Meisel Stringed Instruments has added a bass model to its Mozart student instrument line. The Model 8700 Bass features Rubner machine heads, an ebony fingerboard, reinforced sides, antique finish, and laminated top and back. The bass is available in a complete range of sizes, from 3/4 to 1/8. The price is $1,595; instruments are available singly or in outfits with fiberglass bows and bags. For more information, contact Meisel at 800-MeiselM; fax 800-362-5020; or visit www.Meisel.com.
Based around Knilling Instruments’ new Prague model violin crafted in the Czech Republic, the Concord violin features lightly flamed maple back, sides and neck, with a seasoned Bavarian spruce top and amber brown spirit varnish. Appointments include Dominant strings, Guarneri-style ebony chinrest, Parisienne eye pegs and tailpiece, and Knilling master adjustment, The Concord Outfit includes a 7KFS Prague violin, a German brazilwood bow Mueller Model 2192F, and an oblong covered hardshell case (Knilling model CN80). The outfit has a list price of $999.
Knilling also introduces the new Barrage Violin Outfit. Intended for advancing string students, the Barrage Outfit contains a hand-crafted violin from the shop of Jan Dvorak of the Czech Republic. It is solid carved with a narrow grain spruce top and features flamed maple ribs, back, and sides. The Barrage violin has ebony fittings, including brass rhombus inlaid pegs and tailpiece. It also features a Guarneri-style over-the-tailpiece chin rest and comes equipped with Dominant strings. The Barrage Outfit includes Knilling's Embassy Super-Light violin case and German-made Mueller Anniversary bow with tulip inlay. The Barrage Outfit lists for $1,695. For more information, contact John Compton at Knilling Instruments, 1400 Ferguson Ave, St. Louis, MO 63133; tel. 800-727-4512, ext. 233.
Hofner is adding the classical guitar to its line of bass and electric guitars already sold in North America. Although Hofner classical guitars are new to the United States, they have been manufactured in Europe for nearly 100 years. Nine different models constructed with solid maple tops are available. Players may select guitars with cedar or spruce tops, and mahogany, rosewood, maple, or walnut back and sides. A 7/8 size is also available. For more information, contact Roy Olsen at Boosey & Hawkes, 35 East 21st St., New York, NY 10010-6212; tel. 212-358-5300; fax 212-358-5301.
Zeta Music Systems has produced a new violin in its electric series, the Acoustic Pro Violin, an instrument suitable for performance, teaching, or practicing. Zeta combined a dual piezo pickup system and a traditional maple violin bridge. The acoustic features an internal preamp system that increases the power of the pickup signal leading to the violin's output jack. An internal nine-volt battery provides more than 1,000 hours of service and is mounted flush to the rear side of the lower bout of the violin. The instrument, complete with a molded hardshell case, retails for $1,495.
Zeta's Educator Uprite bass is a standard 3/4–size uptight string bass for student and teacher; the bass provides a fretless upright sound in a portable electric instrument. An individual output for each string leads to separate internal gain controls, providing even string balance. The bass features on-board volume, treble, and bass controls and a retractable end pin and detachable upper-bout guide to personalize the fit of the instrument. The bass uses standard upright bass strings. The suggested retail price of $2,495 includes a padded zipper gig bag.
Also in the Zeta series is the new Educator Cello, which offers all the benefits of the bass's pickup system plus a detachable chest body-rest and knee guide to maintain the feel and positioning cues of the traditional acoustic instrument. The cello has a removable end pin that allows the player to personalize the fit of the instrument. The body is made of natural finished alder, and the neck is hardrock maple with a highly arched howable hardwood fingerboard. The cello with soft-padded gig bag retails for $2,495.
The latest in Zeta's MIDI capable electric violins is the Jazz Modern model. The instrument's jazz pickup system uses two directional piezo pickups per string. The two piezos are set perpendicular to each other and read the movement of the string at ninety-degree angles, canceling out unwanted harmonics and bow noise. An analog or digital (MIDI) pickup can he used in conjunction with the violin's jazz pickup system. The bodies are created from high gloss black basswood or honey- or amber-painted maple. The Jazz Modern features a standard maple neck with ebony fingerboard, ebony chin rest, fine tuners, ebony tuning pegs, on-board volume control, a multi-pin MIDI output jack, and a one-quarter-inch analog output jack. Suggested retail is $2,295. For more information, contact Zeta Music Systems, 2230 Livingston St., Oakland, CA 94606; tel. 510-261-1702; email: pr@zetamusic.com; or visit www.zetamusic.com.
Recording
Cellist and ASTA with NSOA member Richard Slavich has recorded his first CD, An American Collaboration, an anthology of contemporary American cello music. The recording features three premiere recordings: William Bolcom's Sonata for Cello and Piano, John Harbison's Suite for Solo Cello, and Waltz & Celebration from Billy the Kid, by Aaron Copland. The CD may be purchased at all Tower Record stores or ordered from Crystal Records for 316.95 plus $2 shipping and handling, 28818 N.E. Hancock Rd., Camas, WA 98607; tel. 360-834-7022.
Hot off the Press
Ivan Galamian's Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching is now available in paperback through book and music retailers or directly from Shar Products Company, for $25. The paperbacks are available to school accounts only, and a minimum of twenty copies must be ordered. For more information, contact Shar Music Products, P.O. Box 1411, 2465 S. Industrial Hwy., Ann Arbor, MI 48106; tel. 800-248-7427; fax 800-997-8723; email: sharnet@sharmusic.com; visit www.sharmusic.com.
The Young Musician's Survival Guide: Tips from Teens and Pros by Amy Nathan became available April 15 from Oxford University Press. In this book, Nathan discusses the solutions to everyday hassles such as having no time to practice, getting the jitters before performances, and dealing with pesky fellow musicians. A resource guide at the end of the book directs readers to sources of additional help. The paperback price is $9.95; hardback is $18.95. For more information, contact Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314; tel. 212-726-6000; visit www.oup.com.
Carl Fischer has released a third collection of editions by Viennese violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler; the latest is devoted to pieces by Corelli, Tartini, and Paganini. The collection includes Tartini's Sonata in A Minor (“The Devil's Trill”); Corelli's Sonata in D Minor (“La Folia”), Op. 1, No. 12; and Caprices and several other works by Paganini. The Fritz Kreisler Collection 3–Corelli, Tartini and Paganini á la Kreisler is $24.95. Two additional reprints also available from Fischer are The Art of the Etude ($14.95), which contains thirteen studies selected by Russian violin pedagogue Zakhar Bron, and Melodious Etudes in First Position ($6.95), a book of sixty original studies by Iranian composer and violinist Raman Entezami. Also from Fischer is The ABCs of Viola, an equivalent to the violin series, and The ABCs of Cello by Janice Tucker Rhoda. The approach is a blend of Suzuki ideas and traditional string pedagogy. The cello book includes diagrams of the instrument, short lyrical warm-up exercises, longer study pieces, and a mixture of folk songs, classical melodies, and original tunes by the author. A worksheet and a glossary of terms are included as well. For more information, contact Carl Fischer, 65 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012; tel. 212-777-0900; fax 212-477-6996; or visit: www.carlfischer.com.
News from Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes Musical Instruments, Inc. has recently added Terry Ward to its staff of regional managers. Ward will be responsible for selling orchestral string instruments, woodwinds, brasswinds, guitars, and orchestral string instruments in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The company has also hired Don Reynolds as regional manager of instrument sales in Texas and David Krogan as regional manager for North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. Jennifer Bilfield has been promoted to the position of director of serious music. Bilfield joined Boosey & Hawkes in 1994 and led the company's promotion team. Boosey has selected violinist Lisa Dondlinger, who has performed all over the United States, Canada, and Europe, as its first Paesold clinician. For more information on Paesold violins or to set up a clinic with Dondlinger, contact Dave Briggs, Boosey & Hawkes string specialist, at 847-816-2500.
Dave Krogen
Lisa Dondlinger
Terry Ward
Don Reynolds
Editor's Note: To have your new product or service announced in the Showcase section, you must be a member of the String Industry Council (or an individual member of ASTA with NSOA). For information on joining the String Industry Council, contact Dan Woltman at the ASTA with NSOA National Office, 703-476-1316; Dwoltman@erols.com.
Super-Sensitive Strings Turns Seventy
Super-Sensitive Musical String Co. celebrates seventy years of business in 2000. The company has its roots in a Chicago residential basement in 1930 with a then-novel metal string. Today the company manufactures seven complete string lines and other musical accessories and supplies for bowed instruments.
Three generations of Cavanaughs have been associated with the family-owned and operated business. Today's management, from left: John Cavanaugh, president; Ellen Cavanaugh, vice president; Caryn Patterson, director of sales and marketing; and Jim Cavanaugh, director of operations.
