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Stringless Violin to Bring Soul to MIDI Music

Posted by michael on from the i-guess-that's-why-they-call-it-the-blues dept.

lperdue writes "Musicians complain that MIDI may be easy, but the results can be more than a bit cold and soul-less. This story from New Scientist says that Stanford Professor Charles Nichols believes his violin, sans strings will put the emotions back into MIDI music."

1 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. The real benefit by ThinkingGuy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    IANAV (I am not a violinist) but I think the biggest advantage of a MIDI violin is simply the ability to practice silently.
    For someone like me, who lives in a small apartment where disturbing the neighbors is a concern, being able to play the violin, with all the tactile feedback of the real thing, yet without making a racket, would be extremely desirable.
    Electric guitarists, keyboardists, and drummers have had the ability to practice using headphones for years. I believe there are also attachments for the trumpet and saxophone to allow "silent" playing. This innovation (if it works as well as the article claims) just extends that ability to a new instrument.