Hi,  This is a reply to the post about the QRS Virtuoso Violin
player.  Mark Kinsler was right about the violin.  We thought about
getting one for the museum so I went to look at one.

The strings (all the strings) were slack, the bow doesn't even
touch them.  There is a device on the body of the violin that
vibrates by being driven by a CD.  The "string blade" device that
the bow moves across is only there to give the scratchy sound of
the bow to the music.  You can set the degree of scratchiness by
turning a little nut on the side of the device.  Think of striking
a tuning fork and placing it against a wooden surface.  That's how
the sound is produced except it's done with a CD.

I was pretty impressed with the Pianomation equipped piano that
played background for the violin though, and being a dyed-in-the-wool
reproducing piano fan and technician, that's saying something.

Tony Marsico
Bayernhof Museum
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania