If you have ever wondered about baritone violins (aka baritone fiddles or octave violins), hopefully this essay will tell you what you need to know to get started in your quest for knowledge.

The first thing you need to know is that "baritone violin" is the the name given to two distinctly different instruments. The first type of baritone violin is a member of the "new" violin family known as the Violin Octet. The baritone of this family of instruments is a huge instrument, with longer string length than a full-size 'cello. This is not the instrument that we are interested in presently; however, if you wish to learn more, take a look at:

• The official New Violin Family Association website
• The New Violin Family: Augmenting the String Section

The second type of baritone violin, and more interesting to us is the small octave violin played like a regular violin.

One of the first things Rickert & Ringholz Musical Instruments set out to do is to design and build the best acoustic octave violin in the world. There are several instruments referred to as 'baritones'. You can find out about this topic by reading the extended post, especially information about the New Violin Family, also known as the Violin Octet. When we say baritone violin or baritone fiddle, we are talking about an instrument with the exact nut to bridge length (just under 13") as a standard violin or fiddle, but tuned an octave lower.

We have extensively tested several models with professional and amateur old time, bluegrass and Scottish fiddlers, expert level viola players, 20 or so violinists in the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra and a former violinist in the Russian Chamber Orchestra.

Click here to see a photo montage on YouTube of great musicians playing various earlier models of our Octave Violins

Click here to see YouTube videos of our newest (Type II) Octave Violin being expertly played by Darci Jones.


One model is based on an enlarged Chanot-type (i.e. cornerless or 'guitar-shaped) violin, another on a modified 14" (i.e. student) viola and yet another on the concave back 'Cradle of Harmony', patented by the artist William Sidney Mount in 1852! We have judged further work on the small viola to be a waste of time and are evaluating where to go with the Chanot-type instrument (which actually sounds pretty good).

Photos of the Chanot-type baritone being played: One of the players is Natalie Haas, known for here 'New Age'/Traditional fusion style on the 'cello. She is the great Scottish fiddler, Alastair Fraser's, accompanist.

Laura Risk, one of the finest fiddlers (and teacher) on the planet.

A very fine viola player and fiddler giving the Chanot-type baritone prototype a try. Her playing was beautiful and her insights were extremely helpful.

Several photos of Natalie Hass appear below.

Our Type I Octave Fiddle, based on a modified 14" viola, is already in production.

Having built the first several 'one-offs', we have just gone into full production with the Sidney Mount inspired instrument, a collaboration with Fiddarci Lutherie in Birmingham, AL (see Octave Violin Type II below with a viola IncrediBow(tm), one of the recommended bows for unleashing the power of this instrument).

We also have an Octave Electric Violin in the final stages of refinement. There is also a Type III accoustic octave on the drawing board, as well as a Type IV, based on a slightly modified Maggini type violin. Magginis, which were made in the early 1600s, are considerably larger than the later Strads, Gaurneris, etc. and have a history of being used for lower tunings.

The Type I is based on a modified Romanian-made Meisel small viola. It has a vibrating string length identical to your violin or fiddle. The only new skills required are handling the thicker strings and heavier bow. Thicker strings don’t respond as quickly to the bow as thinner strings (something that violists and cellists already know). Its volume and projection are outstanding. You won’t find anything close to this instrument for the price!

Comes with a case and Glasser fiberglass bow, which does an adequate job; however, a higher end bow (see our bow section) does the job even better.

The Type II is our Sidney Mount ‘Cradle of Harmony’ inspired instrument. We made a number of modifications, including adding about a lot of airspace by extending the rib width from the standard 30 mm. to 39 mm., utilizing a bassbar based on current best practices (not a Zaret Patent Bassbar!), a viola soundpost to equalize the volume of the higher and lower strings. The top plate is made from old recovered Sitka spruce. Finally, the soundholes are of the Chanot-type and smaller than standard practice in order to increase 'turbulance' inside the instrument. The result is an instrument with unbelievable projection and a nice deep timbre (unlike some other instruments, which are loud but 'thin')...this instrument sounds like a fine 'cello!