Fidular fuses modern acoustics and digital fabrication with traditional craftsmanship, enabling instant disassembly and interchangeability of chamber and shafts across different fiddles from Asia to the Middle East. The design manifests a vision of culture aware technology, the convergence of future and traditional technologies, engineered for cross cultural fluidity. Inspired by an apprenticeship, Fidular functions with traditional and novel digitally-fabricated chambers, allowing players to customize timbre by mixing and matching components from various traditions on-the-fly.
Born in 1992 and raised through high school in Bangkok, Thailand, Lamtharn Hantrakul is currently a fully funded Graduate Research Assistant and MS candidate in the Robotic Musician Group, directed by Dr. Gil Weinberg, at the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. His life-long goal, formed during the last couple of years of research, is to establish a first-of-its-kind research institution in Southeast Asia dedicated to the vision of culture aware technology: a convergence of future and traditional technologies, engineered for cross-cultural fluidity. Fidular, a modular system for fiddles from across Asia and the Middle East, is a most recent manifestation. Since its premiere, it has attracted a wide range of emerging commercial commitments from local craftsmen, musical foundations and institutes of technologies and design. Lamtharn holds degrees in both Applied Physics (BS, with Distinction) and Music (BA, with Distinction) from Yale University (2015, Cum Laude), where he was awarded Yale's prestigious Bach Society Award by the Department of Music and the Joseph Lentilhon Prize for Music by the Council of Masters. His published works span the fields of acoustics, signal processing, musical instruments and interface design. He composes jazz and electronic music, plays piano, guitar and a couple of Thai fiddles.
Born in 1992 and raised through high school in Bangkok, Thailand, Lamtharn Hantrakul is currently a fully funded Graduate Research Assistant and MS candidate in the Robotic Musician Group, directed by Dr. Gil Weinberg, at the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. His life-long goal, formed during the last couple of years of research, is to establish a first-of-its-kind research institution in Southeast Asia dedicated to the vision of culture aware technology: a convergence of future and traditional technologies, engineered for cross-cultural fluidity. Fidular, a modular system for fiddles from across Asia and the Middle East, is a most recent manifestation. Since its premiere, it has attracted a wide range of emerging commercial commitments from local craftsmen, musical foundations and institutes of technologies and design. Lamtharn holds degrees in both Applied Physics (BS, with Distinction) and Music (BA, with Distinction) from Yale University (2015, Cum Laude), where he was awarded Yale's prestigious Bach Society Award by the Department of Music and the Joseph Lentilhon Prize for Music by the Council of Masters. His published works span the fields of acoustics, signal processing, musical instruments and interface design. He composes jazz and electronic music, plays piano, guitar and a couple of Thai fiddles. He enjoys, among other hobbies, to cycle, cook and is currently learning to dance Salsa. His published works can be found online through https://lh-hantrakul.com/