VSA Competition results?

[vclvcl]

Anyone have news?

[Jeffrey Holmes]

Anyone have news?

Wait 'till the banquet is over... I'm sure someone with post results.

[Christopher Reuning]

Wait 'till the banquet is over... I'm sure someone with post results.

Jeff Phillips won gold for a violin and viola

[Janito]

Cello Gold - Peter Goodfellow

Lots of golds in the bows - beautiful stuff.

[vclvcl]

Cello Gold - Peter Goodfellow

Lots of golds in the bows - beautiful stuff.

Any names you remember for bow gold medals?

[Janito]

Bow Golds

Violin: Eero Haarti, Paul Sadka, Eric Fournier, Gary Leahy

Viola: Paul Sadka, Gary Leahy, Eric Fournier, John Aniano

Cello: Matthew Wheling, Gary Leahy, Paul Sadka

DB: Christophe Collinet

[Anders Buen]

How did Don Noon do in the tone judgement?

[Wm. Johnston]

Here are the results from the VSA website,

http://www.vsa.to/PDFs/2010_VSA_Competition_Winners.pdf

[Anders Buen]

Here are the results from the VSA website,

http://www.vsa.to/PDFs/2010_VSA_Competition_Winners.pdf

Thanks!

[Flyboy]

Is there a comprehensive listing of all the makers along with numbers of instruments that entered the competition? With so many certificates of merit for tone it's difficult to assess how meaningful those certificates are. How does one know whether or not VSA awarded a tone certificate for basically anyone that entered the tone competition? I can't help but get the feeling that everyone is "special."

[Anima Mundi]

Is there a comprehensive listing of all the makers along with numbers of instruments that entered the competition? With so many certificates of merit for tone it's difficult to assess how meaningful those certificates are. How does one know whether or not VSA awarded a tone certificate for basically anyone that entered the tone competition? I can't help but get the feeling that everyone is "special."

Flyboy,

Are you on crack? There were over 500 instruments! How many certificates of merit for tone do you see?

[Christopher Reuning]

Here are the results from the VSA website,

http://www.vsa.to/PDFs/2010_VSA_Competition_Winners.pdf

I had a pretty quick look through the violins and violas and find that I am in agrrement with the judging from that sample. I think they did a great job especially considering how daunting it must be to sort through so many entires!

[Flyboy]

Flyboy,

Are you on crack? There were over 500 instruments! How many certificates of merit for tone do you see?

What I asked is a reasonable question. First of all, how is one to know there were 500 instruments from the VSA published prize results? And of the 500, how many were submitted for consideration in the tone competition? In short, if one doesn't know the sample size and the overall quality, there's no way for anybody to judge the significance of the VSA results.

Although I'm not saying this is necessarily what happened, suppose only 20 (of say 500) violins entered the tone competition. If there were 2 silvers and 9 merit certificates, that wouldn't represent a particularly meaningful result, would it? How is one supposed to know?

[JPherson]

What I asked is a reasonable question. First of all, how is one to know there were 500 instruments from the VSA published prize results? And of the 500, how many were submitted for consideration in the tone competition? In short, if one doesn't know the sample size and the overall quality, there's no way for anybody to judge the significance of the VSA results.

Although I'm not saying this is necessarily what happened, suppose only 20 (of say 500) violins entered the tone competition. If there were 2 silvers and 9 merit certificates, that wouldn't represent a particularly meaningful result, would it? How is one supposed to know?

Read the rules about instrument entry published by the VSA. As far as how many are submitted, i spec that is published too but that would be a good question to ask here,

Jesse

[Michael_Molnar]

There was such a list for the last competition. It appeared briefly then disappeared.

As I posted in another thread: The number of high quality instruments was at an historic high.

[Janito]

There was such a list for the last competition. It appeared briefly then disappeared.

The list of all entrants was available after the competition with the decoding. This can easily be converted to a PDF file.

The tone winners sounded very good in a largish ballroom and under my ear. Some well known pros who did not win a tone award, did not sound as good to my ear (whatever that means).

-----------

ps I was very impressed with the workmanship of Chris Knowton's violin.

[Jeffrey Holmes]

Is there a comprehensive listing of all the makers along with numbers of instruments that entered the competition? With so many certificates of merit for tone it's difficult to assess how meaningful those certificates are. How does one know whether or not VSA awarded a tone certificate for basically anyone that entered the tone competition? I can't help but get the feeling that everyone is "special."

Not sure I'm understanding you, Flyboy. The instruments were entered in the competition, and judged for both workmanship and tone... not one or the other. A gold indicates exceptional points for both. There is a list that shows maker name and number for each instrument, but that list does not list points from the judges. As I understand it, this year, the point listings for each specific entry will be forwarded to the maker of that instrument later on.

[David Burgess]

Not sure I'm understanding you, Flyboy. The instruments were entered in the competition, and judged for both workmanship and tone... not one or the other. A gold indicates exceptional points for both. There is a list that shows maker name and number for each instrument, but that list does not list points from the judges. As I understand it, this year, the point listings for each specific entry will be forwarded to the maker of that instrument later on.

I'll try to put up a PDF of the complete list of entrants, along with awards in the next couple of days, unless someone else beats me to it. Just got home.

Friggin Goodfellow did well, and deservedly so. There have been many changes in his work since two years ago (to my eye). He keeps learning and improving, and refuses to get stuck. A lesson for all of us.

Jim Brown put forth some effort and anticipation to place himself squarely in the thick of things at this event. Another example of those to whom learning is a never-ending, lifelong experience.

Understand that there are some very fine instruments which don't receive awards. You get approximately 520 entries from 27 countries, and that's just the nature of the beast. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was the largest violin-making competition in human history.

[Don Noon]

How did Don Noon do in the tone judgement?

In the first round, the judges can give a 1 (not good enough for next round), 2 (maybe), or 3 (recommended for next round). There were 3 judges, and I got a 1, 2, and 3. It is an "extremely something" sound, so it is not too surprising that opinions would vary widely.

I had one of the tone judges play it later, and her opinion was that it was very open, reponsive, and resonant, but slightly harsh and weak on the lower strings (A0 is fairly weak). These were characteristics I had previously decided for myself that needed improvement, and have incorporated some changes to the arching and graduation to get a more balanced sound. I still think the wood had great potential, though.

So, if I could hear areas that needed improvement, it would seem reasonable that a tone award would not be forthcoming.

It was quite useful to be able to play the tone award winners, and hear for myself what the tone goal should be. My fiddle didn't sound like them, but I think I know how to get there. On to 2012!

[Alan_Coggins]

Friggin Goodfellow did well, and deservedly so. There have been many changes in his work since two years ago (to my eye). He keeps learning and improving, and refuses to get stuck. A lesson for all of us.

I think that Peter still regards himself as a maker from Down Under even though he lives Up Top at the moment. Also good to see that another Australian, Rainer Beilharz, picked up a few awards - he's a good friend of mine and one of our best current makers.

[Anders Buen]

It was quite useful to be able to play the tone award winners, and hear for myself what the tone goal should be. My fiddle didn't sound like them, but I think I know how to get there. On to 2012!

Ok, thanks. How would you describe the tone from the tone award winners?

[Michael K.]

Who were the judges this time?

I see two judges of the Mittenwald competition earlier this year participate at the VSA with instruments/bows.

[MANFIO]

Congrats to the winners! I gave a look in Jeff S. Phillips' site and his instruments are fantastic indeed!!!

[Oded Kishony]

I had one of the tone judges play it later, and her opinion was that it was very open, reponsive, and resonant, but slightly harsh and weak on the lower strings (A0 is fairly weak). These were characteristics I had previously decided for myself that needed improvement, and have incorporated some changes to the arching and graduation to get a more balanced sound. I still think the wood had great potential, though.

So, if I could hear areas that needed improvement, it would seem reasonable that a tone award would not be forthcoming.

A bigger A0 and low frequency output is one of the easier things to accomplish by altering the instrument in the white from the outside. I think you'll discover, sooner or later, that chasing various shortcomings of your violins is like a game of 'whack-a-mole'.

Oded

[David Burgess]

Link to the complete list of VSA 2010 participants, including competition results

Note the key to awards at the top of the document.

VSA 2010

And I'll repeat the link to the VSA website list of winners, since that's easier to digest at a glance:

http://www.vsa.to/PDFs/2010_VSA_Competition_Winners.pdf

One more list from the Convention... makers (both instrument and bow) who were "Hors Concours" prior to this Competition, and can no longer enter:

Hors Concours makers