HOW TO CHOOSE A VIOLIN BOW

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GUIDELINES WHILE CHOOSING A BOW

1. Start with an open mind and do not compare with your old bow. It is possible that your old bow was not so great, but you got used to it. It is also possible that you might discover you like playing more with bows that have different characteristics that the previous one.

2. Choose a high quality Pernambuco bow, whenever possible, but have an open mind to try some other bows, such as carbon bows, for example. The research always advances and you might be surprised to find out that there are also high quality carbon bows that create articulation and resonance of a fine Pernambuco bow and that might be matching your instrument better. Pernambuco bows have higher resilience and do not break so easily.

3. Make sure the stick of the bow is not too week. The bow can be light but strong at the same time. The stick is the most important in a bow, therefore if you are considering purchasing an old bow that is damaged, bear in mind that the frog, etc., can be fixed, and get the bow for the stick if it is great.

4. Do not be too fixated on the weight of the bow, rather pay attention to its balance. The balance is one of the most important aspects while choosing a bow. A fine balanced bow is both flexible and firm, it responds easily while at the same time shows some resistance.

5. Last but not least, the sound. It is very important you bring your own instrument while choosing a bow in order to find the right match. This process should come after one has selected the best bows for balance and comfort. You might fall in love right away with a specific bow for the sound, but if this does not happen, a good rule is to match a brilliant bow with a dark sounding instrument or a darker bow with a brilliant instrument.

Often customers come with their teachers or colleagues they trusts to get their opinion. This is a very important and reassuring part of the process. However, it is important to remember that in the end you will be the one playing it and that no one can know better than you what is the right bow for you and how comfortable you feel with it while playing. Trust yourself, and if you, the instrument and the bow are vibrating in harmony both in sound and in comfort.

The Italian violin maker Federico Falaschi talking about the world of violin making

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BLUE DANUBE VIOLINS: Dear Federico, we have sold some of your beautiful violins in our shop in Vienna, Austria to customers from countries like Australia, Japan, China, among others.  How do you feel about your violins being sold all over the world and becoming an important part of these people’s lives, bringing them lots of joy?

FEDERICO FALASCHI: It is such a great pleasure for me to hear that musicians choose  my violins to express themselves through music. They are being played all over the world and that brings me great satisfaction.  At the same time, it challenges me to make higher quality instruments, that will give beautiful experiences to people living so far away from me. Violin making is not a job, it is rather a never-ending process of researching the wood, the sound, the varnish, the thicknesses, the style and so on. Sometime I ask myself if it is possible for the musicians playing my instruments to understand what my intentions and feelings during the process of building it were. Because every violin is absolutely unique, there is not one similar to the other.

 

BLUE DANUBE VIOLINS: Can you please tell us a few things about your background and how did you become interested in the world of violin making?

FEDERICO FALASCHI: When I was 20 years old, my guitar accidentally dropped and cracked on one side.  I didn’t know what to do and went to the music shop where I bought it. They sent me to a neighboring luthier.  It was my first time visiting a violin making workshop, and I was fascinated by the perfume, the sounds and the magic atmosphere surrounding me. I visited this workshop several times, and every time I felt the same magic, it was such a powerful attraction, everything was fascinating and very close to my heart, to my soul, it was what I was really looking for. The following year I enrolled into a violin making school, and that’s how my professional career began.

 

BLUE DANUBE VIOLINS: In terms of Italian violin making school, do you belong to certain school or do you feel you rather developed your own method?

FEDERICO FALASCHI: One of the most important things for a luthier is to ‘infect’ an instrument with his own style, which is an expression of elegance, precision, estro and substance. I am lucky to be familiar with several Italian violin making schools: the Tuscan, the Cremona and Milano schools. Later on I moved to Emilia-Romagna: Bologna, Ferrara, Modena and Parma have a fascinating violin making history that gave birth to  important luthiers from the early 1900s like Fiorini, Soffritti, Pollastri, Candi, the pioneers of the second Golden Age of the Italian Lutherie.

Working for some years in the Frignani Lorenzo’s workshop (President of A.L.I. Italian Professional Violin Maker), I had the opportunity to learn what makes an instrument an excellent one.  I have captured the beauty from all experience into a style that expreses my personality.

 

BLUE DANUBE VIOLINS: Violin making involves a lot of knowledge and skills.  Is there something in particular that fascinates you about the process of making a violin?

FEDERICO FALASCHI: There are many things that fascinate me in the process of making a violin. The choice of wood before starting is one such exciting moment. Imagining the finished violin and its characteristics.  Shaping the surface, drawing and cutting the’ff’s. Sculpting the neck.  Varnishing.  All things that identify a violin and that will make the difference.

 

BLUE DANUBE VIOLINS: How many months does it take you to make a violin?

FEDERICO FALASCHI:  It takes about two months to make a violin.  There are violin makers which make three or four instruments at the same time in order to reduce the working time. I personally prefer to make them one by one.  Each violin has its own story and it needs my exclusive attention.

 

BLUE DANUBE VIOLINS: Do you make other instruments than violins? If yes, is it very different than the violin making and how?

FEDERICO FALASCHI: Working for several years with Master Frignani in his workshop in Modena, I had the opportunity to learn the construction method of classical guitars.  It is a very different work compared to making string instruments.  The strings work in traction and rotation, not in percussion.  The surfaces are flat and in no need of carving.

There is a lot of skill involved in the guitar making as well. It needs great workmanship and sensitivity, but in my opinion the result will depend on the initial project. While in the case of making violins, violas and cellos, many decisions are made during the process of working the wood, as a result of feeling the wood.

 

BLUE DANUBE VIOLINS: If you would have the opportunity to meet a great master/violin maker from the past and ask him a question, whom would you like to meet and what would that question be?

FEDERICO FALASCHI:  I would certainly like to meet some Italian masters of the Amati School in the XVII century, when  art and craft were one and the same thing,  when the math study was mixed with empirical reflections,  when the modern violins, as we know them today, were created. More than asking them a question, I’d like to spend time in their workshop and recover the lost knowledge from that time.

 

When buying a violin

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More Things to Consider when buying a violin

For violins and violas, there is one sound you will hear under your ears;  a second the instrument produces when someone hears from a relatively close distance; and a third listeners will hear in a concert hall. This tone can be darker or brighter and more or less powerful in all three situations.  

Another factor to keep in mind is the type of playing you do. If you are primarily using your instrument for playing in an orchestra, you should consider how well you are able to hear yourself in comparison to how well you hear your string colleagues – especially in your own section. This can only be determined by testing the instrument in rehearsals and concerts. Ask your dealer if you can take the instrument for a week or so to test it in some of the situations mentioned above.

This situation is not as acute for cellos and double basses, where the sound produced is at a relative distance away from the player’s ears.

Power can be improved by regular soundpost adjustments, upgrading the bridge and modification of the bass bar or top or back. procedures should only be undertaken by a qualified luthier who works exclusively with violin-family instruments.

Finally, one should experiment with strings – some are made expressly to produce a warmer, darker tone, others for a brighter and more brilliant sound. Mixing brands of strings is very common, especially with the E string on violin and the A string on viola and cello. Finally, one can go with a stronger or weaker tension if a particular string needs a boost or reduction – sets or individual strings can be ordered in soft, medium or strong.

 

The study of western musical instruments in China is booming

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Many things are noteworthy about the transformation that’s taken place in China over the last 40 years One of them is the study of western musical instruments which is booming, especially for stringed instruments and piano. The population of China is now nearly 1.4 billion and the number of of households with members owning and studying these and other instruments is also astonishing. It’s hard to believe these instruments were actually outlawed in China during their Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).
A very talented conductor from Singapore, who trained in Germany and Austria and is currently the music director of an important orchestra in China, recently told us that five years ago there were 66 full time/professional orchestras China; now there are 88!
The Chinese are devouring luxury goods and experiences with great zeal. One can see this in their gleaming and new performing arts facilities, airports and urban architecture — all featuring daring innovation and experimentation and the finest materials.
As with luxury goods, brand names are everything — only items with strong reputations will do. In the case of stringed instruments (violins, violas, cellos and double basses) orchestras, schools and parents want their children to have the very best. For them, this usually means antique instruments with strong reputations (Italian, French, German, Czech, etc.) or instruments from modern (most European) makers whose instruments have captivated soloists and ensemble players around the world. European and American teachers and have also been engaged to assist in training new generations of Chinese musicians that for one reason or another do not go abroad to study (as many do). It all adds up to musical and cultural renaissance that may surpass what took place earlier in Japan and Korea.