The BAVS FAQQuestions about buying violin-related stuff
Where can I buy violin-related stuff? You can buy supplies from your local luthier, or mail-order through the Internet. In general, if you need help with something, you are strongly advised to patronize your luthier. Violin shops vary significantly in size, from single-luthier operations to shops which have multiple skilled luthiers, sales staff, and a mail-order business. You should avoid going to general music shops for your violin needs; the staff is usually not particularly knowledgeable about string instruments and often the prices are unattractive.The cost of buying supplies such as strings and rosin from a large shop, and the cost of doing so online, is often approximately equal; prices are usually discounted well below retail, especially for common items such as strings. Single-luthier shops, however, must often charge retail prices; you might end up paying twice as much for common supplies. Still, you are getting a personal service, and it is worthwhile to maintain a relationship with a shop. Unless you haven't yet learned to change your own strings, it's usually worthwhile to buy strings online, unless you have a big violin shop near you, which should have competitive prices. Do some shopping around when you buy strings. The online wholesalers often claim to be the cheapest, but, for individuals, the large violin shops online usually have better prices and often have better customer service. Prices do fluctuate, particularly since many shops have periodic sales. For comparison purposes, here is a table of what a set of Thomastik Dominants with the 129E cost on September 7th, 2001, from a variety of online string retailers. Note that not all of these companies include free shipping, which can add several dollars to the price tag.
The interesting pattern to the prices above is that the least expensive quotes are all from violin shops -- the dedicated wholesalers are the most expensive. [Last update: Mon Sep 17 03:21:43 2001.] Should I buy or rent a violin? Beginners will usually find that the most cost-effective way to begin is with a rental instrument. This will allow you to get your feet wet without a major investment, and shops often allow you to "trade up" to better-quality student instruments within the rental program. Also, as a beginner, it's likely that you won't yet know what type of tonal qualities you want in an instrument, and you won't have the skill to know what kind of violin response characteristics will suit the style of playing that you'll develop. Thus, renting a violin is probably the best choice, initially. This typically costs around $50 a month.Eventually, you'll probably want to purchase an instrument, though, so you might want to start saving some money for it now. [Last update: Sat Sep 30 19:37:43 2000.] In general, adults will want to play a full-sized instrument. Full-size instruments do have some small variability in their size, but typically have a body length of about fourteen inches. The proportions of the instrument, such as the width of the neck and the width of the bouts (the outward-curving parts of the violin), can make the instrument feel larger or smaller. Some adults, especially those with smaller hands, choose to play 7/8th instruments or so-called "lady's violins". These violins are slightly smaller and more slender than full-size instruments. Theoretically, there is a small sacrifice in power, but it is within the variance of the power of full-size instruments; the difference should not be audible to the listener. These instruments are more difficult to obtain than full-sized violins, though, especially since older professionals often prefer the ease of a smaller instrument. [Last update: Fri Jun 22 16:50:49 2001.] How do I choose a good violin? How much will it cost? Violins range from inexpensive factory-made instruments worth a thousand dollars or so at most, to several-hundred-year-old antiques worth millions. The market for violins is a complicated thing. Violins are priced primarily on "provenance" -- who made them and when they were made (and the degree to which this is certain), and the condition that they are in. Violins are priced in this way because these factors are objective, whereas the quality of the sound produced is subjective; provenance essentially ends up being a measure of the probability that a given instrument of that maker, time period, and condition is going to sound good. For instance, a maker known for excellent workmanship is likely to produce violins that have an excellent sound; thus, work by that maker will all be priced about the same, though individual instruments by him will vary in their sound quality.The end-result sound produced when a given person plays a violin is influenced by three things: the player, the violin, and the bow. Typically, the player searches for a violin that suits his personal playing style, and then searches for a bow that suits his playing style and the particular violin he has acquired. When you buy a violin, you should play as many instruments as you have time and patience to try. Spend a few minutes in the shop (you may end up going to several shops), playing a bunch of instruments, and immediately eliminate the ones that you don't like. Then, try to get a loan of the two or three instruments that you like the best, for a week. Play them at home, and in as many different types of acoustical venues as you can. When you test instruments, you should play pieces that you know, in a variety of styles, and spend as much time as you can with each instrument, as you will find yourself adapting slightly to the specifics of each instrument's playing characteristics; thus, you may find that after a bit of time with an instrument, it sounds much better than it did when you first picked it up. There are five primary factors involved in choosing an instrument. Three are related to playing quality -- tone quality, projection, and responsiveness. Two are not -- appearance and appreciation value. Tone quality is an entirely subjective quality, and comes down to what you personally prefer in the sound of a violin. Various words are used to define tone, and none of them have meanings that are readily described in exact terms -- dark, brilliant, mellow, sweet, and so forth. Older instruments do have a sound quality that's different from new instruments. This is not necessarily better, but it is different. New instruments go through a settling-in period of around five years, and the tone will continue to evolve significantly in the decades following that. Projection is the instrument's ability to fill a given listening space, but it is not mere loudness; the sound should not lose its richness, color, or refinement anywhere in the room (front or back). The instrument should sound good in a small room, in a decent-size chamber or rehearsal room, in a modest-sized concert hall (seats 500 or less), and in an auditorium or large hall (seats 500 to 2000 people, or more). Responsiveness is most readily defined as "the instrument does what you want it to, with as little effort as possible". A responsive instrument is capable of a large range of dynamics from a true pianissimo to a fortissimo that is loud but not harsh, and responds readily to subtle changes in dynamics; furthermore, the base effort needed to make the instrument "speak" is low, and it's possible to get a wide range of coloristic effects out of it. Appearance is simply how the instrument looks. It is distinct from any repairs which might have been done to it; repairs will always affect value, depending on how they affect the playing qualities of the instrument, and the degree to which they have weakened the instrument itself and thus affected its potential playing lifespan. Appreciation value is the antique or "collectible" value of the violin. Instruments from highly sought-after makers, instruments with an interesting and unique history, and other particularly rare specimens will be more expensive than other instruments with comparable playing qualities. Age alone does not increase an instrument's value. Appreciation value applies only to hand-made instruments; factory instruments generally do not appreciate in value. Shar (a reputable dealer of instruments) provides some guidelines for student instruments. Note that the prices given here are for Shar's student outfits; they should serve as a guideline to what one might commonly expect.
You do not need to spend a lot of money to get an instrument that you will enjoy playing. However, the better the playing qualities of your instrument, the easier it will be for you to sound good with it. A high-quality responsive instrument tends to shape your playing style in a positive direction, and thus can be easier to learn with; it will respond equally quickly to good and bad playing, and can thus make it more obvious what you should and shouldn't be doing. Professionals often spend a considerable amount of money on their violins. While they typically possess a skill level that will enable them to sound good on just about anything, a quality instrument does enhance their playing. Some people are fortunate enough to find an instrument that sounds exactly like they want it to, for a few thousand dollars; many others end up spending tens of thousands of dollars to obtain that sound. For professional-quality instruments, the reputation of the maker and other factors related to appreciation value are a significant component of the price. However, there is a general continuum of improving sound quality as the price point moves upwards; as with any collectibles market, the price is determined by what people are willing to pay, and what professionals (as opposed to antique collectors) are willing to pay is driven by their desire for an instrument that produces a quality sound. Note that this is indeed a general continuum, though, and prices can sometimes be seemingly random, where two instruments with similar tone qualities are priced many thousands of dollars apart. [Last update: Sat Sep 30 19:50:16 2000.] How do I choose a good bow? How much will it cost? Like the market for violins, the market for bows is based partially on playing qualities, and partially on collectible qualities. A good bow makes it easier to learn and execute advanced right-hand techniques, such as spiccato (bouncing the bow on the string), and it improves the quality of your sound. There are a number of characteristics which are important in a good bow.Response. The bow should react quickly and precisely to motions that you make, and the response should be even throughout the stick. Resonance. The wood of the bow should vibrate sympathetically with the instrument, enhancing its tone. Workmanship. The wood quality and straightness of the stick, and other such factors, affect both playing qualities and how well the bow will last. Balance, weight, and suppleness. These are a matter of taste, but the bow needs to "feel right" to you. Pernambucco, the wood that is used to make high-quality bows, is becoming increasingly scarce, thanks to the destruction of the rain forests. As a result, makers have recently begun to experiment with composites, producing extremely durable bows with good playing characteristics, for a fraction of the price of pernambucco bows with comparable playing characteristics, though the "feel" is distinctly different from pernambucco. Composites can be an excellent choice for student bows and for "backup" bows, and are made by companies such as Glasser, CodaBow, and Arcus. [Last update: Sun Apr 9 20:03:20 2000.] What kind of strings should I buy? Every instrument sounds best with a different mix of strings. The only way to determine what sounds good on your instrument, and suits your style of playing, is to experiment with different types of strings. When you feel ready to start experimenting with strings, check out the Guide to Choosing and Using Strings on Ifshin Violins' website, which has extensive notes on various brands of strings. However, please note that all violins respond to strings in a different manner. What sounds great on one violin may sound awful on another, what is bright and responsive on one instrument might be dull and hard to play on another, and so forth.There are a number of major string manufacturers, and each of them have multiple brands of strings. An individual string brand might also come in multiple gauges (thicknesses/tensions), usually equivalent to light, middle, and heavy. Light-tension strings respond quickly and produce a more transparent tone, but at the loss of volume. Heavy-tension strings produce a more powerful tone, but are slower to respond and harder to play. Also, some strings come with alternative wrappings -- aluminum, silver, and gold are the most common choices. This also has a subtle impact on the sound. The Dominant silver D is a particularly popular alternative to the standard Dominant D. All these options can make for some confusion in identifying a string if you've got a bunch of strings in a string tube rather than wound in a paper packet, so the thread that wraps strings at the ends is usually color-coded, allowing you to tell what type of string it is by looking at the wrapping. You don't need to use the same type of string on every string. The most commonplace alternative set-up is to have an E string of one brand, and the G, D, and A strings of some other brand; in particular, the Dominant E strings sound harsh on many violins, so a lot of players use Dominants on the G, D, and A, but another brand of E string, such as a Pirastro Gold Label. However, don't mix and match strings too much -- different types and tensions of strings all have different playing characteristics and lifespans. The strings need to sound balanced and respond relatively equally to your playing, or you will find it difficult to produce a consistent tone across all four strings. Furthermore, strings with sharply differing lifespans can make changing strings a real pain. For the G, D, and A strings, some good choices for beginners might be:
Some E strings that you might want to try:
A final thing to note is that the strings which make your violin sound the best overall -- the strings that sound really great when your teacher plays the instrument -- might not sound as good when you're playing it. Every violinist has a different way of drawing sound out of the instrument, and different strings may suit different players, as well as the instrument itself. [Last update: Sun Sep 16 18:33:07 2001.] My practicing is bothering other people. Help! If your practicing is bothering others -- you live in an apartment, you live with family members who can't deal with the noise, you spend a lot of time practicing in hotels, and so forth -- you have a couple of options. First, you can negotiate time with your neighbors or family that is designated "practice time", during which they are willing to cope with the noise. Second, you can do something to dampen the sound of your instrument, such as use a practice mute. Third, you can invest in an electric violin, such as a Yamaha Silent Violin, and just listen to yourself through headphones.Electric violins don't sound and respond like "the real thing". However, in a pinch, in a situation where even a mute isn't soft enough, resorting to an electric instrument can be the way to go. Practice mutes come in two primary types -- heavy rubber, and metal (usually brass or something similar). You should be extremely cautious in using metal practice mutes, because their weight can damage the bridge of the violin; they do, however, aggressively mute the sound of the instrument. Before you try metal, however, try an Ultra rubber practice mute. This rubber mute is cheap, lightweight and shouldn't damage the bridge, but it will significantly dampen the sound of the instrument. Routinely playing with a mute, unfortunately, has a negative tonal impact upon your violin, which is unable to vibrate freely. It can also hamper your progress in learning correct sound production techniques, and limit your ability to play with correct dynamics and musical expression. Practice mutes are different critters than standard orchestral mutes. Regular mutes only dampen the sound somewhat, but they change the character of the sound, and can thus have a beautiful musical effect. Good orchestral mutes include the Tourte-style single or double-hole mutes, and the Menuhin Shield mute. [Last update: Mon Sep 17 04:01:42 2001.] What kind of chin rest and shoulder rest should I use? The correct combination of chinrest and shoulder-rest is crucial to comfort and proper relaxation when playing the violin.Professional violinists have, for the last century, been divided over the use of the shoulder-rest. Early during the 20th century, some violinists objected to the use of the shoulder-rest because the use of padding against the violin dampened the resonance of the instrument; today's shoulder-rests, however, touch the instrument only at the edges and actually let the instrument ring more freely than it does when pressed directly against the player's body. Other violinists object on the grounds that it promotes incorrect left-hand technique, or limits the freedom of motion available to the left hand and arm, or causes the bow to contact the strings at the wrong angle. The vast majority of professional players today use a shoulder-rest, including most of the soloists. However, it's also clear that many people play very well without one. Some players who don't use a shoulder-rest may increase their comfort by using a cloth on the shoulder, a cloth that goes over the chinrest and then under the violin, a small sponge held onto the violin with a rubber band, or shoulder-pads in their suit jacket. Like everything else involved in playing the violin, using a shoulder-rest is a matter of personal choice. Your teacher will probably encourage you in one direction on the other, depending on what he personally does, but don't feel obliged to blindly comply -- do what feels comfortable to you. It is usually advisable to begin by finding a chinrest that is comfortable for you. Many luthiers, and practically all large violin shops, will have a large selection of chinrests that you can try. Chinrests vary in height, width, curvature, and placement; some are centered over the tailpiece ("Flesch-style"), some are mounted to the left of the tailpiece, and some are mounted to the left of the tailpiece but extend over the tailpiece. You should try chinrests until you find one that is comfortable. Chinrests can be made more comfortable by the addition of a "Strad pad" or similar device -- padded material that goes over the chinrest area and can provide a more comfortable cushion. Once you find a chinrest, you will know whether or not you need a shoulder-rest in order to comfortably hold the instrument. If you do, try a number of different models. Most of the models have adjustable-height legs; you should do some experimentation to see if you can find a height and angle of placement that feels right. Popular brands include the Kun, Wolf, and Viva La Musica. [Last update: Mon Sep 17 03:52:16 2001.] What type of case should I buy? When purchasing a case, there are three factors you'll want to consider: the degree of protection you want for your instrument, the amount and types of stuff that you want to be able to store in it, and the maximum that you want the case to weigh.What types of things would you want to put in your case? Commonly, players have:
If maximum protection is your goal, and you don't mind paying a premium for it, you should consider a Musafia violin case. They come in custom colors and prints, as well as a variety of designs; check out their website to customize a case. If a lot of storage capacity is important to you, the Bobelock 1017 is an excellent case; it has capacity for four bows, contains three large interior pockets, has an external pocket for sheet music, and comes with lots of other useful features. Strings Magazine has an excellent review of cases that you should read for more information. [Last update: Mon Sep 17 03:39:24 2001.]
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