Aileen Reid: why a 5-string fiddle is my sound, style and identity

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When did you come across and acquire your instrument?

When I left school, I went to this beautiful wee island called Ærø, near Aarhus in Denmark to play for a few weeks with my sister. Some memories from that trip are hazy (for multiple reasons), but the ones I remember are glorious, hilarious, and will always be my first time memories. I was so sure someone had one there, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for years on end. I wasn’t sure if I dreamt it or not, but I found some people in the world played such an instrument. I toured and toured and saved up every penny to put a deposit down on my very own, custom made Tim Phillips 5-String Fiddle in 2012, which is wild because I still think I’ve only just recently started on it. 

Tell us a bit about your 5-string fiddle 

It’s slightly bigger than a violin, but smaller than a viola - so it’s a violin with a low C as the extra string. It was a huge shock when I first got it. I honestly wept for a good year at how unnatural I was at playing it - I’d been so used to playing all of my favourite traditional style tunes, all major keys in A/E/D, I’d play something on the low G string as normal and this big stinking C natural would ring out.

My tooth also hurt for ages because the bass note was rattling a filling (which took me a long time to work out)! It took some serious adapting to, and I still get confused if I look at the strings when I’m playing. I use it in everything I play now though - it’s 100 per cent part of my sound, style and identity. I love having the option of adding a lower range to beefing something out, whether it’s a string arrangement, harmonising a phrase, or accompanying a song or in a session with chords and rhythms.

 My tooth hurt for ages because the bass note was rattling a filling

What do you love about this instrument?

I love that it’s added so many possibilities to what I can play (now that I can actually play it!) and what I write. I can do both viola and violin parts having the range of both. I love the range I have when accompanying songs, and secretly I love that people know it’s me playing just by the range, style, sound, shape or look of my instrument! 

Does it have any particular quirks?

It’s (intentionally) asymmetrical with only two corners, so that the sound still has a brightness and isn’t too muddy, as well as simply to look a bit different. It has a beautiful, open scroll with geared pegs, and only a fine tuner on the E string. The F holes are a bit more modern looking.

My first 5-string is made from a beautiful light blonde maple wood. I wanted it to be really unique so I told the maker some stories. His daughter, Bonnie, painted the stories onto it just before it was varnished and sealed. For example, the stick drawings on the front are my sister and I, on the side is my mum, sister and brother and the instruments they play, and a butterfly on the back as my cousin who had recently passed away and she appears to us all as a butterfly.

During lockdown, a big roll of carpet landed on my fiddle and caused unbelievable damage. I knew Tim Phillips had retired, and were we in different countries, so I took it to three different luthiers who told me I’d be as well using it for fire wood. I chanced my arm and called Tim to beg for some help. Not only did he fix it, he somehow made it even better. Additionally, he got his daughter Bonnie to do some beautiful, clever artwork to cover the scars - a personal favourite is the stickman falling off of the bridge! This entire ordeal gave me a huge wake up call, and made me realise how much I rely on and need my instrument.

It being quite rare, however, meant I couldn’t borrow one or get one easily if I needed to. I trusted Tim completely, said ’go wild, surprise me and don’t tell me anything about the design,’ and I’m now the proud owner of another, possibly even more glorious, custom-made Tim Phillips 5-String Violin. It sounds and looks very different - it’s slightly quieter but brighter sounding, and the wood is more of a red with some beautiful mother of pearl embellishments dancing around the shape. I can’t work out why, but it’s slightly easier to play than my original. Tim himself reckons it’s one of the best instruments he’s ever made and is proud as punch of it. 

How does this instrument ‘shine’ in the repertoire you’ve chosen for your performance with Kinnaris Quintett on 26 August at King’s Cross Summer Sounds?

I use it in everything I do these days - I’d probably be useless on a normal 4-string fiddle now! I definitely use the full instrument in a lot of what I write now, and when we write parts or come up with ideas for each other in the band, it’s great to have that lower range as an option for playing the melody an octave lower. You can hear it best on some of the tunes we play like Space Ghettos, Bonobo’s, Period Drama, Hayley & Chris, Saltspring, The Road to Poynton, The Weatherman to name but a few! Fully expect to hear it in all it’s glory at King’s Cross Summer Sounds - it will be ringing out on everything! I also use an octave pedal at times, so it gets really beefy and low. 

Kinnaris Quintet performs at King’s Cross Summer Sounds Folk Festival Day on 26 August in Coal Drops Yard https://www.kingscross.co.uk/event/summer-sounds-music-festival

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