Sometimes, innovation begins with a look to the past.
In 2004, before he joined the faculty at Berklee's campus in Valencia, Spain, bassist Matthew Baker encountered a series of duos written by 18th-century Austrian composer Franz Josef Haydn for a now-obscure stringed instrument known as the baryton. While he was rearranging the pieces for his double-bass-and-cello duo, something in the music struck him. I fell in love with the pieces, he said, which lit the spark that made me want to find out more.
Study Music in Spain
Berklee Valencia offers learning opportunities from summer workshops to first year abroad and graduate degree programs.
But to start: what is this instrument? The baryton is a very curious instrument, Baker says. In essence its a viola da gamba [a more common stringed instrument favored by Renaissance and Baroque composers] but with 10 strings in the back that you can play with your left thumb (while playing the front strings) or just let resonate. Or, in other words: Imagine a small cello with a hidden harp attached to the back and you will have a good idea.
Over the decade that followed his initial work on those duets, Baker kept returning to Haydn's baryton compositions and researching the instrument, and that spark of curiosity kept growing until finally, in 2017, he sought lessons in the instrument from the only baryton player in Spain, Jos Manuel Hern ndez. I think I imagined that might satisfy my curiosity, he says, but it just made me want to start working seriously on the instrument right then and there. He eventually bought his teachers own baryton, and has been deepening his study of the instrument ever since.
I've seen the baryton as a wonderful instrument to music as diverse as jazz, world, electronic, and flamenco, not to mention many other styles.
-Matthew Baker, instructor, Bass Department
Three years into Baker's baryton explorations, his curiosity has led him down still more fruitful and surprising avenues. In 2018, Baker joined with colleagues from the opera orchestra of Valencias Palau de les Arts (in which he plays double bass) to form the Valencia Baryton Project. The group is dedicated to performing the works written for the baryton, which mostly consist of the nearly 160 works by Haydn as well as a scattering of lesser-known composers such as Tomasini and Lidl, Baker says. We are a trio at the heart of it, but can and have expanded to cover quintets, octets, and even invited another barytonist to perform the baryton duos. Since its founding, the Valencia Baryton Project has brought the instrument's forgotten sound to audiences across Spain. This summer the group will take that sound on tour internationally in Europe and the Americas, and 2020 will also see the release of their first album, a selection of six neglected baryton trios by Haydn, on Naxos Records.
The Valencia Baryton Project performs one of Haydns underappreciated baryton trios:
Video of Haydn Baryton Trio 81 - Valencia Baryton Project
Beyond the potential to revive important compositions from the instrument's heyday, Baker has begun to explore what the baryton might bring to more modern contexts. Being the jazz and contemporary musician I am, I couldn't help but imagine its sound in settings pretty far removed from the original scope of music for the instrument, he says. Overall, I've seen the baryton as a wonderful instrument to music as diverse as jazz, world, electronic, and flamenco, not to mention many other styles.
Most recently, Baker has begun working with pianist Baptiste Bailly and producer IMGL (Gianluca Tavaroli) on a modern jazz trio featuring baryton, keys, and electronic production. The newly formed trios first song, L'arbre aux secrets, released this month, showcases the instrument's distinct timbre and the versatility of its plucked and bowed styles, but also hints toward a whole world of unexplored sonic terrain. Baptiste was playing around with using the Moog [synthesizer] on this song, and I mentioned going full electronic for a third component of the group, he says of the tracks' origins. Asking Gianluca Tavaroli, my great friend and a colleague I have huge respect for, was the obvious step.
Listen to Bakers new jazz trios debut single, featuring the baryton, Larbre aux secrets:
As is the case with most good teachers, Baker, now an instructor in the Bass Department at Berklee Valencia, also finds ways to bring the insights of his personal study into the classroom. Working on another instrument other than your principal instrument always opens the mind to other possibilities both musically and technically, he says. It's given me new ideas on approaches to melodic lines, bowed work, and techniques that we in the bass world don't always incorporate. But the biggest way it has affected his teaching? I've had to go back to square one and teach myself a whole new instrument from scratch. I've been able to use this experience to really empathize with my students and what they are going through.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Introducing #HerBerklee We asked nine female Berklee students to show us around their world. These are their words, images, and stories.
American Oud Player Aliya Cycon Explores the Music of Andaluc a in New Project Aliya Cycon B.M. '16, M.M. '19 talks about her journey from being a piano player from Massachusetts to an oud musician based in Valencia
What Is Contemporary Music? Its practically Berklees middle name-but what are we talking about when we say contemporary music?
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Listen to the Berklee Artists Who Made 2019s Best Music Whether it was pop, hip-hop, indie, bluegrass, or jazz, Berklee artists performed and produced some of this year's most critically acclaimed tra
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
Sometimes, innovation begins with a look to the past.
