Blog - Page 6 of 9 - Fiddler Dan Violins & Workshop, Brisbane

Violin bows and cost

A common maxim you hear at violin shops is that violins bow should cost around 1/3 of the price of the violin. What madness is this? you reckon…its just a stick, all of the real workmanship is in the violin which is were the sound is made. This was certainly my view for a long time. That is until I made the step up from a student bow to a better student bow. Then as I was heading out to other music genres I started looking into carbon fibre bows…they have real advantages when you are cranking out the tunes…especially on electric violins…and also stand up to a lot more punishment both on string and on the stage (the orchestra is a pretty organised place ….rock bands less so).

But it wasn’t until I met my current bow, a serendipitous addition to a line up of various Coda Bows I was trying out, that all was really revealed about the violin bow costs. The bow every so subtly disappeared from my hand, as it became more of a part of me and less something I was holding. Yes this is a bit of “Harry Potters Wand“, but the translation to playing soulful pieces was immediate – it was one less thing to get in the way of expression.

Aside from the stiffness a more expensive pernambuco bow brings , which allows better transmission (and sensitivity) of power from the hand to the string there is much more going on Digging deeper into the science of the bow, you discover it does actually make half the sound through the grip-slip-grip of the bowhair and rosin…. through to the sympathetic vibrations down the stick itself. In a good bow you see all of the higher order tonal characteristics in a violins sound…in a less expensive bow you tend to see lower stiffness and less of these vibrations making them that much harder to produce on the violin.

A softer bow is great for beginners, its more forgiving of the nuances of technique so don’t worry about a more expensive bow till you feel you need something more from it.

Anyway your mileage may vary. if you in the market for a more serious bow, be prepared to take your time , a couple of notes won’t let you discover whats right for you. A part of a favourite song and a selection of bows to work through worked for me.

FWIW I stock mostly student bows ($50-75), picked from among a range of suppliers for the best price /sound trade off though, together with a few better quality (often European) fully mounted bows up to $250. I also keep a small stock of carbon fibre bows in the $150 range, that offer an increase in performance – but without the price tag you see on a lot of carbon fibre bows.

See All about bows for more on this topic.

Violin Setup

A lot of noise is made about “has your violin been setup” and setup correctly? Why? because its really important! Most factory violins arrive at a music store not ready to play and thus need to be setup. Higher quality instruments the maker will usually setup though.

Setup refers to making sure the violin is ready to play, of which the most important characteristics are the string height above the fingerboard, via the bridge is at the right height and fitted correctly to the body of the instrument and also at the nut. . Checking the pegs fit and can move freely with a dab of peg paste is next. Next is that the finger board has the correct scoop and that inside the violin the sound post is properly fitted and located and the tailpiece is the right length. Its a specialist thing and string stores all have people trained that can do it…but a generic music shop may not…and an internet violin…well you won’t know till it turns up! For a secondhand instrument these might need to be revisited

Violins are unique each and every one, however for sound production and easy of playing they are incredibly standardised. If strings are too high above the fingerboard that can’t be pressed down easily and will frustrate a player and their tone production.

A poorly fitted (and located) bridge will not allow the string to vibrate correctly, nor transmit its vibrations to the body correctly.

Some quick rules of thumb if you are checking out a violin, up near the nut you should only just be able to fit a business card between the strings and fingerboard. Any higher and fingers can’t press the strings down properly, any lower and the string will buzz.

Down at the other end of the fingerboard. The player should be able to fit the tip of their pinky just under the G string, and the gap under the E string is nearly half that. A smaller hand is probably on a smaller instrument where the heights are smaller. Also I didn’t give away the “trade secret” measurements of 5.5mm under the GString on a full size violin…oops

Looking at the bridge the feet should line up with the inside notches of the f holes and if you can see daylight between the feet and body it hasn’t been fitted. Inside there is some stuff with the sound post…a whole topic in itself.

So if your Ok on the fingerboard and the bridge probably the rest is ok..if its not …go to another store.. like Fiddler Dan 😉

Side note on beginner instruments I tend to leave the finger board nut heights a shade higher, as they are fitted with steel strings that tend to wear down a nut over time – as there aren’y too many 7 years old playing Paganini’s Caprices on them they are still quite playable. I also leave the bridges a bit chunkier, it takes out the shrill squeaky tone (admittedly at the expense of some finer aspects of tone production) and the bridge is less likely to warp if left unadjusted for a longer period of time so less likely to need a repair.

Brisbane violin shops

For many years I’ve found myself in Brisbanes various violin and musical instrumental shops, as well as the workshops of various luthiers. Like musical composition, every experience has something special. My local areas general music shops, now closed, include Music Express – where an acquaintance from school was working off and on for the last umm… 30 years, and Masson’s music. I’ve got to know John Masson a bit through the mens shed – he’s been in the game for a long time and knows just about everyone on the scene from my first violin teacher Pat Mallon and luthier Frank Williams to more recent times. John also gave me the encouragement to have a go with my own enterprise.

Across the river is the fabulous Animato strings. Dietrich is a former professional viola player from Europe and runs a wonderful instrument “cave”, full of European instruments and a good range of student instruments as well. He’s been my goto as I got back into playing, very generous with his time (if you go when its quiet), he is kind of like everyones favourite uncle in persona. I’ve bought more than a few instruments, strings and parts here (before I discovered wholesalers)…he also has these old European cases which make great restoration projects for my sons.

Closer to town in Red Hill is Simply for Strings, really built for the customer experience, its in an airy old church building and full of happy people and a wide variety of new instruments for you to try, with a good range of books too; bring your cheque book though its a salivating experience. On the Southside is relative newcomer Vivace with the main strings section down in their Underwood store and some branches in surrounding suburbs. Their string section is in a glassed off room at the back, with an impressive, somewhat imposing range of instruments on display, quite different brands to the other 2 stores too.

Trying out instruments

If you are in the market for new violin instruments, beginner to advanced these are all good places to visit , though I hope you’ll come see me!. One of the challenges with buying an instrument is being able to put it through its paces, especially if you are not as good as you want to be. Its easy to be put off by an imposing atmosphere, and a crowd…don’t be! you are there to find the instrument that works for you so take your time, try to go when its quiet if having other people around might put you off!

Brisbane Violin Luthiers

Brisbane is also host to some quality violin luthiers, while I like my luthier teachers workshop (its in an Artists community..kind the full package), he’s not in Brisbane so I’ve spent a bit of time in other over the years Frank Williams way back (who’s son now runs String Tech down Logan way), theres the Grawert brothers Olaf (at Dutton Park servicing and repairing high end instruments mostly) and Ilja (formerly at Woolongabba now at the Gap or up North Qld way), trained by their father. Holts Violin Shop, once a mainstay opposite St. Andrews in South Brisbane, closed long ago, though Mark Holt is still doing some luthiering if you know where to ask. Further south is Lance Scott, formerly of Holts and his own workshop in West End. On the Northside is John Simmers he is almost exclusively a maker now, trained in England at the Newark school he’s paired with some makers in China, so you can choose violins made entirely by him or in partnership with China – which really helps with the price point. I sometimes send clients to these chaps, depending on the instruments, it’s important to get the right expertise on the trickier jobs.

It’s all about the bass bar

In a series of sound clips, heres an experiment in repairing a cracked violin eventually replacing a relief carved bass bar with a seperate fitted one.

To start with this was a student 3/4 violin (see inside it here ) that was sat on, the top cracked open quite badly – from the fingerboard through to the bottom in two places, also splitting the bass bar underneath and the back plate separated as well. This is right in the middle of where the violin develops much of its timber and tone on the spruce top tone-woods. After repair, cleating etc.. I put it back together…it sounded surprisingly good…dare I say better. This might be because I touched up a few other areas on the inside as as well…and that the repair to the bass bar stiffened it slightly. Have a listen as I compare it to an identical model violin…not bad hey?

Next up I replaced the bass bar with a fitted one, as the original bass bar was a relief carved one. Relief carved bass bars are a faster way to manufacture a violin as you simply leave the timber behind when making the violin, rtaher than having to fitt a seperate piece – which takes time. It tends to be done on cheaper violins..but you also see it on some old European factory/farmhouse violins as well.

The bass bar sits under the bridge of the violin on the lower strings and carries the vibrations to the top plate (lower notes need bigger vibrations a the wavelength is longer) as well as strengthening the violin.

A relief carved bass bar is made from the same timber as the top plate so the grains aren’t optimally aligned – neither can the bass bar go slightly cross grain. Whereas a fitted bar bar can travel slightly cross grain, has the grain lines in a different direction and when mounted adds a slight tension to the top plate – all of these factors allow it to improve the sound.

Here are the various sound files so you can see…err… hear for yourself the difference in sound between it as it undergoes the various transformations when compared to an unaltered violin of the same make.

reference-arioso-tonica Download

arioso-reglued-cheap-strings Download

arioso-newbassbar-workshopstrings Download

ariosonewbassbarr-tonica-strings Download

I think it sounds better, though maybe after all the repairs doesn’t look quite as pretty

Of course this is a cheapish student violin so repairing a crack commercially costs more than the violin is worth…but its good to know that the sound quality hasn’t diminished from repair..what do you think?

COVID Plan

Our good friend COVID is back in the community, this time the Omnicron variant. I am committed to keeping my workshop open, but have implemented some precautions. These are in line with the regulatory guidelines, as well as to sensably protect friends and loved ones, boths yours and mine!

When you come by please use the COVID Checkin App if you have it. I have a table setup just outside my workshop, so we can interact in an outdoor environment and stay socially distanced with little in the way of inconvenience. On your visit I will put on a mask, use hand wash on my hands and chin ( touch areas to a violin). I’ll wipe down the touch areas of any violin I handle before passing to you or your child, and afterwards as well for the next customer. I will do the same on my card reader and checkout tablet as well. Lets keep each other safe.

Our family has chosen to vaccinate, your choice is yours to make, you are welcome at my workshop.

Whats in a Violin bridge? and getting more from a Gliga

Taking a student violin bridge through a bridge replacement and then a string replacement and then hearing how the sound changes. In general a harder ( better quality) bridge brightens an instrument so here is a bridge intervention on my sons violin.

My son has a Gliga I for a while, Gliga’s are his weapon of choice so the upgrade from a III to a I was always going to happen. Probably I would have liked to find him something else, but violins are a very personal thing, and he is a visual creature so I suspect the look and authenticity of a Gliga is a really important factor for him. Gliga’s have a reputation for being almost works of art and his Gliga I is no exception. To my ear it’s always sounded a bit muted, and a woody tone is a comment more than a few make about the Gliga’s (see my Gliga violin review). One of the reasons for this is the bridge it comes with as its thought to be a bit on the soft side. So I lashed out on a more expensive bridge an Aubert Mirecourt Deluxe and also some brighter strings. I think there is a progressive improvement in the sound.

I’m going to do a bit more on the bridge next to lighten the weight and maybe a sound post replacement as well….

Have a listen if you like… listen as the changes are introduced and then go back to the original …its about 4mins of your life you might not get back though 😉 (just skip through to the playing bits if you like)

Coffee with Timo (violinist, teacher and composer)

Last week I had a visitor to my workshop, a friend from childhood actually. Back in the last century (thats sounds old doesn’t it) we shared the front desk of Pat Mallon’s Mt. Gravatt Area String Orchestra together. After school I went on to pursue a career in Physics (and other things) and Timo went to the Conservatorium of Music to study Violin.

We kinda lost touch….until one day at my sons first violin concert they were playing Wallaby Hop by Timo Jarvela. Now I don’t know too many Jarvela’s and in due course discovered it was the same person, now a prominent area violin teacher on Brisbane’s Northside and composer too and got in contact.

Timo started his musical journey in Mansfield, in his early days having to cycle from Mansfield Primary to another school for his violin lessons, and was one of half a dozen or so violin students at Mansfield State High School, which now has 5 string orchestral groups, and something like 800 people across the entire instrumental music programme.

Dan (L) and Timo (R), an early performance. Image P. Mallon

Timo shared a little of his journey to composing, which started with writing for his own students, requests from other teachers..before he bit the bullet and started publishing with his wife through Laker Music! I quite like his compositions and my kids have enjoyed playing them.

Timo gave me some insights into the process. Its a heady mix of the uniqueness of the Australian music instruction in schools, and finding the right mix with a limited et of notes and rhythms for each level of progression as students develop. I also quite like his approach in “Tricky Fingers”, it develops a students abilities progressively. It achieves this by starting with just the left hand , building ability through reading, fingering and muscular development through left hand pizzicato, then introducing the bow and the fingers down on strings .

The skill acquisition scientist in me thinks this is great, Also it comes with backing tracks online so you can (with the teachers guide) be largely self taught. Checkout out Timo’s compositions here
We also had a good chat about violin brands that come and go, some of the secrecy around luthierin, high street shops, and helping parents support their children without breaking the bank.

Love your work Timo…. I look forward to our next catchup

Teacher preferred Violin

Parents often come to me clutching a teacher preferred violin list and can I sell them the exact brand from the list…and of course for a good price. Why do teachers have a preferred list?

Firstly teachers know the whats best for your violin student and the teacher preferred violin list is a part of making sure they have a good instrument that is right for their student for that stage of their learning journey. Its also done in desperation, because they have seen a few to many ALDI blue violins and Ebay cheapies in their time. As a parent if you knew violins you wouldn’t buy these..but you don’t know and they look like they have everything and the price it good…but they are often sub standard instruments for learning on. See my guide on internet violins for more thoughts on this.

If your learning violin in a group lesson, such as at a state school there isn’t a lot of time week to week, let alone for instrument selection, this is where a preferred instrument list really shines. If you have individual tuition, such as at a private school or with a teacher outside of school there is room for more conversation to get a good instrument. in fact i am often contacted by private violin teachers hunting for a good value instrument for their student.

So what makes “the list” ? well generally they need to sound OK, be reasonable priced and also be widely available in shops at the moment. So , depending on the teacher you will see Enrico, Arioso, Arco, Gliga and a few others (that are commonly stocked in stores) listed – or they might say anything from the XXX store. Brisbane has most of the popular national brands, but not all of them so there are a few that you won’t see, like the Kreisler from the Sydney String Store and the Glanville family of makers . The other thing about these instruments are they are usually setup well, thats is the bridge height, fingerboard and nut heights are all good, pegs greased so they turn without getting stuck. All violins, these ones included, need to be ‘setup’ to be playable, an ebay or ALDi instrument isn’t and I suspect this is what the teacher is most concerned about…as well as the quality of the build.

Secondly there is also the *dark side* of the musical instrument business, where teachers receive an undeclared commission or gifts from music stores(2Set violin have a nice video about this) . This is more common on the expensive violins and is a practice that might be fading, but its definitely a factor.

As you get to be a more advanced violin student, it can take a lot of time to find the instrument that is right for you…and usually won’t be a list instrument…but thats a story for another day.

The violins I have are a mix of the “teacher approved violins” and others. I encourage people to play a few instruments to decide what they like best. My Krieslers, Montinari Elites (4/4 intermediate) and Neos (1/2 beginner) new violins do surprisingly well, as do the assortment of secondhand instruments that I bring up to spec.

Matthew’s Antique Violin case restoration

I sometimes pick up antique violin cases from the fabulous Animato strings on Brisbane’s Northside. They usually come via old European instruments, sourced and hand picked from attic’s all over Europe as they make make their way to Dietrich, who specialises in fine one of a kind European instruments.

The cases while potentially beautiful, need quite a lot of work to get them up to standard for the exterior and interior, and they come less protective of a violin than their modern counterparts. All up they take around 20hours to get them up to scratch ( Antique cases ) and make a fun project, but you need a lot of different skills to get them there, so are not for the average punter. Hence you can buy them quite inexpensively for around $30

This beauty is a timber finish on the outside and felt on the inside and made a good project for my 11yr old. First up the outside is sanded and repainted (we like Danish oil which is a fine furniture timber finish), is a combination of tung oil – which gets in deep and a urethane for the surface and surface protection.

Inside the felt and lining frames need to be taken out. Then we add a frame near the neck to give the case some more rigidity (this makes sure it closes properly by reducing flex) and gives somewhere to attach the neck support later on too. matthew also replaced the rosin box and added some frame elements for the bow spinners to screw into. Then we put down a layer of polar fleece for padding. We lined the sides with EVA foam , this is a closed cell foam, which gives good protection. Next up is the velvet, Matthew favourite colour is green and a quick trip to Spotlight Haberdashery gets us a meter. Then we add the bow spinners. Finally some Velcro goes onto the neck and we add the foam pads for the suspension elements, so the violin floats on its frame rather than resting on the lower table. The tolerances are really fine here , as these cases weren’t made quite height enough to accomodate this, so it s a bit of fiddle with foam thicknesses to get it right .

It’s a lovely compliment to Matthews European Gliga violin, and something he can show off at school and his scout group (this was a special interest badge he did). What I like most is seeing his pride in the work and instrument it houses, my hope is to continue to foster a love of all things violin as he grows up.

Hanging out my shingle

Its taken a while but finally got around to hanging my shingle out. It’s a surprisingly difficult thing to do, in a world of anonymity, to put a mark in the dirt and put yourself forward in my village. I’d like to thank all the neighbourhood for their hand in it. Grant on the ivories just around the corner who hung his Grub Mountain studios out 20 years ago, and never looked back, BP Laser down the street who custom cut the sign out for me, Glen around the corner who I bounced a lot of ideas off, Dave, Ross and Dwight – luthiers of violin and guitar who said have a go, John a former music store owner for the encouragement and all the blokes at the Mt. Gravatt mens shed with centuries of wisdom.

Special thanks to wholesalers Chris, James, Max & Andrew and who have trusted me with their brands and taken a punt.

Extra special thanks to my two sons, though whom a need and discovering the joy of fixing violins emerged….