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Fretted Violin

Prevents playing out of tune
  (+5, -1)
(+5, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

Wouldn't this be a good idea? Instead of the tape everyone learns the instrument with, why not just fret the neck?

When in doubt, fret the neck.

P.S. You should fret the neck

HitsMiss, Aug 09 2014

http://www.frettedfiddle.com/ For retro-fitting to your own violin. [pocmloc, Aug 10 2014]

Nyckelharpa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyckelharpa
//...fit a hurdy gurdy keyboard// [pocmloc, Aug 10 2014]

Because then you cannot do Rondo Capricciosso https://www.youtube...watch?v=-HQyXWkABo0
[pashute, Aug 10 2014]

Anyway, most digital instruments now solve that https://www.youtube...KfREwlb7s8o&t=8m30s
Morfwiz and Tachion and Thumbjam and others [pashute, Aug 11 2014]

And with frets it takes all the fun out of practice https://www.youtube...cxhmZIrhDbg&t=3m59s
[pashute, Aug 11 2014]

[link]






       I've often wondered why violins aren't fretted. Perhaps such things exist. But, in any case, this is one of your two best ideas.   

       One argument against them, I suppose, is that a skilled violinist can play far more expressively on a fretless instrument than on one constrained to fixed intervals. And beginners might never master accurate pitch if they start on a "trainer violin" with frets.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 09 2014
  

       Are you certain that this isn't the other one of his two best ideas?   

       Fret marks are sometimes simulated for beginners on violins. And having a fretted instrument doesn't mean that you'll hit the mark.   

       And wouldn't that just make it a banjo or a mandolin?
normzone, Aug 09 2014
  

       For much of the neck, the frets would be closer together than the player's fingers. Additionally, vibrato would be much more difficult, sapping all of the expression.   

       The best route for quantizing violin notes is to fit a hurdy gurdy keyboard.
mitxela, Aug 09 2014
  

       // frets would be closer together than the player's fingers//   

       Ah. That's probably a valid point.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 10 2014
  

       I can't help but think that the sound of a fretted instrument and an un-fretted instrument would be significantly different. In once case the string is anchored between the neck and the finger, in the other it is floating over the fret.
MechE, Aug 10 2014
  

       [+] anyways   

       And [normzone] why do you assume Miss Hits is a Mr.?   

       Real frets (and not just lines drawn on the bar) cause the notes to be distinct, and you can't miss the note. The instrument's string is pulled tight between the next fret and the end regardless of where you put your finger 'before' that fret, and as long as you don't pass the fret before that one.   

       [+] for bigsleep's remark too.
pashute, Aug 11 2014
  

       I actually attempted this, being an electric guitarist meant there was no hope of me learning any significant techniques for a fretless neck, not while there were amps to shift and beers to be drunk.   

       I wanted to create a PROPER electric violin, with an electromagnetic pickup rather than piezoelectric bridge sensor. I got as far as destroying an pickup off an cheap strat copy and re-modelling it to have much more staggered- length pole pieces, to account for the string height differences.   

       Then I got to marking out the fret board. Realized that my fat fingers would be unable to fit between most of them to effectively fret the note.   

       I also realized that guitar-style vibrato (pressing the string deeper into the fret and bending it across the neck) would effectively be impossible in the normal playing position. In fact the radius of the neck means that if you bend a string, it generally fouls a fret further down, ruining the note. Between the lack of bending, vibrato, limited tonal range, and the fact that I couldn't put a whammy bar on it meant that I was creating a tedious and boring instrument. So I bought a Dean ML instead.
bs0u0155, Aug 22 2014
  

       // the frets would be closer together than the player's fingers.   

       Solution to this is retractable frets that sit flush with the fingerboard, and a pressure sensor on the fingerboard which detects finger position and raises only the fret in the next note position above the finger in real time.   

       Segmented frets that raise separately under each string could solve the problem of playing more than one note simultaneously. Would work for other stringed instruments also.   

       (edit: Quick google shows this is mostly baked for other instruments, I'll leave it for discussion purposes however.)
tatterdemalion, Aug 22 2014
  
      
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