Τρίτη 15 Οκτωβρίου 2013

A few things about a violin

The first step on building a new violin is naturally to get to know the subject of your work . Since the Baroque era, the violin has been one of the most important of all instruments in classical music, for many reasons . Such as, the tone of a violin, which stands out above other instruments, making it appropriate for playing a melody line . And of course the fact that violins make up a large part of an orchestra.

So, to begin with, it must be said that a violin generally consists of a spruse top, maple ribs and back, two endblocks, a neck, a bridge, a soundpost, fur strings, and various fittings . The voice of a violin depends on its shape, the wood it is made from and the varnish, it goes without saying, that the varnish and especially the wood continue to improve with age.


We must emphasize that in the amazing world of violin making, each model has its own uniqueness . This is due, partially, to the fact that constructing a hand-made string instrument is one of the most painstaking, exact, minute-detailed jobs i have ever come across .
Certainly not all violins in the market are hand-build and perhaps most of them are not. Many violins are serially made, either in factories or in mass-production workshops . And honestly that is the reason why a handmade violin has a precious value . The singularity of each handmade violin can satisfy even the most demanding collector and of course any worthwhile violinist who respects the intensive labor and the enormous amount of patience that is required to succeed this outcome .




Τετάρτη 9 Οκτωβρίου 2013

The origin of creativity

Hello everybody,

Τhrough this blog you can witness the difficult but yet so fulfilling journey that we are about to embark upon and like many others you'll find yourselves drawn by the rich, vast world of violin making . From how the special wood is grown ; through how it is treated and then hand - picked, through the details, tools, smells, materials and colors that make up the building process and the fact that what once was a piece of maple and spruce becomes a playing violin with an increadible sound .





Amazingly enough my father, Christos, a self-taught violin maker managed to overpower once again the inconvenience of the unknown . Being a person of constant quest for challenge, he has occasionally worked with his hands in various projects, but it seems like these last 10 years he is very fascinated by the prοcedure of violin making . Though he often fixes and restores existing instruments, his love for this profession centers around the art, the process, the magic of creating beautiful new hand-made instruments from raw blocks of wood . Nevertheless, I have to admit that my younger sister, who plays the violin, has been the inspiration for all this, not only because of her continuous growing love for classical music but mainly because of her mandatory need for a remarkable violin .


Long story short, we will be able to follow him, step by step, as his fellow travellers in this tremendous trip and see for ourselves how he succeeds in integrating the building process of a violin and provide us with stunning results as the ones below .