Arching. Great Curves!

By Andy Fein, Violin Maker and Owner, Fein Violins, Ltd.

Take a sidelong look at your violin, viola or cello. You'll notice that the top and the back are not flat. In fact, they have pretty complicated curves rounding up side to side and from the neck to under the tailpiece. Those curves are called the arching of your instrument.

A view of the arching of an Andreas Guarnerius viola

The Guarnerius Family of Violin Makers. Scions of Cremona

By Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins

We think of Cremona as the center of the world for violin making. After all, the greatest names in violin making worked there. Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Amati, Gudagnini, Bergonzi, and a few others. One of the earliest violin makers in Cremona was Andreas Guarnerius. A great violin maker and founder of a dynasty that would reach its apex in just two generations.

The scroll of the 'Primrose' Andreas Guarnerius viola of 1697

The Gagliano Violin Makers: The Pride of Naples

By Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins
and Ivana Truong

What if you're a budding superstar violin soloist or concertmaster and you can't come up with a few million dollars for a Stradivarius or a Guarnerius del Gesu to power your playing career onto the world stage?

You could save a few nickels and consider one of the somewhat lesser Cremonese instruments like a Guadagnini or one of the other Guarneris. The best of those instruments are equal or better in tone than some of the lesser Stradivaris and del Gesus. Heresy, I know, but there are soloists that don't use Strads & del Gesus and they are quite happy.

Another alternative is to take a turn to the South and play some of the finest violins from Naples made by members of the Gagliano family.

Violin by Alessandro Gagliano, made in Naples,  circa 1715

Pinchas Zukerman and a Circle of Friends

Written by Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins

My life has brought me many interesting intersecting circles.

The neighborhood I grew up in, Haddontowne in Cherry Hill, NJ, was filled with working musicians and artists. Many of my neighbors and parents of my friends were in the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was through neighborhood gatherings that I first met Herb Light, a violinist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his wife, a fine pianist Yoheved (Veda) Kaplinsky. Veda is now a piano professor and chairperson of the piano department at Juilliard. When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, I knew her as a really, really good piano teacher and performer.

Veda is from Israel and knew Pinchas Zukerman from their days as young star musicians in Israel. I first met Pinchas through Herb & Veda. But, honestly, I was a somewhat oblivious kid and it didn't really register on me who I was meeting.

When I was in college, Herb casually told me about a great violin maker in the town next to ours. Sergio Peresson was working in Haddonfield, NJ. Many famous musicians were commissioning instruments from him. At the time, he was working on a violin for Pinchas Zukerman. I was interested in violins and violin making and Sergio graciously let me visit him in his workshop. While I was there, I watched him work on the violin that would become Pinchas'.

image from cello.org

Paganini's Violin: Il Cannone

Written by Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins
 and Angie Newgren, edited by Amy Tobin

There is a triangular relationship between a violinist, their instrument and their bow. Often times, we think of a certain "sound" when we think of a particular player. Much of that sound is defined by the instrument they play.

Niccolo Paganini & his  Guarnerius del Gesu violin,  "Il Cannone"

Paganini and his violin, a Guarnerius del Gesu named "Il Cannone" (the Cannon!), defined each other. Paganini was one of the first soloists to play a del Gesu. Its huge sound and fast response became Paganini's "sound". Made in 1742 (the Hills' attribution, others say 1743), late in del Gesu's life, the violin is preserved, as it was when Paganini played it, by the city of Genoa, Italy.

Rachel Barton Pine. Violin Soloist. Head Banger.

Written by Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins
and Angela NewgrenRachel Barton Pine. Concert violin soloist. Metal head. Head Banger. Baroque violinist. Electric violinist. The gal does it all.

Rachel Barton Pine

Talented on her instrument, playing solo performances, writing music and traveling across the globe to perform, Rachel Barton Pine's off-stage life remains just as accomplished. Whether she is teaching lessons, working at a summer camp for young musicians, promoting music education, or jammin' back stage with metal junkies, Rachel Barton Pine uses her talents to give back to the community.

Rachel Barton Pine started violin lessons at three years old.

Who Worked with Stradivarius?

Written by Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins

The romantic image of a lone violin maker, crafting each instrument individually from start to finish, is certainly an image that is held in high esteem. Something the British have termed "A One Off" - each instrument crafted from start to finish, varnished and set up by one individual.  But is it a true image of a violin workshop? Have instruments ever been made that way?