NS Design Artist Trevor Dick and his friends partnered together to help ease our quarantine blues with “The Quaran-tune” with Trevor Dick – CR5 Electric Violin (electric violin); Johnny Nixon (electric guitar & keys); Rob Brown (drums); Jake Payne (piano) and Tim Ball (bass & keys).
Enjoy the music and read the cool story connected with how these musicians made this tune and video happen…
Check out the video Quaran-tune
Trevor plays a CR5 Electric Violin
On behalf of our worldwide community of NS Artists, Ned and the NS Design team take this moment to recognize all musicians for their power to sustain, transport and heal in tumultuous times. Your music is vital to our well-being, and we are profoundly grateful.
Please enjoy, share, and find inspiration in these videos. We’ll endeavor to share more with you in the weeks to come.
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NS Artist Laurie Anderson visited San Francisco last week as Resident Artistic Director at SF JAZZ Center for a four-night performance series. Anderson, who plays the NS CR electric violin, shared the stage on night one with her NYC Improvisations Series collaborators – virtuoso bassist Christian McBride and cellist (NS Artist) Rubin Kodheli; night two included the strings duet of Kodheli again, with Anderson; the third evening also included Kodheli with the addition of avant-garde vocalist Mike Patton, of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More; night four featured Anderson’s solo performance with her NS violin, keyboards, and filters. Continue reading…
The NAMM Show 2020 Ultimate Jam Night is a concert that brings all the legendary and top musicians of the world to play music together on one stage. This year’s stellar performances included NS Artists Quartet405 with violinists Eliza James and Rebecca Schlappich Charles, violist Jayna Chou, and cellist Danica Pinner rockin’ their NXTa’s! Check out the amazing photographs of the show taken by NS Artist Noor Che’ree of Cookie Monstah Media.
Continue reading…Winter NAMM 2020 at the NS Design Booth has been lively with NS Artists and friends. Stop in to say hello if you’re in the neighborhood. Hall D #4729.
We have a number of great players at the Winter NAMM 2020 booth performing and demonstrating NS, including: legendary bassist Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon), violinist Daneille Turano, Marcos Varela – Grammy nominated Jazz artist and composer, Los Angeles’s favorite electric ensemble Quartet 405 with a special demonstration including Symphonic Planet, solo bassists Noor Che’ree, Chance Wilder Onody, Donald Waugh and much more!
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Classical crossover trio Simply Three plays music that is anything but simple. Continue reading…
Steven Krull Photography
Scott Laird, nationally recognized string pedagogue and conductor (and NS Design Artist and Educator), has received The University of North Carolina Board of Governors 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award. Continue reading…
NS Design is pleased to welcome the artist known as bad snacks to its roster of electric violin endorsing artists. Continue reading…
Welcome to the fifth edition of The Lyonn’s Roar, “Rhythmize Your Bow with Chop” by NS Violinist and Educator Julie Lyonn Lieberman.
For those of you returning to school this September, put fiery bounce in your bow by developing your “chop” percussion techniques on your violin, viola, cello or upright bass.
Starting as what was called the “chunk” technique and made popular by the father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, “chopping” has quickly become a fun and funky way for players to keep the groove moving. Bill Monroe’s fiddler Richard Greene (pictured below) further developed the “chop” technique into his own artful musical language.
Be sure to check out an excerpt from his guest appearance at the Strings Without Boundaries Summer 2016 Session in Seattle, Washington:
For lessons in how to develop this technique in your own playing, check out the Lyonn’s Roar – Fifth Edition “Rhythmize Your Bow with Chop”.
Go to Julie’s Strings Without Boundaries website page to learn more about contemporary and alternative string techniques or check out her book How to Play Contemporary Strings: A Step-by-Step Approach for Violin, Viola & Cello. Complete with video tutorials, backing tracks and a step-by-step approach including explicit notation, it will get you on your way to building new skills and techniques.
For more information about all of NS Design’s instruments including the NXTa Electric Violin that Julie plays and its eco-friendly, active yet battery-free features, and the affordable and road-worthy WAV Electric Series of instruments visit ThinkNS.com.
Photo Courtesy of NS Artist Avery Merritt
Welcome to the fourth edition of THE LYONN’S ROAR, “Electric Technique: The Same . . .or?” by NS Violinist and Educator Julie Lyonn Lieberman.
Whether you’ve just unboxed your new NS Violin, plugged in your acoustic for the first time, or are just ready to unleash into new territory on the instrument you already love to play, these exciting iNSights will take your playing to another level and help you stand out in any performance setting.
Chord connection fills, textural ghost notes, chopping techniques, and incorporating guitar and horn like riffs to electrify your string sound, Lieberman highlights a range of suggestions for expanding your violin’s voice using several alternative techniques.
This fourth edition includes a bonus interview with violinist Papa John Creach of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Papa John is an exciting and unique violinist and performer that understands how to truly stand out on a stage. In the interview, he talks about how to “Get Down, Get Dirty and Give it some Guts” on your electric.
How else do you achieve these techniques? Attend a summer program that will help you build new skills, there are quite a few to choose from. Check out Julie’s book, How to Play Contemporary Strings: A Step-by-Step Approach for Violin, Viola & Cello, with its video tutorials and backing tracks, it’s a sure way to gain skills and have some fun. Visit her website for more information on all her books, DVDs and courses. http://julielyonn.com/
For more information about all of NS Design’s electric violins and electric violas and the new eco-friendly, active yet battery-free NXTa Electric Violin, or the affordable and road-worthy WAV Electric Violin visit ThinkNS.com.
Photo courtesy of Blackerby Violin Shop, Austin, Texas
Welcome to the third edition of THE LYONN’S ROAR, “Get The Best Tone On Your Electric,” with highlighting iNSights into Choosing an Electric Instrument, Amplification and Effects, and Strings and things by Julie Lyonn Lieberman. Check out this informative article that covers all the bases of Electric String Instruments:
This edition features a special interview with Fan Tao, Director of Research and Development for D’Addario Orchestral Strings.
Check out this informative article and the many videos of Julie demonstrating the use of multiple effects units and changing strings on the NS Violin.
Learn more about all the amazing electric bowed string instruments NS Design offers at ThinkNS