Official Luthiers Forum!

I was talking with some fiddlers the other day and the subject of Cape Breton style fiddling came up. I mentioned that I hadn't heard much Cape Breton fiddling. One of the really good fiddlers said that to play Cape Breton style you have to get the cheapest fiddle you can find because it doesn't sound right on a good fiddle. The style was developed in an impoverished place where nobody had a good fiddle. I looked at the other fiddlers and they were all nodding yes.

Imagine if Cape Breton style grew to become the dominant style of violin playing. Luthiers would be spending all there time trying to duplicate the vintage sound of a 1926 Sears "Good" model violin.

I think they were pulling your leg

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

Cape Breton is a hot bed of music.  Do yourself a favour, check it out!

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

[QUOTE=Mike Mahar]Luthiers would be spending all there time trying to duplicate the vintage sound of a 1926 Sears "Good" model violin.[/QUOTE]

A lot of blues was played on some pretty nasty guitars.

Great players can make virtually anything sound good.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I don't think he was pulling my leg. Sure, I can be as gullible as anybody and have been "got" more times than I care to count. This guy, however, is just not a kidder. I've known him for several years. It is likely, however, that other fiddlers familiar with Cape Breton would disagree with the assertion.

"A lot of blues was played on some pretty nasty guitars"

Sure has and a lot of builders spend a lot of time trying to reproduce old Stellas and the like for that very reason.

Since half of Cape Breton plays here on the weekends, I figured I could call around. I gave a call to 'one who knows' and repeated the content of the original posting. Here's the synopsis:

The Cape Breton style, as opposed to the Irish or classical styles, has a lot more scrapes and scratches built in as well as a much stronger attack, leading to a perceived sharpness of the sound. That's combined with the fact that a lot of the earlier recordings were made with cheaper instruments since that's what they had laying around. This of course, is not to say that most of the good players around aren't playing good fiddles, they are. He likened it to traditional blues, but also noted that modern blues players just put the grit back in with their hands when it isn't in the instrument.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Bob,

Thanks for checking this out. As with any good story, it has a component of truth to it. It makes sense, also, that the good Cape Breton fiddlers will sometimes play Irish, Scottish or French Canadian. and have the best instrument that they can afford.

Mike, sorry to go off topic but I love that quote... Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

Makes me think of one of the many great lines from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.   I've got vison and the rest of the world wears bi-focals.

What does it make me if I miss targets that no one else can see but claim to have hit them?

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Kent asked: "What does it make me if I miss targets that no one else can see but claim to have hit them?"

An art fart.

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D..