FC2Video

The final of a 5 part instructional series of videos. Of particular interest to 19th Century fiddle enthusiasts, especially Civil War re-enactors. This one has some video of the completed instrument being played by a Master, Troy Parker

Part 2 in the series of instructional videos.

This is Part 1 of a series of 4 instructional videos specifically for Civil War re-enactors and other enthusiasts of mid-19th Century fiddling. From the Adventurous Muse Store folks and the new Old Mill Musical Instruments Company. Dr. Don Rickert instructing in retrofitting a modern fiddle.

Performance fiddles (based on standard violin design and folk fiddles, including whiskey bottle box fiddles and cigar box fiddles designed by Don Rickert of Don Rickert Design

Sampling of historic pochettes and kit fiddles, as well as modern travel violins and fiddles by Don Rickert of Don Rickert Design.

High-resolution compilation of various videos demonstrating a few of the octave violins, aka baritone violins, designed by Don Rickert of Don Rickert Design. Many in collaboration with Shep Jones of Fiddarci Lutherie

A third in a series of videos of the amazing Red Hots' performance at the 3rd Annual Hoppin' John Old-Time and Bluegrass Fiddlers' Convention (2009). Yeah, left all of the bass in the audio mix of this one, so you can really hear and feel Kelly's playing.

I while ago we posted a video of Darci Jones playing something slow and beautiful on the Whiskey Bottle Box Fiddle, which is now available via Adventurous Muse. This pair of jigs might be more to the liking of those desiring high energy, impossible timing and modal key changes in the old Irish style.

Tune is "Leather Britches", with an Irish variation I used to play called "Britches Full o' Stitches". As we said in reference to our first video, the Reds Hots are one of the best TRUE Old-Time bands that defy classification. They are in a space between square dance band and concert band, yet both and much more...wicked great, eh!?

Re-mixed video (sound sync problems fixed) of Darci Jones playing the classic old-time tune Soldiers Joy on the Reenactor, a reproduction of a mid- 19th Century cigar box fiddle, design based on available historic records, by Don Rickert Design. Available at AdventurousMuseStore.com.

New video of Troy Parker playing the classic old-time tune Mississippi Sawyer on the Reenactor, a reproduction of a mid-19th Century cigar box fiddle, design based on available historic records, by Don Rickert Design. Michael Fox on Dulcijo. Both Available at AdventurousMuseStore.com.

Really cool Old-Time band whose excitement knob goes to 11. Plus they have a jaw harp player who can really play the thing. Love this band. Brought to you by Don Rickert Design / AdventurousMuse.com

In Adventurous Muse video demos of our fiddles by Troy Parker, he is accompanied by Michael Fox on what everyone thinks is a small 5-string banjo. The instrument is actually a Dulcijo, invented by Michael. It is a combination of the dulcimer (diatonic fretting) and 5-string banjo. Playing the Dulcijo is very easy for accomplished players of other instruments. Anyway, you can now buy amazingly affordable Dulcijos as well as Michael Fox 5-string banjos through www.AdventurousMuseStore.com.

Another video of Troy Parker demonstrating the Professional Performance Fiddle by Don Rickert Design and sold through Adventurous Muse. Accompaniment by Michael Fox.

Tune is Soldier's Joy. The latest model of backpacker violin / fiddle by Don Rickert Design. Only 3 inches wide with standard violin scale length. Demo by Troy Parker. Amazing power...Louder than a regular violin!

Tune is Napoleon Crossing the Rhine. Troy Parker demonstrating the Professional Performance Fiddle by Don Rickert Design and sold through Adventurous Muse. Accompaniment by Michael Fox.

This is kind of a highlights video that we made during prime sales time at the Hoppin' John Fiddlers Convention, when we needed to stay close by. Features glass making by Jonathon Rickert, fiddle by Troy Parker and Dulcijo (a kind of banjo) by Michael Fox

Small version for slower connections. The Red Hots are one of the best TRUE Old-Time bands that defy classification, but they are wicked great! Check our blog www.AdventurousMuse.com for commentary in the comming days. They are in space between square dance band and concert band, yet both and more...

The Reds Hots are one of the best TRUE Old-Time bands that defy classification. Check our blog www.AdventurousMuse.com for commentary in the comming days. They are in space between square dance band and concert band, yet both and more...wicked great!

Long-awaited demo video of prototype 3 of this revolutionary violin synthesizer by Don Rickert Design (AdventurousMuse.com). Tunes used for demo are great Scottish strathspeys, Style of the Last Century and Clanranald.

The gourd banjo is the earliest form of what we now know as the banjo, with direct ancestral roots to Africa.It is well-established that it was the African slaves in America who invented the gourd banjo. The gourd banjo pre-dates the tackhead and minstrel banjos by at least a century. The gourd banjo, and its descendents, the tackhead and minstrel banjos, ultimately became a primary fixture in Appalachian folk music, which evolved into what we now call “Old-Time” or “Roots” music, a distinctly American blend of African and Scots-Irish music. This music ultimately evolved into Bluegrass music in the 20th Century. The original gourd banjos were unfretted, but some were retrofit with tied gut frets much like those used on the viola da gamba and the Renaissance fiddle.

The so-called “tackhead” banjos appeared in the 1800s, either along with the fancier minstrel banjos or perhaps a bit earlier.The tackhead banjo gets its distinctive name owing to the tacks which fasten the head to the hoop. It has no tension hoop, shoes, hooks or nuts for adjusting the tension on the head. The tackhead represents a stage of banjo evolution where we begin to see an instrument resembling the modern banjo. Tackhead banjos were generally unfretted, but many were retrofit with tied gut frets. A favorite among Civil War Re-enactors.

Minstrel Banjos: Banjos resembling in many ways modern banjos came on the scene as banjo manufacturers set up shops in the 1800s. They are generally called minstrel banjos. The main characteristic that differentiates a minstrel banjo from a tackhead banjo is that it has all of the hardware necessary (tension hoop, shoes, hooks and nuts) for adjusting the tension of the head. The evolution from minstrel banjo to modern banjo was simply a matter of incremental enhancements. Minstrel banjos were either unfretted or fretted with tied frets.

Classic Old-Time and Bluegrass tune played by Darci Jones and Leo McDermott (fiddles) and Paul Merryman of Hooley on guitar. Darci is plaing one of the new Fiddarci Lutherie Professional Model Fiddles in this one too.

Classic Old-Time and Bluegrass tune played by Darci Jones and Leo McDermott (fiddles) and Paul Merryman of Hooley on guitar. Darci is playing one of the new Fiddarci Lutherie Professional Model Fiddles.

We think that the title of this Irish reel (and Old-Time as well) reel is Tuttle's Reel, Leo McDermott, who has won every fiddling honor there is to win in the Southeast, on fiddle (which we believe to be an old Joseph Guarnerius copy, which Leo restored from a pile of junk in a fiddle case) and Paul Merryman, the guitarist of Hooley, on guitar. Together, they give this tune energy seldom heard.

This is a video of the Fiddarci Lutherie Professional Model Fiddle being tried out by a really good fiddler at the Tennessee Valley Old-Time Fiddlers's Convention 2008. While the player gave his permission, we did not get his name to give him proper credit. Available at Adventurous Muse by Don Rickert Design storefront on www.Amazon.com

This is also known as the Neil Gow Pochette. Expert playing of this 1780s Dancing Master's Kit fiddle or pochette (pocket fiddle) by Darci Jones. Thomas Jefferson is also believed to have owned and played a pochette similar to the original from Glasgow, Scotland, which our instrument replicates. Available from www.AdventurousMuseStore.com or the Adventurous Muse by Don Rickert Design storefront on www.Amazon.com

We think that the title of this Old-Time reel is Sight of Land. Leo McDermott, an Old-Time fiddling institution in the Southeast on fiddle (which we believe to be an old Guarnerius copy) and Paul Merryman on guitar. A brief walk-on by Darci Jones. You can get a Roth Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu reproduction at the Adventurous Muse by Don Rickert Design storefront on www.Amazon.com.

The Keel Row, a Scottish slow march. Darci Jones recorded this tune on a Rickert-Fiddarci Octave Violin a while back. This recording is on a Fiddarci Lutherie Standard Fiddle by master luthier Shep Jones. Available from FiddarciLutherie.com or AdventurousMuseStore.com

This is the Don Rickert Series 2 Electric Violin in an octave (aka baritone) configuration. Available from www.AdventurousMuse.com.