Stroh violin

Read about the Stroh Violin and its use in early sound recordings.

This curious instrument is a Stroh violin, also known as a Strohviol.

On early records the Stroh violin can be recognized by its characteristically thin whining tone.

The Romanian horn-violin is similar to the Stroh violin.

It has the same length as the Stroh violin, but its horn is narrower and yields a more directional sound.

Instruments like the Stroh violin and other types of horn-violin remain a curiosity; they are quite rare in the orchestra.

A related instrument is the Stroh violin, a combination of a mute violin and a metal horn.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries before electronic sound amplification became common, Stroh violins were used particularly in the recording studio.

More recently, the Stroh violin used mechanical amplification similar to that of an unelectrified gramophone to boost sound volume.

Members of the string family did not fare so well during the early days of recording and the Stroh Violin was a solution to this problem.

Ólöf Arnalds - guitar, viol, stroh violin, xylophone and vocals.

Stroh violin or phonofiddle, known in Romanian as Vioara cu goarnă.

The Stroh violin is used in folk music of the Bihor region of Romania.

Standard violins in orchestral ensembles were commonly replaced by Stroh violins which became popular with recording studios.

The Stroh violin is also closely related to other horned violins using a mica sheet-resonating diaphragm, known as phonofiddles.

Smithsonian Institution HistoryWired article about the Stroh violin (includes photos)

The Stroh violin incorporated a vibrating diaphragm and amplifying horn, in much in the same way as phonographs and talking machines of the day.

In the early 20th century, the Stroh violin used a diaphragm-type resonator and a metal horn to project the string sound, much like early mechanical gramophones.

The success of electrical amplification, recording and playback devices brought an end to the use of the Stroh violin in broadcast and recording.

U.S. jazz bandleader Paul Whiteman introduced de Caro to the Stroh violin, later that year.

Some Stroh violins have a small "monitor" horn pointed at the player's ear, for audibility on a loud stage, where the main horn points at the audience.

Stroh violins are much louder than a standard wooden violin, and its directional projection of sound made it particularly useful in the early days of phonographic recording.

Mechanical-acoustic music from a Stroh violin, Gramophone and Phonograph electronically manipulated and played back through the very same horns of the antique instrument and machines.

Wireless - "Music for a Room" (2003) A musical séance for Stroh violin, violinophone, tuba, Gramophones and Phonographs.

A Stroh violin is regularly played by Andy Stein of Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, a New York based band specializing in the music of the 1920s and 1930s.