What makes a good Bow
Simply put, if you can play the violin how you want, with ease, you have yourself a good violin bow. Thus for a beginner, nearly any bow might do, but as you advance your demands will steadily increase. Better bows cost more money, but thats a lousey guide to getting a better bow given a lot of the time you are paying for European brand (and expertise) when skilled makers in China can do as good a job and for a fraction of the price. Here are three factors that come up again and again (see reference list)
- Balance and weight
The balance point and weight are straighforward to measure and well known among bowmakers. Tip heavy and heavy bows deliver more power but less sensativity. These bows may produce more powerful tone but can be more tiring to use.
- Stiffness
The static stiffness of a bow is quite straightforward to measure and roughly correlates with commonly accepted bow performance. Its not the full story of course, there are fine French bows that buck this trend and too stiff a stick yields a flat sounding tone(more on that later). But for begineer and intermediate bows it’s a helpful variable.
- Dynamic Characteristics
Some bows are described as lively, some as being a little dead, its a pretty subjective measure guided by the feel in a violinist hand. Play testing is a sure way to resolve this, but this is of little value over the internet – surly science can do better. Commonly one of the tests of liveliness is to gently tap a bow on ones wrists and feel the shaft vibrations at the stick. A lively bow here has a certain feel. Fortunately using a vibrartion sensor and some analysis tools the vibration frequencies and duration can be measured and compared.
Summary
These three characteristics get you in the ball park of a pretty good bow, guaranteed, everytime if you looking to spend less than a thousand or so dollars. Getting these characteristics right can help you understand the value you are getting from a n unbranded bow no matter where it is made, and it’ll play as nice as that fancy Europen bow with a long and distinguised lineage too if your prepared to spend a bit.
Having said that having a European bow is a fine thing, and you’ll fit into the pack in the orchestra a bit better…even if the science and you playing says otherwise. There is value in the aesthetics of course…this comes down to personal preferences.
Outcomes
There is no doubt there is a clear relationships between stiffness and performance. A good Brazilwood bow can possibly outperform a Pernambucco bow, but a good pernambucco bow features not only the stiffness but the desirable resonance characteristics and suppleness (yes thats a contradiction)).
Carbon fibre bows are more reliable to manufacture, so you get less variation in the product that you find from natural fibres. Their stiffness is desirable, but the resonance tends to make them less expressive. The addition of ascoutically transmittable cores (expect to pay what you pay for a pernambucco bow though) and experiements with the weave, like diamond weave and long chain fibres (rather than powered plain carbon fibre bows) tend to improve the dynamic suppleness.
My preferences
I like my $1k pernambucco bow the most for expressive playing, but my diamond weave carbon fibre bow is my favourite for playing loud and strong!
