Sample Audio Clips from the Library Below:

About the Project

The String Music Archaeology project is a project focused on tracing the history and cultural impacts of instruments in the (chordophone) stringed instrument family. My name is Dr. Mike Hollis, I'm a researcher in ethnomusicology. I've spent several years tracking down the early family tree of instruments in the violin and guitar families. I've also been gathering audio samples of and the stories behind as many stringed instruments as I can find reference to in old books and public art. The goal is to fill in the gaps in how our modern instruments came to be as well as to better understand the cultural impacts of string music, past and present.

My Facebook page and website will serve as a place to share and organize all resources that I find on the topic so that other researchers and those with an interest in string music will have a place to come together and share and learn.

I do need help with the research, particularly when it comes to finding more obscure texts and works of art that will help answer some of the questions that I am trying to solve. I’ll be launching a survey project soon with more details.

Stringarch.org is curently redirecting to this temporary home for the website. Fairhaven Press has donated the space and is partially funding the research. It will eventually move over to a permanent home on a separate website.