 
|
|
THE CARON NEWS HC 71 Box 59A Taos, NM 87571 Dedicated to the premise that you can be proud to own a modern masterpiece. |
Inside
This Issue:
|
The Best Xerox Machine
About fifty years ago someone told me an old joke: This guy hires a Chinese cook. The first morning on the job he tells the cook he wants bacon and eggs for breakfast. The cook claims not to know how to do this. The man, angry and frustrated, stomps into the kitchen, slams a frying pan on the stove, puts some bacon in the pan and proceeds to try to explain to the cook what to do. He gets distracted and lets the bacon burn. "Damn!" exclaims the man as he throws the burnt bacon in the garbage. After putting fresh bacon in the pan, he proceeds to the refrigerator and removes some eggs. The eggs slip out of his hand and smash on the floor. "Damn!" he yells again as he gets more eggs. He finally gets it all right and asks the cook, "Now do you know how to make breakfast?" "Oh yes," replied the cook.
The next morning the man asked the cook to fix him bacon and eggs. "I remember good," said the cook as he stomped off into the kitchen. The man then heard a great deal of commotion and yelling in the kitchen. When he went to investigate he found the cook throwing eggs on the floor and yelling "Damn!"
I was reminded of this story one day when a friend (who owns a violin shop) called me to tell me about a well-known violinist who had come into his shop with a fairly new copy of his old Italian violin. Even though this violin had been made by one of the more well-known modern copyists, he was having some serious playability problems with it. My friend gave it to his German certified master workman to check it out. After a thorough examination the workman told them that the cause of the problem was that the arching was badly distorted and collapsing due to the fact that the top was way too thin. The solution would be very expensive and he should probably have the maker make a new top. The violinist, who was very upset, got the maker on the phone and told him of the problems that he was having. "No problem," was the maker's response, "I made it that way on purpose because that's the way the original looked." - "Damn!"
Back to Top
I can't help feeling cheated when I go to a concert in a large hall, featuring a consummate, elegant cellist, and an equally talented pianist, playing something like a Beethoven or Brahms sonata, and only a fraction of the music reaches my ears. The reason this is happening is that the cellist is playing some ancient instrument that was either originally a church bass, or a cello designed for the drawing room The limited sound of these instruments, although sometimes quite lovely, requires the pianist to use the short stick, (or to close the lid entirely), and limit their technique using only a small part of the musical range of their 12 foot Steinway. As a result much of the musical intent of the composer is sacrificed, or is altered in order to maintain balance. This is not the composer's fault. When this music was written the composers took into account the relative strength of both instruments of their day. Then Steinway, one of the greatest geniuses of musical instrument design since Stradivari, built the piano that Beethoven only dreamed of.
Unfortunately no one has been able to get the old cellos to equal Steinway's piano. People have tried to increase the volume and projection of the sound in these lethargic beasts. They have cut down those old church basses, installed large center patches in their backs, raised neck angles into the stratosphere, installed girder size bass bars, fit soundposts so tightly that the are in danger of cracking the top, and have used barbed wire tonal quality strings. The results of such extensive re-engineering is, in my opinion, seldom successful and often unpleasant. Because of the incredible tension these changes apply to a delicate old cello, or church bass, these instruments are usually difficult to play, requiring an aggressive technique that often results in physical problems for the player. These instruments are much more sensitive to weather changes which drive some performers and their violin technicians more than a little nuts. Lastly the arching, over time, begin to distort and collapse, requiring a very expensive restoration in a few years. I am not saying that there are not some great old cellos out there. Unfortunately I could probably count them on one hand. If you don't already know from experience you would be surprised how much work they are to play. The probability of acquiring one for less than $2,000,000. is unlikely.
When I spent 10 years designing my cellos I had in mind a sound like a great violin. I designed a sound that can be easily produced and heard over a large orchestra, or a thick piano accompaniment. Actually I had Milstein's sound in mind. So, I wasn't surprised when I started getting comments back from cellists like: "what a large, free, clear sound" or "so easy to play!" or "I could clearly hear every note in the back of the hall." What did surprise me was one of the most common comments I have received: "My pianist loves it! The cello allows him/her to open the lid and play out." From a listener's point of view, when I have heard my cellos with piano in concert, I am surprised and pleased that I hear much more music in the piano part than I ever knew was there, without compromising the balance. I am also pleased with how much more of the cellist's intent and ability reach the audience.
So you can see why I feel cheated when I spend $25.00 or more to hear an elegant cellist struggling with a diminutive sounding, contentious instrument that forces the pianist to mute his sound and restrain his interpretation so as not to bury the cellist. I feel like I only got $5.00 worth of music. But then, as Dennis Miller says, "That is just my opinion; I could be wrong."
Back to Top
This story was told to me by Alan Miller, a retired doctor who lives near Albany, New York, during a recent visit to my shop. He is a contented owner of one of my violas, and he takes it everywhere with him in order to play chamber music.
When Alan returned to New York from a trip to Europe the viola was somehow left on the curb at the airport when he packed his car. He was many miles from the airport when he realized the viola was missing. When he returned directly to the terminal the viola was no where to be found. He thought that it was gone forever. However, one security guard, moved by Alan's extreme distress, decided to make it his mission to find the viola. Meanwhile Alan headed home towards Albany. About half way there he called home to let his family know that he would be late. During that call he was informed that the airport had already called about his viola. He called the airport to confirm this and was told: "yes, they found his viola, but he had to pick it up right away."
Alan arrived back at the airport sometime in the middle of the night. He was met by the beaming security guard in possession of the viola. The conscientious guard had found it in the British Airways office. Since the viola case bore a British Airways identification tag, someone had turned it in to their office. As a demonstration of appreciation Alan took the viola out to show the group of guards that had gathered. He then played it for them. The vigilant guard was written up as a hero in his union newspaper.
Alan told me that this incident made him realize that this viola was his only worldly possession that he could not do without. That includes a rare BMW. Thanks, Alan, for loving what I do and thanks to the good Samaritan who took the extra effort to turn in the viola. It kind of refreshes one's faith in mankind, or at least in New Yorkers!
Back to Top
After about 25 years of extensive research, experimentation, and creating over 100 instruments, violin making becomes somewhat routine. It is not that each instrument isn't a challenging wood-working project, but once I had worked out all of the details of my violin model, three viola models and my cello model, the theoretical stuff kind of faded into the background. That was true until Linda Vik, a petite woman with even more petite hands, said to me one day, "I love your violins, but they are too big for me. Can you make me a 7/8 size violin, with maybe a 3/4 size string length?" I must have been feeling the need for a challenge at the time because I didn't hesitate to say "Sure, I can do that" even though I was aware of the number of days it would take to make a new mold along with a complete set of templates. I only vaguely considered the challenge to design a violin that would have the power and quality associated with my instruments within these limitations. Oh well, back to the drawing board! With ruler, compass and calculator in hand, I drew on my notes from other good small instruments I had examined along with my experience in designing successful small violas and made my best guess. It had been a long time since I had experienced as much nervous anticipation as I did the day I strung up that violin. Even rocket scientists don't always get it right the first time. To my relief and pleasure, it sounded exactly like one of my best violins. The only thing it lacked was a little of the raw power on the G string that characterizes my violins. (There is not much you can do about the lack of tension caused by a short string length, other than to use heavy gauge strings.)
Back to Top
The third World Cello Congress was held on May 29th through June 4th of 2000 at the Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland. My cellos made quite a sensation at the two previous World Cello Congresses in 1988 and 1991. In '88, when 40 new cellos were played on stage by Gary Hofman, David Finckel, amongst others, told me that my cello was by far the best. David would later own one. In '91 my cellos were used in 3 different performances by Karen Lee, Terry King and Louis Lowenstein. One of my cellos also caused some controversy when, for political reasons, it was excluded from the "New versus Old" competition where 6 great old cellos were played against 6 new cellos behind a screen by a blindfolded Jeffrey Solow. After the scoring was done, Mr. Solow was coaxed to play the two excluded instruments, mine and one by Dawn Hadda. Many members of the audience agreed that these were the two best instruments and wondered why they had not been allowed to score them also. I was told that 6 of my cellos were present at the Connecticut Cello Congress last January. That got me thinking about how many might show up at the World Cello Congress III next spring. I hope to attend myself, bringing my 40th cello. Taking this a step further I started thinking "wouldn't it be nice if 6, or 12 of my cellos were there and they were to play as an ensemble. What a sound that would be!" I know of a few people who would volunteer some arrangements. Maybe it could happen. If anyone has any ideas on how to get this done, please let me know!
Back to Top
