About Viol8

Viol8 provides music to suit any occasion and caters for all tastes in music. Original backing tracks provide a wealth of different sounds from a string quartet through to a full symphony orchestra or from a mixed klezmer band to a troupe of Hungarian gypsies or Ceilidh group or rock band. Abi Todd plays the electric violin live, giving the music all the qualities one expects from a live performance.

Viol8 uses a 1000 watt good quality P.A. system that suits any venue from a small room to a large arena or outdoor area.

THE ELECTRIC VIOLIN

The violin has long been one of the worlds’ most popular instruments. It combines a beautiful tone with great versatility and flexibility. It can be played slowly with sonority or breathtakingly fast. It can do slides and trills. It can rise above an orchestra or it can be no more than a whisper. It can play notes from rich alto through to dangerously high. These are some of the reasons that the violin has been used so extensively in classical and traditional music.

In recent decades the violin has not been favoured by the younger generation. They tend to prefer the instruments that are widely used in popular music such as the keyboard and guitar-instruments whose versatility is electronically produced.
The electric violin retains all the features of the acoustic violin but has the added benefit of being able to use electronic effects. Through an effects box the sound can be enhanced with ‘reverb’ to make the instrument sound as if its being played in a vast cathedral or the sound can be modified in other ways. The pitch of the instrument can be moved up or down two octaves, enabling the violin to imitate double basses or bats! The sound can be echoed or doubled to make one player sound like many players. Most exciting of all are effects such as ‘phaser,’ ‘flanger’ and ‘overdrive’ that allow the violin to rival the guitar.

So now the violins own flexibility and beauty can be combined with the wizardry of modern technology to delight the listener and the student.
The electric violin is probably harder to play than the acoustic because everything the player does is amplified. The fingers moving on the string and the bow changing direction can be heard. Any of the squeaks, scrunches or out of tune notes that student violinists are famous for could be amplified to disturb a whole street! However, when disconnected, electric violins can be quieter then acoustic violins, so daily practise can be done without disturbing the neighbours!