Don Rickert Research & Design Blog

New Musical Instrument Designs at Adventurous Muse

At the center of the Don Rickert Design business plan revisions is our musical instrument operation, The Adventurous Muse. There will be radical changes in the coming weeks to Adventurous Muse and its associated Adventurous Muse Store. These changes will definitely involve dumping product lines that have failed to attract good customers...a good customer is a loyal customer who actually buys stuff. One set of musical instrument products that we WILL NOT be dumping are instruments of our own design.

In a recent post our Adventurous Muse blog we described our collaboration with Aalborg University on the Overtone Fiddle, pictured here, which will very likely be commercialized in time.

Of course, our Octave Violins, historic pochettes and modern travel violins are gaining world-wide renown and we intend to win some design competitions with some of these instruments in 2010...so those instruments are safe from the chopping block. In fact, we have a new Octave Fiddle on the drawing board as well as a really skinny (but full 4/4 length) travel fiddle that is extremely durable for the most punishing environments.

We have some concept sketches of the new travel fiddle, which we are currently calling the Rickert Mountaineer Backpacker Fiddle in a new post at Adventurous Muse.

Collaboration with Aalborg University, Denmark on Next Gen Synth Violin

Don Rickert Design is collaborating with the Aalborg University Department of Media Technology (Copenhagen Institute of Technology), section for Medialogy (media.aau.dk/) on the next generation of violin synthesizer. The instrument, an outgrowth of Professor Dan Overholt's extensive work in "active acoustics", is unique in that all processing occurs in the instrument and is not MIDI-based, nor does it require a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), such as Ableton Live!. It will be called the Overtone Fiddle.

For the details of how it all works, you will have to wait for Dr. Overholt's initial research papers early in 2010. Dr. Don Rickert of Don Rickert Design is designing and building the instruments that the musician actually plays and also house the electronics for this groundbreaking project. The initial instruments will be slightly larger than the travel violins sold by Adventurous Muse but smaller than conventional violins. Nevertheless, the instruments will have all of the critical ergonomic features of a standard violin.

Since all of this work is occurring in the public domain, we will have drawings very soon and photos a bit later of this new electronic bowed instrument.

Stay tuned, and all will be demystified ultimately.

D.R.

Cross-posted at Adventurous Muse

Elaboration of Don Rickert Design In-House Product Development

In addition to work for clients, we invent many new Don Rickert Design^(tm) products in-house, being very careful to avoid conflicts of interest with our work for clients.

Some of our in-house New Product Development is self-funded and some involves joint ventures and limited external funding. We tend to avoid external funding, as primary ownership of our inventions is key to our business plan.

It is no secret that Don Rickert Design has unique expertise in the design, manufacture and marketing of innovative musical instruments, primarily bowed instruments (acoustic and electric violins and synthesizers with a violin-like interface). In fact, Dr. Don Rickert is internationally known in the field of musical instrument invention and innovation.

Some might find this musical instrument angle surprising. It is no different, however, than Cox Enterprises owning the world's largest used automobile buying and re-selling (to dealers) enterprise, Manheim Auctions. Nor is it different from Clabber Girl, a brand of baking powder, baking soda and corn starch, which also owns and operates the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League.

Would you really want a product development firm that does not invent, manufacture (through a complex network of boutique CNC, laser-cutting, carbon fiber fabrication and violin-making workshops in the U.S.) and market its own products helping you in your own product development efforts?

A key business partner in our musical instrument arena has been Fiddarci Lutherie (lutherie is the proper name for a stringed instrument making workshop), located in Helena, AL. Another critical business partner has been International Violin Company, which serves as a broker to specialty workshops in Germany, Eastern Europe and Hong Kong for the manufacture of some of the parts, such as the distinctive necks used for Don Rickert-designed violins.

The current main website/blog for Don Rickert Design musical instruments is www.AdventurousMuse.com. There are several online retail outlets where both Don Rickert Design, as well as instruments and accessories from other makers are sold. The primary online store is www.AdventurousMuseStore.com; however, we also own storefronts on Amazon.com and Etsy.com.

Other In-House Product Development Areas:

In addition to the musical instrument development described above, Don Rickert Design has considerable expertise in rowing craft design and construction. We are "sitting on" three original designs for high-performance boats intended for ocean, bay and rough river rowing until we can get the rest of our business running on a new "troubled times" business plan.

Another reason we are waiting is that high-performance rowing craft are "luxury" items and launching them now (no pun intended) would not be prudent, even if investment resources were available, which they are not.