Daniel Bernard Roumain

"This is the toy shop of all toy shops."

-- Daniel Bernard Roumain upon entering Electric Violin Shop's showroom for the first time.

DBR, as he is known, is a tireless dynamo in the music world.  He is a virtuosic violinist and highly trained composer of film and concert music.  His music bridges gaps between classical, hip-hop, rock and other styles, while his social, artistic and written efforts connect diverse American values and cultures.  As a Haitian-American, much of his music identifies strongly with that country's culture while mixing in Daniel's American roots in hip-hop and classical training (he holds a Doctorate in composition from the University of Michigan).

Daniel has presented workshops at Electric Violin Shop three consectutive years and counting while in residence at nearby North Carolina State University's Center Stage.  The following is a review of his most recent workshop at Electric Violin Shop by Chris Guin of EVS.

"Daniel Bernard Roumain's workshop at Electric Violin Shop on November 1st was a huge creative success, a hands-on master class in DBR's extended techniques. These new sounds take bowed strings into exciting new territory.

He started with electric guitar-like sounds made by light, consistent bow pressure, creating a range of harmonics and a growling, guitar-like timbre. This technique was combined with wide glissandos to mimic the "vibrato" of electric guitars, instead of classical string vibrato. This sounded great on acoustics, but paired with an amplifier and wah pedal, it easily evoked Jimi Hendrix.

Moving to percussion techniques, DBR taught drum kit sounds. Techniques included hitting the after length of the string with the stick and hair for a kick drum sound, striking the fingerboard with the bow while palm-muting the strings for a snare-like effect, and hitting the wood of the bridge with the stick for a sharp rim shot.

Wrapping (rapping?) up the session, we learned to make hip-hop style turntablist sounds, muting the strings with the left hand and making short, quick, rhythmic bow strokes with heavy right-arm pressure. This turns the tables on the scratchy noises we all made when we first took up the violin, taking them out of the "noise" box and moving them into an appropriate musical context. Then everyone jammed together, using all the extended techniques we'd learned.

Daniel's workshop was a revelation. He expanded our musical toolboxes, supplementing classical technique with exciting new sounds and timbres, revealing new worlds for bowed string players to explore."

DBR plays a custom built Aceto 6-string acoustic/electric violin, which he has named Bernadette and has inscribed on the scroll.  He is the proud owner of a CodaBow Joule from Electric Violin Shop, which allows him to grip the low C and F strings of his violin while retaining a tremendous amount of bowing agility.  He also likes that the braided carbon fiber stick is not damaged when he grips it in his teeth to play pizzacato!