Will L

I think Martin Swan makes an interesting point, and it also relates to finding violins: it's NOT just the sound; rather, it is an aggregate of how the bow feels and works for all the different strokes and nuances that a real artist feels impelled to put into the music. And all these things need to be done without having to fight. Some of the first things to look for is if the bow feels too heavy or light; too stiff or too weak; too bottom or top heavy; too slow to respond to nuance. When it comes to comfort, ease of use, and responsiveness, that ought to be the first order of business * in picking out a bow, and pretty easy to determine if one goes about it carefully, thoughtfully, and as logically as possible. Tone and power are more subjective, but in a gross sense they are quicker to determine. I'd like to give advice given to me by Mr. Kagan in Chicago, years ago. It was mainly how to handle trying out a lot of bows at one time, because it is easy to get confused. He suggested putting all the bows out, then comparing two at a time, simply choosing the better of the first two for tone and power, and smoothness—nothing more, because trying to compare too many variables at one time complicates things too much. Then play the winner off against the next bow. Then, only after choosing the best several bows, start putting those bows through ALL their paces. I would add: Have pieces prepared which cover all the things one needs to look for, and not just noodle around. See if you can get through the material as if you were playing Carnegie Hall or taking a serious audition. The ideal bow will not tire you out or throw you for a loop. And it should feel "light as a feather" no matter what the actual weight, and should never feel either too stiff or too weak. I mean, the weight should not cause you to feel it is a problem. Just as a generality, with violins and bows, the lighter the better—because, after all, we are holding these things in the air for hours a day, year after year, and that adds up to a lot of wear on the body. But, of course, if a bow feels too light, or a violin too quiet or too easy to play, those situations cause their own brand of tension. (I have found very light bows that give a sense of heft because they produce the tone and power one would assume only a heavier bow would give.) In all my years of trying all levels of bows I found only one perfect bow. And I mean YOU COULD TELL. It was like walking on air, or having something that was as natural to the hand as its own fingernails; there was no separation. I might as well have been born with it. It did every bow stroke perfectly from tip to frog. Not a bobble anywhere It was stunning! Sadly, this level of perfection is not found automatically by seeking the most expensive and/or famous makers. It was a Tourte, but I've played between 10 and 20 Tourtes, and not one of the others was "perfect.") But there are plenty of bows that are much closer to perfect than it sounds like your current bow is. I know no way other than to position yourself to see a lot of bows. *The reason I say this is because most of us are trying to blend with other instruments and don't need a soloist's distinctive sound; but we are spending hours a day, and if we have any discomforts from the instrument or bow, we're running a greater risk of injuring ourselves. But, of course I don't mean to suggest that tone and a sense of power are not to be considered at all; ideally a player deserves a tone that is satisfying. But I want to relate a story that (at least to me) taught me a lesson about what we call "tone." Christian Ferras played with our orchestra. And at the first rehearsal I found his tone to be—as I immediately described it to my stand partner—"the tinniest, most metallic sound I ever heard." But after two more days of listening to him, I had grown used to the tone and I was hearing more the musicality of his phrasing and nuance. All of a sudden, his tone just didn't bother me at all. I equate it to a fish swimming in clean or dirty water: the fish gets used to it. Another analogy is when recently I couldn't get the same florescent bulbs, and the newer ones were not as warm as the old ones, and I hated this—but after a day or two, I'm perfectly content with the colder light. Humans are more adaptable to some things than others; IMO, tone is something our ear adapts to rather easily (within reasonable standards, of course); but listening to, or being, a violinist not able to produce much "tonal color changes" (for want of a better phrase) is much harder to accept. Perhaps another factor is that violinists can dull an audience very quickly if they play too "mono-tonally" and the best way to keep their ears fresh is through nuance, such as changes in dynamics, phrasing, and what we call tonal colors (which includes all the ways we start, finish, and play around with notes). And great violins and bows give us so much more of those gradations, which is what makes them great. —all just my opinion, of course; best of luck.

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO THE BEST CURRENT EXPERT IS ON THE BISIACH FAMILY. IF ANYONE KNOWS PLEASE RESPOND. THANKS, WILL L

Hi All, Many years ago there was an international organization of musicians with a printed listing of member's instruments, levels of skill, and willingness to invite members into their homes for playing chamber music. Does this still exist? Can anyone remind me of the name of it? Over a few years I had several delightful evenings of quartets with interesting musicians from as far away as England. If it no longer exists, what a shame that would be; perhaps it could be reformed.

NEVER MIND, ABORT, ABORT! I have sold the violin tools and wood; bow making tools and wood. The books are still available. Thanks, Will

Thanks Jim and Rue (How are you Rue?) Sorry I had not read this before I complained. I'll be posting what is going on and 85% of what I have. I'm doing it rather clumsily.

Well, I'm not getting a specific answer, and people are beginning to e-mail me in a manner which doesn't allow me to answer them specifically so I'll post what I have typed up already, though it is not complete. If it gets taken down, at least I tried. Also, I'm unclear on what is safe to give on line for contact info. BOOK INVENTORY, WILL L (not in any particular order) and not complete VIOLIN Ferdinando Garimberti The British Violin The Violin Book Memoirs of a Violin Collector Four Centuries of Violin Making G.B. Guadagnini (Rosengard) W.E. Hill and Sons (Sadler) How Many Strads (Bein and Fushi) Stradivari Varnish (Brandmair, et al.) Carlo Bergonzi Stradivari (Pollens) Stradivarius (Beare) A Book of Workshop Secrets Antonio Stradivari (1987 Beare) Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu (Two Vols. Biddulph) Antonius Stradivarius (Two sets, four volumes each, Jost Thone) Strumenti di Antonio Stradivari (Ente Triennale) Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume Johannes Baptifa Guadagnino (Scrollavezza) Emerging National Styles and Cremonese Copies (Huber) The Violin (Karl Roy) Masterpieces of Violin Making G.B.Guadagnini (Edizioni Il Salabue) Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari (Goodkind, the recent) les Violins Venetian Instruments …And They Made Violins in Cremona Violin Varnish (Padding) Francesco Bissolotti Cesare Candi Dictionary of Contemporary Violin Makers (Woodcock) Il Manoscritto…Di A Marchi The Miracle Makers (Bein and Fushi) Sacconi A Genealogy of the Amati Family of Violin Makers (Draley and Bonetti, signed by Draley) The Voller Brothers

I seem to be making a mess of this. MY CONFUSION IS THAT GHUNT'S POST OF MARCH 12, 2012 SAYS "EXCHANGE" IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT "SELLING" I just don't want to waste time posting an inventory and conditions if my post will be taken down, because I don't have time to waste right now. I want to sell the equivalent of a small violin shop; i.e. tools, related furnishings and equipment, books, instruments. But there are some situational conditions which complicate things and are not easily explained in a few words.

Thank you, IN SHORT: I'M LIQUIDATING EVERYTHING I HAVE AND WOULD LIKE TO OFFER IT HERE FOR SALE, WITH SOME SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS BASED ON MY SPECIFIC SITUATION. CAN I? I did read ghunt's post of March 12, 2012. It talks of exchange, but not of sale. That is my confusion.

I had to sit next to a lefty one summer at the Aspen Festival. It was only mildly uncomfortable. You could not have the lefty sit on the outside as you can imagine. Although I don't remember if that player was from a major orchestra, I'd be willing to bet that these days there'd be a heck of a law suit if it could be proven an orchestra didn't hire a player because he/she was left handed. Interesting question to pose to a personnel manager.

Hi all, It looks like you cannot sell things here. Is that correct? If I can't I'd like to get advice/suggestions on the best ways to sell. Thanks, Will L

WOW! See what I have been missing? I can hardly wait to get back into the battle.

Most of my violins have come from RUE THE DAY. BTW, my favorite street name in Paris is RUE DU CHAT QUI PECHE. https://www.google.com/search?q=la+rue+du+chat+qui+peche&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjl8eHtzpTZAhVh2IMKHQjtALkQsAQIQw&biw=1112&bih=754&dpr=2

This cert reminds me of the plaque that amusingly says: LET'S EAT GRANDMA/ LET'S EAT, GRANDMA. WHAT A DIFFERENCE A COMMA MAKES. "..., in our opinion only..." Is that to mean we are the only experts who think this is a Bernardel or does it mean it is ONLY our opinion? I like that they "...BELIEVE...it is their opinion only..." Kinda oily, no? At any rate, it is the most pretentious and poorly written form I can remember. It is—or WAS— ONLY IN MY OPINION ONLY: worthless except for the provided amusement. Also reminds me of the framed cert that Wurlitzer had on their wall from some self-styled expert in Oklahoma in the '50s: "I am the only one with the God given knowledge to recognize the violins of Stradivarius and Guarius [sic] and this violin IS a Guarius." PS, if anyone has a Guarius, I'm willing to pay top dollar, since I'd like to see one; in my whole life I have unfortunately only seen Guarnerius and feel I have been cheated in life's lottery.

2 cents' worth, since I'm not sure where you stand technically. Off hand it looks like you are holding the bow in a stiff and gripping manner—as if you are trying too hard. In person it is easy to demonstrate sautille but unfortunately not so easy to explain verbally. To do the bowing (most bowings, in fact) we can't have the bow in a "death grip." The old idea of simply holding the bow as if you had picked up a pencil is a good general rule. Another problem especially beginners have is that they think we control the bow at all times. In fact, in a way we are going along for the ride much of the time. Sautille is a perfect example. We are simply setting up ourselves for the bow to work its magic. One way to teach it is like this: 1: find a part of your own bow where you can play detache 16th notes comfortably at any speed. By detache I mean the simplest on-string stroke in which all you're trying to do is keep the pressure and speed even: NOTHING FANCY, and we are not looking to hide the bow changes. Start with broader, slower strokes, but get narrower and narrower and faster and faster until you are using very little hair for each stroke, but with exactly the same motion as you would have with 8ths or quarter-notes. At this point you should be thinking of your hand and arm as going parallel with the stick. 2: once you are able to do that, to bring the bow to life (so to speak) and get a sautille simply angle the motion of the wrist and forearm instead of staying parallel to the stick; this is initiated with the hand with the wrist like a hinge— the forearm is simply allowed to be free. Note that in sautille, in spite of the translation which is "jumping or hopping," the hair doesn't actually leave the string; sautille is NOT an off-string bowing; it is NOT simply a faster spiccato, for example. It is its own unique stroke which has much more in common with detache. The one other thing is to find the spot on every bow where the sautille works best. Once you get the hang of it finding the best spot on different bows comes pretty quickly and naturally, but if you haven't learned the stroke yet and start in the wrong place you'll have trouble. And, BTW, not all bows give a good sautille; it's one of the tests I always use when evaluating a bow. This video gives a little chance to see that "angled" motion around 1:00. Maybe the Menuhin shows even better. —MO Good luck.

F. Gunter Hoyer