One fella attending an oldtime music houseparty last year had brought an assortment of large instruments ranging from cello to various sizes of bass fiddles, and he had refitted some of them in various interesting ways too. But the sweetest one was the viola da gamba, the cello's ancestor. He also was swapping bows around,using bass bows on the v.d.g, and so forth. The oldtime music police were present but he was lauded, not chastised. You just could not deny the contribution his playing was making, trad for the genre or not.

A little cello under a Carolan melody is also a very good thing.

~S~