In our Accessories 2024 supplement, the US eclectic violinist shares his go-to tech accessories
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My favourite tech accessories? Oh goodness, I have so many favourites… I have so much fun exploring new sounds and new gear! But for brevity’s sake I’ll keep it to three. Firstly, it would be remiss of me if I did not mention my electric violin – it’s my signature model with Volta. The ‘Violinatron’ hybrid instruments have built-in speakers, so they can work as regular electric violins or be played completely unplugged. I worked with Marat, the company owner and head luthier, to design a built-in delay effect, as well as pick out a custom sparkle blue finish, so my ‘Flaxotron’ (bitly.ws/3id4k) looks and sounds amazing!
The Chase Bliss Thermae is the effect pedal that changed the game for me. The legendary MN3005 bucket-brigade chip (chasebliss.com/thermae), coupled with a resonant low pass filter, make for the most magical-sounding repeats. It’s also an instrument in its own right, with a pitch-shifting sequencer built in. Double-stops become arpeggios with notes lower than the violin can play on its own. And it saves presets, so another sound I use all the time is a ‘spooky, wobbly chorus’ that adds dimension and mystery to more static sounds. It elicits a visceral, emotional response every time I use it.
My most recent ‘gear essential’ for violin is, surprisingly, a bass amp: this past November I fell in love with the new BG-120 Bass Cub Pro from Phil Jones Bass (philjonesbass.net). PJB is well known in the bass world for amps and cabinets that feature small but very powerful speakers, and in my experience these smaller speakers lend themselves well to amplifying violin. When combined with PJB’s C2 extension cab, the BG120 is as loud as any amp I’ve ever used on a rock band stage. As a standalone combo it’s the perfect volume and lightweight package for acoustic gigs that need sound reinforcement. The five-band EQ is intended for bass – there are ‘low bass’ and ‘high bass’ knobs, both of which I roll way down – but the frequencies they’ve chosen and the speakers and cabinet all combine to make an incredibly easy-to-use amp that always sounds good.
Subscribers to The Strad receive the 2024 Accessories supplement free with their copy of the June 2024 issue
Read: ‘It’s definitely opened doors’ - Judy Kang on playing the electric violin
Read: Truly unique: Henrik Frendin on his custom-made electric viola and five-string bass viola
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