Early this year, I attended a cutting-edge music performance and workshop at the celebrated venue Roulette, in the heart of Brooklyn, New York, during which the ghosts of Memphis were very present.

When one thinks “violin,” the images that come to mind are the Stradivari and Guarneri instruments. When one thinks “violinist,” it is usually the superstar concert soloist – the Hilary Hahns, the ...

Stringed instruments make noise from the vibrations of tuned strings, using acoustic or electronic means to amplify those vibrations to the point where they’re loud enough to hear. The strings are ...

Forty-five years ago, as a freshman in college, Cal Meineke was poking around a music department storage room and came across a rare Tyrolean violin made in the 17th century by the German Matthias ...

At the heart of many of the world’s musical instruments is the same, simple component—a string stretched tight between two points. Plucked, bowed, or struck, each of an instrument’s strings creates ...

Magnets keep strings suspended without anchor points, and pushing a magnet piece bends notes, so you get expressive sounds with simple moves.

There are some that enjoy the human element of a musical performance, delighting in the unique way an artist teases the desired sound from their instruments. Then there are those of us who listen to ...