Hello there, my name is Allen.
Yes, I am the Funkid 🙂 and also the founder/designer of Funkidviolin.
I am a primary school student based in Sydney Australia. I got my first violin when I was 7, I enjoyed playing it and want to share my music to as many people as possible. The first target is my little brother Oliver, I am always trying to persuade him pick up the traditional acoustic violin and play together with me, but I failed, he showed no interests whatsoever to that “piece of wood” (his word).
I felt the most important thing is to give him a violin that Oliver will truly love. One day, I got an idea, why not build a lego violin for Oliver since he is a big lego fan (and me too), he may want to at least play with it and hopefully in my best wish , “play” it one day…
So the journey begins with this…
With the help of my Dad (an engineer ), I created the first electric lego violin which is (almost) playable…
I thought this is the end of the story, until one day, my orchestra friend found out the video (me playing lego violin) I posted, and she asked if I can design a Micky violin for her. We discussed about her ideas and she becomes my first client, and her friend, friend’s friends…
From there on, the Funkidviolin brand is created and its story unfolded. With the help of professional luthier and music teachers joining our team, we start to give workshops in schools and come up with more products allowing kids to hand made (assemble) instruments by themselves, in stead of us handmaking instruments for them, we believe this is the best way to engage them in music.
Disclaimer: Ray is not a team member of Funkidviolin, I just like his surprising facial impression.
And finally, Oliver found his love, you can find more detail about FirstFiddle product.
Oh, one thing to mention, YES, now it is playable! With help of my Dad (an engineer) and professional luthier, we are able to design up-to-standard, playable instrument with passive/active sound pickup system. So you can play it quietly unplugged or make some noise with your Dad’s guitar amp or any speaker. Hear more of my play on this page.
Today we are still expanding our product coverage to more instruments such as lego compatible Ukulele, Cello, Viola and instrument accessories. We are also doing something unique to make kids and parents’ life easier and joyful. For example, The latest Brick series violin adopted 3D printing technology for the tuning peg system and bridge holder. This means the long-lasting hard-to-tune peg issue and tilt/fallen issue of violin bridge are greatly minimised.
Well, our story continues, Funkidviolin will launch FREE playalong practice tools for kids soon, stay tuned 🙂
Pickup an instrument, “play with” it and “play” it! (or hang it on the wall when you don’t play it)
