Ant Bug
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Click to play audio sample of Ant Bug in action (Flash required)
Amplifying the Violin.
The violin was perfected some 300 years ago, a tiny instrument that could fill a hall with beautiful,dynamic and exciting sound. A soloist can be heard in the same company of a symphony orchestra of forty or more players.
The twentieth century challenged the violinist with a new challenge, amplified guitars and noisy audiences.
Every electronic solution has problems. The pure acoustic sound is best replicated with a microphone, but the musician is trapped in one spot and dares not whisper a word to the rest of the band. “Feedback” that ear-piercing whistle that everyone hears when a microphone picks up its own sound from the speakers, if you turn up you get feedback if you turn down you can’t be heard, if you turn the speakers away you can’t hear yourself.
A “pickup” is an electronic device that turns vibration into an electronic signal, and there are many types available. Some attach via “blue-tack” to the belly or back of the violin. Some slip into the cutaway of the bridge.These mostly sound like honky saxes even if the treble is turned back to zero.
I have found that placing a “Piezo” crystal under the foot of the bridge and plugging straight into a PA produces a realistic violin sound. It is simple and effective technology and is not expensive. I call it an Antbug
What’s the catch? The violin will be a little muted, maybe 5% softer when played acoustically. There is always a problem with a hanging “lead” the wire from the violin to the amplifier. Violinists tend to move around,stamp their feet and that lead must be attached to the fiddle or the fiddler.
The Antbug is not glamorous, but doesn’t damage your beautiful violin, it can be very loud and still sound like a violin.
User installation guide pdf
Installation guide and online help click here.