YEV does with this liberation-from-volume is rather interesting, in that the violin is designed to be completely skeletal.

Looking at the YEV’s body, it’s easy to tell that it’s a violin, but I guess you’d spend a good 10 seconds marveling exactly how it treats surfaces and volumes… or in other words, how it looks. With an extremely streamlined body that houses all the electronics, the YEV comes with a relatively violin-esque silhouette, thanks to a curved wooden veneer that gives the violin its definition. The veneer also interestingly makes the YEV see-through, because the product doesn’t have a front or back, making for a very interesting performance, which is honestly what this violin is all about!

The YEV Electric Violin is a winner of the Design Intelligence Award for the year 2018.

Designer: Yamaha

Liutaly iV Electric Violin Relies on Smartphones for Digital Effects

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Liutaly iV Electric Violin 01

Besides including its own amplified speaker system, the Liutaly iV electric violin also features a dock for smartphones running music creations apps.

While I don’t think the classical sound of violins should be messed with, some modern musicians have an inexplicable attraction for distorted sounds, and digital effects, in general. Claudio Capponi, the inventor of the Liutaly iV, has been developing this electric violin over the past two years, and the result is rather impressive.

“Liutaly believes that future bowed instruments will inevitably be supported by technology,” explained Capponi. “We are producing them now, without modifying the violinistic technique, the expressiveness, the vibrato, the portability, without annoying wires and heavy amplifiers.”

In terms of design, Liutaly iV still looks like its conventional counterpart, meaning that musicians who are familiar with the traditional instrument should have no problem playing this one.

The aluminum tailpiece, maple neck and ebony nut can be replaced to accommodate either four or five strings. More than that, the sturdy carbon fiber body can be equipped with traditional pegs and bridges, in case the violin players don’t like the ones Liutaly iV comes with.

Liutaly iV was built using a patent-pending technology called Self-Amplified, Self Powered Electric Bowed String Instruments (SASPEBSI). Basically, there are two 15W speakers embedded in the front of the chin rest, along with a two channel Class-D power amplifier. According to its maker, Liutaly iV is capable of outputting twice the volume of conventional acoustic violins. In case the included speakers and/or amplifier don’t suffice, musicians have the option of using headphones or even external amplifiers and speakers.

As for the power, this electric violin relies on a 7.4V/1,800mAh Li-Po battery, but can run perfectly fine using anything from 500mAh to 5,000mAh. External power sources are also acceptable, so carrying a power bank with you while playing at a concert may not be that bad of an idea.

The good news for lovers of traditional violins that are looking for a modern take on their favorite musical instrument is that Liutaly iV can also play in analog (but amplified) mode, besides electric, synth, and electronic. It’s up to the player if he selects the mode independently, or if he prefers the violin to mix and match.

As mentioned before, one of the things that definitely sets Liutaly iV apart from other electric violins is the way it works with smartphones. While there isn’t a proprietary companion app, yet, the violin works just fine with existing apps such as Aplitube, ThumbJam, Loopy, and Animoog. The tests mostly involved the iOS version of these apps, but the instrument is compatible with Android smartphones, too.

Orders can be placed on the manufacturer’s website, but delivery times depend a lot on the customization options. Liutaly iV is anything but cheap, ranging between €5,000 and €7,000 (approximately US$5,600 – $8,000), but that’s usually the norm with devices that brings something new to the table.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the iRig HD-A digital guitar interface for Android smartphones, or the ToneWoodAmp gadget for digital effects on acoustic guitars.

[via GizMag]