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Norfolk innovator creates, 3D prints smart technology for string instruments

The invention would send data from the bow to a smartphone, helping musicians understand and change bow pressure and speed.

NORFOLK, Va. — An innovator in Norfolk believes he will change the string music industry with his new invention.

Al Mina is the kind of person who looks at something and wonders how it can be improved. He is taking an oft-overlooked part of the bow for string instruments and updating it with modern technology.

String instruments like the violin and cello are played with a bow, and at the end of every bow, there is a bow frog.

"The handle on the bow has traditionally been called a frog and there isn't a whole lot that's been done to it for the past 300 years," Mina said.

Mina was learning to play the violin when he was frustrated by the lack of information.

"There was no data for me to reference, and know how much pressure to put on the bow," he said. 

He said 60 percent of beginning violin players quit because they get frustrated by this common problem, so he decided to create an answer. 

Mina took the bow frog, traditionally made of ebony or wood, hollowed it out and made a new one with a 3D printer. 

He then designed technology that can track pressure and speed. It's a teaching tool that would give musicians the information they need.

"It would be a reference for them that they can look and realize what kind of pressure they're applying," he said. 

The data would transfer onto an app on a smartphone. Mina said it's a modern spin on a classic technique for musicians.

"I want them to experience that a-ha moment," he said.

He has been 3D-printing prototypes at the Slover Library Maker Studio in Norfolk.

"This place here is a lifesaver, and a Godsend, for me and everybody else who is interested in thinking outside of the box," he said.

He calls it a 'smart frog,' and he's confident it's part of the future for string instrument players.

"It's going to be copied eventually, but we want to be the very first here in Norfolk to get this concept out there."

Mina is raising money for research and development of his invention through a Kickstarter campaign.

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