bow characteristics

[backwardsfiddler]

I know a good bow is defined by producing a good tone and also being responsive to different bowing styles. However, can a bow produce good tone while being somewhat less able to perform spiccato, etc.? I ask because I'm looking for one, but in playing I can only do the normal upbow/downbow and staccato. So, could a lower-priced pernambuco produce a good tone when just being "dragged"? Or, do tone and responsiveness go together too--if a bow was very flexible, would it also have a better tone than one that didn't do spiccato as well? (I guess this would be hypothetical, since I can't test the spiccato myself.)

I'm not explaining this well. Basically, could two bows have equally good core tone even if one is supposedly less "agile"?

[lwl]

Yes, they can. Finding the right balance between playability and sound on your particular violin is a key problem in buying a bow.

[Omobono]

I'd always go for one that responds well on your instrument when playing full legato - that your "bread and jam" of playing. As to the other more delicate/advanced styles - You may be able to improve your own performance with lessons and practice, and the bow's with attention to the quality and quantity of hair, rosin, tension.

But if you're not happy with the basic sound I don't see any point in buying it because someone else can play a flying staccato with it. (Hmm. Didn't really answer your question! "lwl" said it very concisely.)

Omo.

[Andrew Victor]

It seems to me that finding a pernambuco stick capable of producing great sound is more rare - since even a $30 plastic bow can be made to help one do all the "strokes." (I've seeen ad tried bows that cheap that do well.)

It is possible that a poor maker at one time acquired such a piece of wood and made a great sounding bow that does not handle well. Certainly one would not expect it in bows less than 50 years old.

As Lydia says, different players have different needs and preferences - and may find it difficult to get a particular bow to perform for them - in spite of great sound. And Lydia is esepcially correct that "different strokes for different folks" really applies many times over to matching bows and violins (violas and cell) - just in the matter of optimizing tone.

One might learn to handle the bow differently (although it is perfectly rational not to want to do so). Or one might get a fine bow maker to redistribute some masses of the bow to get it to perform more to one's taste. This latter is very possible, I've seen a large number of bows that have been "missmassed" in their lifetimes with decorative (instead of functional) silver wire or other additions that have spoiled the balance.

Another common problem with a bow could be that it is not properly haired for the stiffness and camber of the stick and as a result the tighness of the hair and the curve of the bow are not optimally engaged when attempting to play.

I have seen one or more of these problems in bows I own that were made by Voirin, Nürnberger, and Weichold and I wrongly attributed the problems to the sticks and the makers - when it was other peoples' hairing and "missmassing." that had spoiled the bows, which all seem good to me now (after about 50 years of "downtime").

Andy

[Arioso]

I recently purchased a very lovely Cirilo bow. It, hands down, was better than all the other bows I tried, both in agility and tone-making. It was a bit more spendy than the other ones (it was the gold version), but worth it, since I'll probably have it for the rest of my violin-playing career. It spiccatoes nicely also, though it had a different balance point than my previous arcus bow (Chagas).

~Arioso