A Sympathetic Nail Violin?

Building the best nail violin I can, with sympathetic nails and sympathetic strings.
More details about the building on my patreon / nicolasbras
I made a sample pack with this instrument, also available on my Patreon :
/ nicolasbras
The tuner I use is Tunable, my favorite one, you can follow this link to buy it, it supports the channel:
get.tunableapp...
I'm Nicolas Bras, musician and homemade instruments builder, on this channel you will find tutorials, compositions, building projects, improvisations, live concerts
Follow me on
/ nicolas_bras_
/ musiquesdenullepart
Find my music on nicolasbras.ban...
Music :
Nicolas Bras - Guyane, Homemade (album)
Nicolas Bras - Pompe à vélo, Homemade (album)
Sandrine Morais : video editing

[@WatchMeSayStuff]

500 years from now students will learn about this instrument in a middle school music class and invariably one child will always raise their hand to ask why the base of the instrument is called the "footrest."

[@thereinthedeep]

Why is it called a footrest?

[@thegreatwebstar]

And they will also consider why he "din't" use his nails on the nails ... nailed it

[@Nishye501]

I would ask “where the hello can I get one”

[@starbournehero771]

Get it at your local hardware store... duh!

[@bradhoward9701]

@@starbournehero771 *some assembly required.

[@cherryrozeartz1232]

You really nailed that instrument

[@bread9276]

E

[@mothersgauri4137]

😂🤣😂😂😂

[@soyocanin]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@DonylynKnives]

"I really don't want to practice this a lot to be able to play this." - Me about any instrument I've ever wished I could play.

[@NicolasBras]

That's why I build only instrument I can play quick!

[@Hayes1411]

I would love to have time an money to do this. Need help?

[@John3_17-21]

40 hour a day minimum of practice

[@sonycatr]

Just sample it, and play it digitally

[@socialxperiment3162]

I like how most of the instruments you make end up sounding awkward on their own but when you layer them in a song you make each one sound amazing. A truly unique talent!

[@NicolasBras]

Thank you!

[@user-ei5kt7in3k]

As a violinist, watching that bow go across the nails makes me crying in an unimaginable way. But he put alot if work into that and it sounds cool!

[@NicolasBras]

I use bows that a music store gave me, they were no longer good for playing the violin, so no regrets!

[@kittywrath6121]

@@NicolasBras oh thank goodness

[@and7barton]

I prefer to say "Cringe" !

[@QWeirdness]

Nicolas - you, uh, nailed it!

[@ulrichkalber9039]

imagine the wheel of a hurdy-gurdy rotating, and an arangement moving nails against it. if you have a melody of nails on a second wheel you might also build a device that plays a melody by turning the second wheel against the first.

[@klaasbil8459]

Can be done with a single wheel. You could have a melody 'nailed' on a wheel, and rotate the wheel so that the nails rub against a stationary bow that this brings the nails in vibration one by one.

[@ulrichkalber9039]

@@klaasbil8459 yes, but the idea of a rotating wheel is long notes played, not just short notes. nails that rub against a stationary bow are a nice idea, imagine you create a doorbell that plays a short melody, whenever somebody opens the door.

[@klaasbil8459]

@@ulrichkalber9039 But then you would have to vary the speed of the wheel with nails, which makes it complicated. With the single wheel, long notes could also be done by repeating the same note so that one takes over from the other. Or alternatively by inserting rests, as the nails will have some sustain anyway. The doorbell would be a nice idea for a weird music shop entry door.

[@centraldivisionseniorsband1013]

Maybe you could add extra nails for the longer notes that are all tuned to exactly the same pitch.

[@scruffmaster0185]

Interesting idea. Having just recently (about a month ago) learned what a hurdy-gurdy is, I would be interested to see this happen 🤔

[@jonrau5988]

I've been playing the saw for 50 years. Now I can also play nails! YES 👍

[@cw4608]

Too bad the group Carpenters was already taken.

[@aaronazagoth6373]

I wonder if brass nails would sound warmer. Or maybe if you polished the nails to a fine mirror polish with a polishing wheel and some polishing compound. You never know!

[@PaulFisher]

The instrument is cool and I really appreciate how you edited the construction to match the beat of the background music.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@dliessmgg]

Tbh playing it with fingers on the nailheads looks to me like a more intuitive & natural way to play this than with a bow. Maybe you could try making a layout of nails that is centered around that, so you can play it sort of like a piano?

[@NicolasBras]

Yes I could! But for this one I focused more on the bowed playing

[@roymakesmusic]

Basically a kalimba at that point haha

[@Linus-nq2op]

The german translation of the video title says "a violin out of likeable nails", idk if that is correct lol

[@sebastianzaczek]

Yeah the problem with words with multiple translations haha

[@Linus-nq2op]

@@sebastianzaczek I guess they thought "sympathetic" means "sympatisch" because they are so similar

[@Angelopisci]

Same with portuguese lol

[@NicolasBras]

Google translate, sorry!

@@NicolasBras Sans doute déjà trop souvent posée, mais pas trouvé de réponse : quelle est cette application pour l'accordage ? Merci pour les vidéos.

[@txikitofandango]

I wonder how it would sound with a bass bow and bass rosin. Nails probably need more grab to get the lower frequencies. Just a guess

[@NicolasBras]

The sound I play are the fundamental frequency of each nail, but for the lowest ones could be better with a bass bow! I only have violin and cello bows at home for now, I'll have to equip myself!

[@pete_nana]

@@NicolasBras Curious about how this would sound with the standard nails swapped out for different metal such as brass rods.

[@brionfranks478]

yeah, stickier rosin and file or sand the nails length wise to put tiny grooves in them to catch the hair on the bow better

[@UncleRedd87]

he could do an entire Legend of Zelda soundtrack with this instrument

[@jeremysmith9291]

Yeah definitely getting some hardcore wind waker vibes. That or like an old cartoon such as the raining scene in bambi.

[@NicolasBras]

Could be fun!

[@tinamelton7175]

Soundboard for any kind of background music from Starships to ancient tribes. You could do a lot with that instrument and fantasy music.

[@timothyjenkins9247]

The bow on the strings sounds exactly like some of the music in Red Dead Redemption 2

[@BrushesOfMagic]

I thought that too!!! Lol

[@BestKCL]

I’m sure Inon Zur would love to use this in his compositions for Elder Scrolls 6, it honestly totally fits his music-making tastes, i.e his love of non-traditionally using instruments, such as bowing a guitar for example.

[@64t120r]

Make your bridge curved. Make the neck longer and more narrow. You may also make it curved. That's so you can run the bow between the bridge and pegs while hitting one string at a time. It will be faster and easier transitions between notes.

[@thePGraph]

An awesome folk instrument with rich possibilities! My great respect and best wishes!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@livu69]

The edit on these videos is amazing. This instruments are amazing. Damn! even this guy is amazin, he has a particular charm that makes you want more videos with him making and playing those weird instruments!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@benji.B-side]

So versatile, so many ways it could be played, even as a sort of drum to tap on. So much possibility of making creative, beautiful music.

[@spustatu]

This is my first time hearing a nail violin. I like how the bowing of the nails produces a flute-like sound. Very interesting!

[@niemand262]

What a great little instrument for animations. The sounds are so familiar but so foreign.

[@joeemenaker]

Back in the medieval times, you would have been the king's personal instrument inventor.

[@chaosgremlin]

Wood worker and musician? Never thought that would work together so well

[@Damsel_In_Distress_528]

Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I love this video. You are a nerd and I love that. 【Side note】 : I also like your voice.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@ralizek497]

That thing is amazing, it reminds me of the stuff sound engineers build for movies to get some new sound. It made me think of the old 70's and 80's cartoons when you were plucking both sides of nails

[@godzilla7382]

if you were to incorporate some of the automaton violin tech into this device like the spinning bow cylinder (infinite draw) and implement one of them per nail note you could in theory rig them on a travel system like a hinge with a travel stop and a string to pull the sleeved shaft of the rotating drum and have those strings attached to a keyboard type system to effectively adapt this to a very usable instrument.

[@Parmesana]

this is SO cool. I have recently moved..but if I were at the old house..I WOULD be in the shop trying to make one. Maybe in the future. I love making music from non-ordinary things

[@oletrenner]

Your videos always make me smile. Wonderful, thank you!

[@MikMech]

This is Nail Biting! I think you nailed it...

[@erikhiser6600]

Nice work. Looks like it was a fun build. This is a first cousin to the Waterphone. If you are thinking of playing with the design a bit more, you could follow that lead and aim to refine it for resonance and not necessarily overall tuning.

[@jboz780]

This guy is the most creative and interesting dude on KZbin. You Rock! Very inspiring! Thanks for the vids.

[@DeadXDove]

When will TwoSetViolin take a look at this thing ...?

[@MrBsUkuleleChannel]

A really interesting video, seeing how you took a simple concept and made a really complex instrument at the end - it really sounded great. I loved the part towards the end when you played it with two hands without the bow.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@StrickenGhoul]

I feel like such a new and unique instrument needs a bow designed just to play it. Really cool.

[@enderlord5412]

It sounds really nice. Can't wait to hear a full song on it

[@flutechannel]

Ling Ling would be proud!

[@elliotmadethis]

crimge

[@nukebuster]

cribge

[@mysigt_]

Craig

[@jblakeplays2541]

You have to practice at least 40 hours a day on it to get good on it though

[@davidparker8978]

Ge

[@guitfidle]

Nice!! I like how the stringed part works like a psaltrey. I actually made a few years ago with long thin rods. The root notes are too low to hear, but the overtones are amazing!! I mounted a piezo pickup to it, and it sounds wild through my collection of guitar pedals. Incidentally, I found steel wire (I used baling wire) worked better than nails for me- I could chuck the wire in my cordless drill and use the drill to drive the wires in to the wood.

[@NicolasBras]

You have to send me video!

[@guitfidle]

@@NicolasBras I need to make a video 😁 I have a KZbin page, Instagram and Facebook, and I never post videos of my stuff- not really sure why not....

[@noamtsvi]

This is so cool!! I never would have guessed that nails could sound like that!!

[@MiskyWilkshake]

I wonder if aligning sympathetic nails according to the overtone series of the played nail's fundemental might give a richer timbre?

[@VondaInWonderland]

Your video was so refreshing. I'm absolutely in awe ♥

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@icebluscorpion]

freaking awesome, I heard about this nails in this video. the tuning is a bit inpracticable but still fucking awesome 😍

[@michaelsorensen7567]

I mean, steel drums tuning is impractical too, and when you play it you're constantly knocking it out of tune. And people still love that instrument. 🤷‍♂️

[@movingparticle3835]

Nice build! An idea: you could try buckled springs to put on the nails and make them easily tunable. Like in a Fender Rhodes.

[@sheepkillindog]

Send that through a Strymon Big Sky! Great video

[@nigelm.steele9329]

This is a great instrument to create incidental music or effects for video and film, even plays and theatre

[@fCauneau]

Splendide résultat ! Avec l'avènement des synthétiseurs, on aurait pu croire que l'on ferait le tour de l'acoustique musicale, mais vous démontrez fort heureusement que non ! Au-delà du musicien talentueux et inventif, on sent la maîtrise de tous les corps de métiers. Ici l'art de retrouver le centre d'un cylindre, ou de diviser régulièrement le quadrant, tout ça à la règle et au compas inspire le respect !!

[@aniquinstark4347]

This is ridiculously interesting. I love anything to do with sympathetic strings or in this case, sympathetic nails. I've always wanted a banjo with sympathetic strings inside the drum head so it would have an Indian sitar sorta tone.

[@NicolasBras]

Everything is better with sympathetic strings!

[@ComplexVariables]

It’s sound is beautiful with a dash of magical

[@EpIcHoBoGuY]

i love the sound, it reminds me of the whistler used to call songbird in bioshock

[@cristianoibaportoalegre5026]

a cada instrumento fico mais fascinado, eu vi as flautas adorei o projeto parabens

[@flautalee3090]

So glad to meet you through KZbin. I’m thinking of Harry Partch’s instruments and music and Jelle Hogenhuis flutes right now - I hope you knew Jelle - great flutist and flute maker - nice guy.

[@jkbarz841]

You are brilliant I love any music instrument even I don't how to play.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@PaintByMonster]

I just found you today and I love what you are doing. Great video. I think I will steal from you. I think I must steal from you. My gosh, GREAT WORK!!!

[@NicolasBras]

No stealing, only inspiration!

[@funwithmadness]

I like it! I might try a similar experiment. The sympathetic nails definitely help give it a fuller sound. I'd be tempted to go over each nail with a high grit sand paper, maybe 320-400 range, to give the surface a little more tooth. Not so much that you end up with gouges, but just to the shine off of them. You could run into issue of rusting with that idea, but the rosin might minimize that.

[@NicolasBras]

I'm experimenting those days, I'll try sanding, I know rusty nails are not so good

[@casperbjerkehagen9386]

Some notes are really asmr inducing, would wanna hear a long soundtrack with the gentle playing (:

[@codascheuer8426]

I never considered that you could bow a nail, but seeing as you can bow a vibraphone or a waterphone, it makes total sense that nails can be bowed too!

[@kahiliband4442]

double bow sounded amazing! super RAD!!!!

[@PedroCarneiroJr1971]

This is really something new! Congratulations!!!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@pattyluss]

So cool! Great build!

[@keeponpainting]

It has a lovely tone .

[@ezrafouts1842]

The editing is great!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@victoramicci840]

Imagine if those nais were b20 alloy, i guess it would improve sound quality by a lot

[@VS-zi9dp]

Merci beaucoup pour cette vidéo et pour tout ce que tu fais Bravo Tu es un véritable génie

[@NicolasBras]

grand merci!

[@antonia4722]

Ive just found you and have watched several of your videos. Ive come to the unavoidable conclusion that you are mad. Utterly, beautifully, fantastically, incredibly, gorgeously mad! So glad that I bumped into you whilst navigating a KZbin rabbit hole! :o) xx

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks a lot!

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

You may have noticed that you will not excite a lower sympathetic note to ring well when playing a higher octave, as it would be a multiplication. You can only excite an equal or higher octave to resonate sympathetically (equilibrium or division). Also if you want more and easier to play nails, you may have to rethink the layout, and I can only imagine how good 2 courses of 12 strings would sound like, and perhaps a microphone mounted inside, or just outside the sound hole! Also: "Tonewood" is a myth! Go for harder woods, really any stiff materials on everything but the sound board, which should not be soft, but just somewhat more flexible, to make sure the energy goes where you need it for best projection. "Density is also a misnomer, because although most stiff and heavy materials are dense, it is not a given! Soft materials can also be dense and absorb a lot of energy, rather than reflecting it. It's a common myth that if the whole instrument resonates well it will sound better/louder: Not true. The stiffer everything but the sound board is, the less energy they take from the soundboard at a loss. Add to that, strings and rods carry linear waves which translate well into radial waves, the problem is they don't convert back into linear waves very well, as much as E/pi^2, but that is an ideal figure that relates to a perfectly circular soundboard with the source (nail or string) attached to very center, and in only two dimensions, so you may be loosing exponentially more in conversion. A friendly luthier and geek. (

[@NicolasBras]

Sure the wood is not the best, but I tried this system on hard woods it really doesn't work, the best result I got is with chipboard, and a lot of wood! I'm working on a nail orchestra, this will be my direction... I really don't have any knowledge about wood, I would be curious to hear what real luthier could do with this! About sympathetic notes, you can get notes from a lower string with sympathetic overtones, I love those results, but for the sympathetic nail it won't work, they are not harmonic systems

[@sonikboom007]

Build a cheap piezo disc pickup for it as well could be fun. And costs abiut 50cents

[@sosasees]

I imagine that the nails can also be hit similar to a Xylophone and it would also sound great.

[@robomatrix4582]

i had that thought too, however to play it like that, the thing would have to be played, extremely carefully.

[@yuss-robertojoseph2037]

Salut Nicolas, voilà, c'est un peu Ça le futur. Génial comme d'habitude. Don't stop . Yuss

[@NicolasBras]

Hello Yuss, merci! Passe à la maison, ça me ferait tellement plaisir!

[@mutably]

C'est bluffant, j'aurais jamais cru qu'un truc pareil était possible!

[@BarryMikokinju]

Absolutely amazing! Glad I dug into your uploads

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@Alexander.Shipkov]

A brilliant idea ! The author is a real fanatic of music and musical instruments, as well as a genius of invention. Thank you for the magical ideas and wonderful videos !

[@edgarwalk5637]

I play the violin (lor at least try to). While watching this, I was thinking of making one that plays like a violin. Basically one long neck with blocks of wood along it, with nails arranged in a curves. Then use a piezo pickup to capture the sound.

[@NicolasBras]

Take a look at the flagiola, an austrian iron violin!

[@saleh_beats]

You are a true artist my friend

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@h2o1969]

That sounds way better than I expected.

[@fnersch3367]

Neat idea. I plan to build a 4 octave version laid out in a linear chromatic fashion to play classical music on. There have been kalimbas made like this and are wonderful instruments to play on (and easy).

[@hlommersottana9236]

I love this channel. I love unconventional instruments.

[@drekvolker3430]

I just wanted to comment that KZbin translated automatically the title to spanish with the other meaning of nails, and I was: "is he gonna use the nails in his hands"? 😆 Great job with that isntrument

[@rowanwills9698]

I wonder if you could make an instrument based on this principle that has a number of bows held in fixed position on the outside of circles of those nails that rotate with each nail tuned so that as the circle turns it plays a tune, by adding more cirlces you could have more layers to the tune. On a side note you may find you get more tuning stability by adding some epoxy at the base of the nail, or ideally where it pokes out the other side if at all possible.

[@NicolasBras]

that could work!

[@irishaquarist]

This has so many applications for soundtracks and effects for movies and games. The opportunities are endless.

[@NicolasBras]

Right!

[@bighominid]

I have only begun watching your videos, but I think that, if you really have a love of constructing such esoteric instruments, it would be nice to see you working with the likes of Hans Zimmer. Zimmer has talked about how he basically had to invent instruments in creating the otherworldly score for _Dune,_ and I think he would deeply appreciate your inventiveness. Bravo!

[@leihmoon555]

C'est vraiment impressionnant ce travail ! Bravo !!

[@NicolasBras]

Un grand merci !

[@leihmoon555]

Mais de rien !

[@prns1]

Nail violin.. I can't believe.. Where is the limit of imagination... Your work of art will change the mind of the people who will change the world...

[@TheodoreAndor]

Beautiful

[@daphneraven9439]

Tyvk, Nicholas! This is fascinating, and answered a lot of questions! Of course, I have subscribed, and can hardly wait to treat myself to another of your videos!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@sosasees]

At 7:10 I immidiately thought "Aah, it's a Nail Kalimba as well!~"

[@rbeehner2]

You really nailed that chordophone!

[@shanebeaudrot777]

Well, you nailed it!

[@donbrooks8479]

I so love your creativity and thank you for sharing your amazing instruments.

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!

[@warren8344]

Nicolas, I love your videos just keep making them ! In an idle moment in my workshop I had a go at building one of your pipe instruments, I've got to say it was a lot of fun and very satisfying.

[@NROS2012]

You have recreated the sound of a Bowed Sultry! Nice.

[@telescopereplicator]

Nicolas, you should try and build a Yaybahar. It doesn't need to be a big one, at first. Try a smaller version or create your own version.

[@NicolasBras]

Yes, I have to try!

[@frankH117]

you did it again! so nice that you took time to explain us how that works. this violin has a really good sound, hope you make good music with it.

[@NicolasBras]

I will!

[@DrHavok1]

This is really amazing thank you

[@HolarMusic]

You nailed it

[@davidbostock6089]

Replace the bow(s) with one or two hurdy gurdy wheels. Another configuration could be horizontal hurdy gurdy wheel with steel "nails" that could be tilted to touch it.

[@tommyvictorbuch6960]

Yup. He nailed it.

[@woodstoney]

A most interesting sounding instrument. I like it! In for a Penny, an allusion to the United States measurement describing the length of a nail is designated by its penny size. Nice creative work!

[@NicolasBras]

Thank you!

[@janebundy6480]

absolutely beautiful and creative!

[@User-wq9ri]

That's super cool. I like all the instruments you make. Very interesting.

[@NicolasBras]

Thank you very much!

[@HaloBalla]

I really hope to see your channel get more subscribers you deserve it!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks, I'm working on it, it's growing!

[@erict2899]

Sounds a little like a daxophone. Great video!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks!