Principal violist Joël Belgique bought a Stroh violin – it’s impossible to describe, so here’s a photo:
Basically it’s a solid wooden dowel with a violin bridge, fingerboard and tailpiece attached, and with a metal horn to amplify the sounds made by the strings. There is also a smaller horn bell attached that is designed to point towards the player’s ear so that they can better hear their sound while playing.
Naturally, hilarity ensued when this monstrosity was brought to work at Monday morning’s rehearsal:
Joël relaxes after a mean rendition of the Mendelssohn violin concerto…
I can barely hold the thing properly, never mind produce any sort of music on it…
Principal hornist John Cox figures, it has a bell, so I should give it a try!
And finally, a video of a street musician doing a bit of justice on one of these things: