The violin, called the Epoch, challenges the establishment in its range of 15 bright colours including silver and green. Looks notwithstanding, it still represents the most significant revolution in violin technology in 400 years.

The firm behind the product, Gondwana Musical Instrument Company Pty Ltd of Hobart, hope its Epoch will help stem the flood of cheap violin imports.

As a bonus, the musical inventor has taken the `squawk' out of the violin by producing a ready-to-play instrument on which even a novice can produce clear notes and advanced students will be able to practice at the most advanced levels.

The motivation for redesigning the violin came from the fact, acknowledged by many music teachers, that the frustration of trying to get decent notes from a cheap import was the biggest single factor in the music drop-out rate among young people. There is also the problem of the high cost and short supply of instruments for top level students.

The Epoch Violin is the product of more than a decade of re-engineering of violin acoustics by a team comprising an award winning rock-drilling engineer and one of the world's finest concert violinists.

The engineer, David Sugden of Hobart, says his reconstruction of the violin represents the first significant change in the instrument's structure and operating system in more than 400 years.

The result, he says, is an instrument which not only looks and sounds good, but is easy to play, easy to fix and is still considered to be a relatively low cost violin for beginners.

The music teacher and former soloist with some of the world's top orchestras who started David Sugden on his quest for an affordable violin for beginners is Jan Sedivka, master musician in residence at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music. He had challenged his engineer friend to make a cheap violin which sounded like a Stradivarius.

“What we need is an affordable instrument with sound quality and response for the top level student and which also stands up to the wear and tear of a school music department environment,” Mr Sedivka said.

Australia imports about 8,000 cheap violins a year, with about half coming from Korea and the rest mainly from China. Most are used in schools.

However, many music teachers claim music rooms are littered with broken imported violins, with repair costs making it uneconomical to consider restoration.

“We never set out to rival the Stradivarius, but we did produce a home grown instrument with a rich tone, which we are sure will result in many more young people staying with the violin and going on to a better appreciation of music,” said Mr Sugden.

Mr Sugden's company, Gondwana Musical Instrument Company Pty Ltd, is applying its patented technology to violas, cellos and double basses.

The company has found a ready market for its Epoch Violin in schools and in the entertainment world of Celtic music. It can be used up to concert standard, and is particularly suited to music of the baroque period.

The Queensland University's finalist in the 1998 battle of the University Bands, Andrew Maddick of Brisbane plays an amplified green Epoch in his Celtic group the Shenanigans. He claims the unique design enables him to play faster and louder than with a conventional violin.

“Our marketing edge is that the Epoch is Australian made for Australian weather conditions. It is robust and most of the basic violin problems can be fixed by the owner on the spot. If not, large scale repair and maintenance is an overnight courier away,” said Queensland distributor of the Epoch Violin, Ken Newton of SuperCool International on the Gold Coast.

ENDS