Making The Violin (learning the trade)

LEARNING THE TRADE

The fine art of violin making is a lifelong learning experience. Although much is acquired through diligence and self reflection, the initial stage involves formal education. A two to four year apprenticeship in the shop of a master or at a violin making school helps one acquire the rudimentary skills of a journeyman. An additional two to four years in the shop of a master are necessary before establishing ones own independent shop. Further education comes from the study of historic instruments, from feedback from musicians or from open exchange of information and techniques with colleagues during meetings and seminars sponsored by professional organizations. The two professional organizations or guilds dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the art of making and restoration are the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers and l'Entente Internationale des Maitres Luthiers et Archetiers d'Art. Membership is restricted to those who have met strict requirements and have demonstrated their abilities.

Making The Violin(1.artistri of the maker)

1.ARTISTRY OF THE MAKER
2.LEARNING THE TRADE
3.THE MAKING


1.ARTISTRY OF THE MAKER

Violin making is an often forgotten or overlooked art, yet indispensable to the expression and preservation of great works of music. Since its earliest beginnings, the violin has been an embodiment of the highest ideals of art. Violin making is more than a craft, and entails much more than the mere construction of a violin. Many areas of expertise must be mastered. The maker performs the skills of:

WOOD SCULPTOR. Among wood craftsmen, violin making is looked upon with a certain amount of awe and mystery. It is envied for its delicate carving and direct ties to past traditions and methods. The amount of skill, knowledge and discipline one must first attain, gives rise to the myth of unknowable secrets.

ARCHITECT and ENGINEER. Instrument design and construction is dependent only on its curved lines and surfaces, which are carved and bent for optimum lightness, strength and flexibility. Knowledge of materials and an ability to sense the strengths and weaknesses of a given piece of wood, is essential. The design, architecture and choice of wood all determine the ultimate potential of the finished work.

TOOL MAKER. The violin maker makes and maintains the condition of many specialized tools. Knives, plane irons, chisels and gouges must be kept razor sharp. Other tools, such as scrapers, require sharpened edges rolled over with a burnisher.

ACOUSTICIAN. The maker relies on memory and instinct, searching to improve the sound of each new instrument through slight controlled variations in model, architecture or dimensions. When played upon, the diminutive violin (weighing less than a pound) can be capable of filling the farthest corner of a large concert hall with sound, and conveying music of fiery emotion or subtle nuance to every listener. Good acoustic properties of a violin relate to more than just volume. Loudness under a player's ear is not indicative of an instrument with good "carrying power". The complexity and richness of overtones or harmonics is what gives carrying power and sweetness to a good violin. Each instrument possesses a unique voice, different from any other, created by the predominance of its own particular spectrum and abundance of overtones.

MUSICIAN. The maker must develop an ear and a vocabulary for sound to better understand the musician's needs. It is necessary to play well enough to make and hear subtle tonal adjustments. One must have the player's perspective to achieve proper set up and adjustment of the neck, fingerboard, strings, pegs, bridge, etc---the parts of an instrument with which the player has closest involvement.

VARNISH MAKER. Preparation of varnish involves purifying, sun-bleaching and bodying oils; grinding, cooking and mixing resins and preparing color lakes.

ART RESTORER. Fine violin restoration not only employs many of the ethics and techniques of fine art restoration, but also requires the various skills of the maker and specialized techniques developed over the past 200 years. The opportunity of studying the works of the old masters first hand, allows one to analyze the successes (and shortcomings) of individual works, and to observe how each maker or school of makers from the past approached the various aspects of making.

MERCHANT. Peer recognition is gratifying, but the maker must also be a merchant of his/her own products. Makers have the opportunity to work directly with their clientele, often on a commission basis. A special, long term symbiotic relationship exists between a maker and player or collector. Working together they choose a design that will meet the specified needs of the player. After the work is purchased and in the hands of the musician, the maker remains available to periodically carry out necessary maintenance and adjustments.

3.Stradivari's Product (The Antonius)

Violin "The Antonius", 1717
Antonio Stradivari (Italian, 1644–1737)
Cremona, Italy
Spruce and maple; L. 23 in. (58.4 cm), W. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
Bequest of Annie Bolton Matthews Bryant, 1933 (34.86.2)

After about 1700, Stradivari left behind the "long-pattern" prototype, returning to a shorter, wider design known as his "grand pattern." The period of about 1700 to 1720, particularly around 1715, is often referred to as Stradivari's "golden age," when the instruments produced were his greatest. This violin has modern fittings.

2.Stradivari's Product (THE FRANCESCA)

Violin "The Francesca", 1694
Antonio Stradivari (Italian, 1644–1737)
Cremona, Italy
Spruce and maple; L. 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm), W. 8 in. (20.3 cm)
Bequest of Annie Bolton Matthews Bryant, 1933 (34.86.1)

During the 1690s, Stradivari was engaged in designing a "long-pattern" violin, such as this example, with a longer, thinner body, producing a darker timber than was usual in Cremonese violins. This violin has modern-style fittings.

1.Stradivari's Product

Violin, 1693
Made by Antonio Stradivari (Italian, 1644–1737)
Cremona, Italy
Wood; L. 23 1/4 in. (59.4 cm), W. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm)
Gift of George Gould, 1955 (55.86a-c)

This violin made by Antonio Stradivari is the only one in existence that has been restored to its original Baroque form. Before modification to produce a louder, more brilliant tone and to extend the left-hand technique to higher positions, Baroque violins had gut strings, a short fingerboard, and a neck angled back only slightly from the body. Today, few fine violins show these original features.

I.History of Antonio Stradivari

Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737)

A century of violin making in Cremona culminated in the instruments from the workshop of Antonio Stradivari. Violins are judged by their tone, responsiveness, elegance of design, visual appeal, and precision of their craft, and the instruments of Stradivari are superlative in all categories. From his extraordinary seventy-year career as a luthier, 650 instruments survive, a testament both to his productivity and longevity, and to the high value placed on his instruments. During the 1680s, Stradivari moved away from Nicolò Amati's style, experimenting with his own soundhole shapes, softer varnish, wider purfling (the inlaid border near the edges of the violin's back and front), and a stronger tone. During the 1690s, he worked to perfect a "long pattern" violin, with a longer, narrower body and a darker tone than most Cremonese strings. Two of the Museum's Stradivari violins are of this type (55.86a-c; 34.86.1).

Beginning about 1700, Stradivari reverted to a shorter, wider design, his "grand pattern," and embarked on the two decades that many writers call his "golden age." The third of the Museum's Stradivari violins (34.86.2) dates from this period. After 1700, Stradivari also experimented with building smaller violoncellos, influenced by the instruments of the Brescian maker Giovanni Paolo Maggini (ca. 1581–ca. 1632) and later Cremonese makers; these smaller instruments aided in the rise of the cello as a virtuoso solo instrument. Stradivari also made violas and a number of stringed instruments, including viols, lutes, mandolins, guitars, and harps. At his death, Stradivari's business passed into the hands of his son, Francesco (1671–1743).





Stradivari's Posthumous Reputation and the Modernization of His Instruments

While the instruments of Stradivari were certainly appreciated during his long lifetime, it was not until the late eighteenth century, when several violin virtuosi publicly favored instruments by Stradivari and Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri ("del Gesù") (1698–1744), that his work was seen as the epitome of the luthier's art.

Throughout the 250 years since, professional violinists have considered the best instruments of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, by Stradivari and others, to be the most highly valued. During the same time, the demands on the violin have grown and changed. As a result, nearly all of the extant Stradivari violins have been modernized to accommodate later virtuosi's musical demands. While the body of a Baroque violin is essentially the same as a modern instrument, other traits differ. The Baroque neck is a bit shorter and thicker, and projects straight out of the body, rather than bending back. The fingerboard has gradually lengthened as the instrument's range has grown higher. The Baroque sound post (a wooden stick wedged inside between the belly and back of the violin under the treble foot of the bridge) was slimmer, and the bass bar (a piece of wood glued inside under the bass foot of the bridge) was thinner and shorter, changing the tone of the instrument. Modern violin strings are made of steel, not gut, and are strung about 50 percent tighter than Baroque strings. The Baroque bridge was lower and flatter. Violin chin rests were not used until the nineteenth century, and so shifting the left hand from position to position was audible. All three of the Museum's Stradivari violins were modernized at some point, but "The Gould" (55.86a-c) has been restored with a Baroque-style neck, fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece, bass bar, and gut strings.

Bows have changed as well. Eighteenth-century bows, many built by French makers, were differently shaped, with hair not as tightly strung as later models. The older bows had a more pronounced difference between up- and down-strokes.

SCOTT'S VIOLIN WICH PRODUCT IN CAMPBELL WORKSHOP

We have a team of ten working at our Campbell workshop. Among them are international award winning makers. They make and finish instruments strictly under the supervision of master maker Scott Cao.
All the instruments are made with selected European Wood (Mostly maple from Bosnia and Italian spruce.) The finish of these instruments is applied to resemble either an antique or a straight new finish. The beautiful oil varnish used follows the traditional methods perfected by the Italian master makers of centuries past.
Instruments made in our Campbell workshop are in the hands of advanced students and professional players. Teachers across the nation have been recommending Scott's instruments for years.


Violin
Signature Series (4/4)
STV1500 [Photo] (4/4)
STV950 (4/4, 3/4)

Viola
Signature Series (15", 15.5", 16", 16.5")
STA1500 (15", 15.5", 16", 16.5")
STA950 (15", 15.5", 16", 16.5")

Cello
Signature Series (4/4)
STC1500 (4/4)
STC950 (4/4)