 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
BON MUSICA SHOULDER RESTS | CRACKS’ EFFECTS ON SOUND AND PRICE | ENCOURAGEMENT FOR OLDER PLAYERS Q In the article on Karen Tuttle ("Body and Soul," December 1998), Ms. Tuttle recommends the Bon Musica shoulder rest, which is distributed by the German company Gewa. Is there a dealer in the United States that sells this shoulder rest? —David B. Annis A There are undoubtedly other sources for Bon Musica shoulder rests in the U.S., but the one we turned up most easily was Quinn Violins, located at 3810 Bassett Creek Dr., Golden Valley, MN 55422. The violin rest and three sizes of viola rest are available. You can call the company at (612) 521-0300 or, toll-free in the U.S., at (888) 521-2225; fax (612) 521-0309; or visit the fairly comprehensive Web site, which offers on-line ordering, at www. quinnviolins.com. —Editors CRACKS’ EFFECTS ON SOUND AND PRICE Q I play a Wm. H. Lee deluxe cello that was made in 1998. Recently, during an orchestra rehearsal, someone tripped over my instrument. A crack about an inch long opened up right below the bridge’s foot, the one close to the sound post. I believe it went all the way through, as the surface is now uneven. What effect will this injury have on the price of the instrument and the tone after it is fixed? —Edward Austen A Having lived a dissolute life, I don’t remember much from childhood. Adages are mostly what remain of my education: you can’t cheat an honest man, better late than never, once burned—you’ve heard them all. It’s ironic that they are what remains, because experience has proven most of them to be wrong: didactic, rather than insightful. There is one that has stood the test of time, however, and that is the saying that it is the exception that proves the rule (appropriately enough). The rule here is "never diagnose damage without having the instrument or bow in your hands." The exception that proves it is what you describe: there is no question at all that what you have is a soundpost crack. For a detailed review of soundposts and repairs, see two of my previous articles, "The Soul Mate" (May/June 1997) and "Will Repairs Ruin Your Instrument’s Sound?" (December 1997). Soundpost cracks occur frequently—almost without exception as the result of a blow to the instrument. If you think of how a cello is put together, it’s easy to see why. The strings exert a pressure in excess of 50 pounds on the top of a cello. The top, however, is made of spruce, a softwood, and is less than five millimeters thick. That’s plenty to withstand the stress it’s designed to take, as are all the other parts of the instrument—but it is designed to withstand a constant stress. Sudden impact is an entirely different matter. Because of the way the thing is shaped, when a cello lands, it tends to land on its bridge, and then the blow is transmitted directly to the thin, flexible, and easily cracked top. This might sound harsh, but actually you were lucky. It could have been much worse, and usually is. The most common damage is a bass-bar crack. The post immobilizes the top but the bar is designed to let the top flex; and just as a tree is designed to sway in the wind, a sudden storm can blow it right over. Cracks running up and down from the soundholes can also result, because that’s where the top is most flexible. As for soundposts, I’ve seen them literally come through the top—kind of a fiddle maker’s version of Alien, and just as scary. Even worse, though, is when the top holds. Then the impact is then transmitted to the back, and a soundpost crack in the back is just about the worst thing that can happen to your instrument. Repairing any of this can be fairly complicated. It almost goes without saying that the top has to come off, which is a tricky and expensive procedure and not one undertaken lightly—though you might not think so when your repairer casually mentions "pulling the lid" (unlike an auto mechanic saying "let’s look under the hood," it’s much more akin to a surgeon saying "we’re gonna have to crack the chest"). The only way to repair a soundpost crack properly is to do a patch: after gluing the crack, a counterpart is made, and then a small area on the inside is thinned and a new piece of wood fitted. A bass-bar crack is just as serious and complicated to repair: the old bar is removed, the crack is glued, and a new bar is fitted—but before it’s glued in, studs (pieces of wood that act as both suture and splint) are glued over the crack, and then the new bar is fitted over them. As for f-hole cracks, the top flexes so much that the reinforcements have to extend the full width of the soundhole, to prevent new cracks from opening up at their ends. Will the repairs affect the sound? Most likely. These are the most important vibrating parts of the instrument, so changing them in any way will affect not just the sound but the response, too. Not necessarily for the worse, though; repairs tend to stiffen the plate, so if there were problems with the instrument before (a soggy response, for example), some reinforcement might actually help. But that’s looking at it from the acoustic perspective. Structurally, the damage must be repaired; there is no choice in the matter. The effect on the value, though, is always negative. Cracks, even those that have been properly repaired, lessen the value. The general depreciation is ten percent for a bass-bar or soundpost crack (so do be sure to claim depreciation—loss of value—from your insurance, and not just compensation for the cost of the repair). But it can be as high as 40 percent—almost half!—for a soundpost crack in the back. A word of advice: Don’t touch the crack. At all. Period. Like feeling a bruise, it’s the natural tendency, but every time you do, you leave a residue of oil and dirt that will lessen the strength of the glue and leave the crack visible. Don’t put tape over it, either; that is truly a disaster and can create more damage to the wood and varnish than the initial accident. If there are parts that have come off, such as a corner or an edge, be sure to find every little piece, no matter how small, and put them all in an envelope and then seal it. Reassembling and regluing parts is infinitely preferable to replacing them, and much less expensive, too. Adages only go so far; I’ve learned that some rules don’t have exceptions. Always fasten your seatbelt, never trust someone who calls you "pal," and don’t leave your cello lying around to get tripped over. It’s the single most common cause of damage to an instrument or bow. —James N. McKean ENCOURAGEMENT FOR OLDER PLAYERS A I read Norma Gorst’s note in the January Q & A about older amateur string players. I’m a software engineer by vocation and a violinist by avocation. I play in three community orchestras here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I find this to be a most wonderful outlet for my musical endeavors. I have been fortunate to play for some very fine conductors who have taught me to love music I had not heard before. I highly recommend this venue to Norma Gorst. —Jerry W. Findley A I have been reading with much interest and curiosity the ongoing discussion on learning to play a stringed instrument as an adult. I am 55 years old now and started learning the violin about 15 years ago, after years of playing the banjo. I’d never started a project I couldn’t complete successfully, so the idea of failure never even entered my mind. But after a year or so of struggling on my own, I was no longer making any progress. At that time I was lucky enough to meet a violin teacher who was willing to take me on as a student. I had not been practicing diligently and had no interest in progressing beyond first position; she promptly informed me that I would be playing in third position within six months. Well, it wasn’t long before I found that I wanted to do more than play traditional folk music. I decided to go as far as I could, and today I am still not at the end of that road. I am lucky beyond my wildest dreams. Everyone should be so fortunate as to have a teacher like mine, and the members of my string quartet have become some of my best friends. We have commissioned two new quartets from Rudolf Haken, and we play our fair share of Mozart and Haydn. What else can I say? If you have hit a plateau and are no longer making any progress, don’t let it get you down. I could have done none of this by myself, but you must have an idea of what you want to do and where you want to go. Fifteen years ago I had no idea where it all would lead—I just wanted to have fun. That’s what it’s all about. —George Brock A This relates both to Norma Gorst’s curiosity about other over-50 players and to Lavonne Senn’s question about comfort while playing (Q & A, April). I have played the fiddle on and off for years. At age 60, I finally engaged a teacher and gave the instrument top priority for four years; eventually I was able to play some virtuoso pieces—not too well, I suppose, but just getting through them from beginning to end was a tremendous achievement for me. I had always wondered how an over-60 body would react to such arm and finger contortions. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well mine adapted, but there were a couple of mishaps. One evening I was working on the Paganini Caprice No. 6, which calls for some outlandish stretches and trills, and my whole left arm cramped and wouldn’t move at all. I had to massage it back to life. I thought maybe I had reached a physical limit, but no: I kept at it and now can play that caprice repeatedly without any problem. About a year later, after practicing five hours a day for several months in preparation for a recital, my whole neck and right shoulder developed a terribly incapacitating muscle problem—after the recital, thankfully. It took a month to recover. Swinging weights has so far prevented a recurrence of that problem. The remaining problem has been a click in my right elbow and pain associated with it. Then one day last summer, I had started to wash the kitchen window when a swarm of wasps attacked. While taking evasive action, I ran backward into my parked van, cracked a rib, and got a nice wasp sting on the right elbow. That cleared up both the click and the pain in the right elbow (although the rib pain was excruciating for a month!). The only problem was what to do if the click returned: should I crack another rib or stick my elbow into a wasps’ nest, or both? Actually, the elbow click returned about two months ago—but without the associated pain. I attribute this improvement to taking half an ounce of gelatin per day. I had heard someone say that gelatin rebuilds bone cartilage and cures arthritis, and I thought I’d give it a try. Sure enough, it stopped the clicking. It seems to have worked well for my wife’s shoulder problem, too. So my suggestion to LaVonne is to make the body work—you know, swing weights, do push-ups, chin-ups, and that sort of thing—and try the gelatin treatment. The worst it can do is relieve you of some of your money. As far as I know, the Knox Company is the only producer of such a product designed for this specific application. It’s called Knox NutraJoint. —Vic Hartung
|
|
