From: bsmart@bsmart.TTI.COM (Bob Smart)
Newsgroups: rec.music.folk
Subject: Mutant Viola?
Keywords: identification, instrument, viola, mutant
Date: 26 Aug 92 01:30:17 GMT
Reply-To: bsmart@bsmart.TTI.COM (Bob Smart)
Followup-To: rec.music.folk
Organization: Citicorp+TTI

Last weekend, I happened upon a music shop that was going out of
business, and scavenging bottom-feeder that I am, I decided to go in and
pick over the carcass. Many other scavenging bottom-feeders had
apparently been there before me, because the place was already mostly
bare, but up against the wall was a row of violins with a sign over them
that read "your choice--$50."

Such a deal.  All the violins were 3/4 size, and therefore not of
interest to me with my ham-like paws, but there was
one...thing...hanging next to them with a tag on it that read, "viola." 
I figured, how much trouble can I get into for $50?  So I bought it.

But whatever it is, it definitely ain't a viola.  It's about the right
size, but its shape is like what you might get if you melted a viola,
then pushed the neck and the tailpiece inward toward the middle, like so:

                                    -----
                                    |   |
                                    \   /
                                     | |
                                     | |
                                     | |
                                     | |
                                     | |
                                     | |
                                   /\| |/\
                                  /       \
                                 /         \
                                 |         |
                                 |         |
                                 |         |
                                  \       /
                                   |     |
                                   |     |
                                  /       \
                                 /         \
                                /           \
                                |           |
                                |           |
                                 \         /
                                  \   _   /
                                   \_/ \_/
                                  
It's not quite as angular as that, nor quite that wasp-waisted, but you
get the idea: instead of a simple, convex curve at the bottom and up
where the neck joins on, it's got "dimples."

The funky-looking scroll is pretty true-to-life, though: it isn't like a
violin scroll, it's more like a guitar or mandolin: flat, not scrolled
into a string box, and with machines instead of pegs.  Not only that,
but there are *8* machines, despite the fact that when I bought it,
there were only 4 strings.  There are extra grooves in the nut and extra
holes in the tailpiece, so it looks like you're supposed to put the full
8 strings on it...although the bridge that was on it when I bought it
only had 4 grooves and looked like an ordinary viola bridge (it's an
Aubert, in fact).

There are holes where you'd expect a violin or viola to have f-holes,
but they're not f-shaped.  They're like parentheses, with some
cross-pieces (I'm not even going to ATTEMPT to draw them here).

There are no frets on the fingerboard, which appears to be the
traditional ebony or a reasonable facimile.  The front, back, and ribs
are some kind of light blond wood, don't know what but spruce seems
plausible enough.  There was no chin rest attached, nor any dents or
discoloration in the finish that would suggest it's ever had one
(although I'm planning to try one on it).  There is no purfling, but
around the edges there's been a groove cut, with some kind of black
stain applied in the groove.  The groove is wider than purfling would
be, looks to be about 3/8", and it's rounded, not square, as if it had
been cut with a conical router bit or something.

The instrument seems to want to be tuned like a viola, CGDA, and has
what look to be viola strings on it.  I play it with a violin bow.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?  The Viola from Venus?  The Fiddle from the
Fourth Dimension?  The "lute" in lutefisk?

The old man at the store said he thought it was "some kind of Croatian
instrument," and hazarded the guess that the guitar-like "scroll" was
just there because somebody was trying to build a 4-string whatzis from
the old country and couldn't get exactly the right parts, and was forced
to improvise.  But that doesn't explain the extra grooves in the nut nor
the extra holes in the tailpiece.  SOMEBODY expected this thing to have
8 strings on it, somehow.  But are they supposed to be sympathetic
strings?  Drones?  Do they go on top of the bridge or should they go
through it?  Do you bow them, or should they lie below the "main" strings?

Another speculation has been that this is some kind of Swedish or
Lithuanian instrument.  Could be, but what?

All speculation welcome.

---------

A fanatic is someone who does what he knows that God would do if God knew the
facts of the case.

Some mailers apparently munge my address; you might have to use
bsmart@bsmart.tti.com -- or if that fails, fall back to
72027.3210@compuserve.com.  Ain't UNIX grand?