The horn-violin (or trumpet-viloin) is a wierd old instrument. Best of my knowledge this is an american instrument but there are some who believe that is a British invention. Maybe both statements are true.
It is certain that the instrument is as old as the gramophone. As shown in the picture, there is no body of this violin - a gramophone membrane generates the sound. You play on this violin as a normal violin. The difference is that the horn-violins sound is not pure but "crepitate."
So at this violin not the instrument maker's skill or expertise is the important thing, but the membrane. If the membran is an original gramophone membrane, it sounds good. If you have any other membrane, the sound is miserable.
The horn-violin's (or trumpet-violin’s) price basically depends of the type of the membrane.
My horn-violin is a new instrument with an old gramophone membrane. A young master created it with meticulous care for his examinations. You can see this in the scroll and the neck
and the quality of accessories. The end button is my favorite.
I have ordered a hard case for the instrument but it looked like a baby's coffin. It was safe but it was morbid to use - it is no longer in my possession. Until there is a better idea, it will hang on the wall.
Regarding violin-trumpets, I saw a performance featuring several violin-trumpets at a theater on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. This was in the year, 1982. The performing group was from Romania. One of the reasons I loved this performance is that my heritage is eastern European. Hungary is next to Romania, and my greatgrandparents are from Hungary. Moreover, in 1982, I attended the annual international folk festival in Milwaukee, WI, and most of the folk dancing groups were from countries in eastern Europe. By the way, the spelling in the above post should be corrected. The word, "wierd" is spelled wrong, because the correct spelling is, "weird." The word, "gamophone" is missing the letter "r," and it should be, "gramophone." The word, "american" requires a capital letter "a." Respectfully yours, Tom Brody, Ph.D., Berkeley, CA
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