Work In Progress

I've had a break of several weeks from the workbench: I had to move out of the workshop to work temporarily in the house in mid-January, as the workshop was suffering water ingress and had to be stripped out and tanked. Fortunately the builders finished just before the UK's Covid-19 lockdown, and my wonderful brother arrived to help with the repainting and refitting. Even more fortunately we were able to get paint! Moving back into the workshop has almost coincided with the 40th anniversary of … [Read more...]

This is fast becoming my signature violin model! I made it for the first time last year as a commission for a front-desk player in the Hallé Orchestra; I thought it would meet her requirements, and I love its quirky charm and asymmetry. There are many aspects of the design which work especially well to create a sound which is rich and warm but also responsive and sparkly when needed. The original violin is in the collection of the Royal Academy of Music, and I was lucky to be granted access … [Read more...]

I don't know if there is any connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, but I've had a surge in interest in my small violas for young players. Perhaps it's just chance or maybe families and teachers are extra-focussed on the wellbeing and development of their children. Whatever the reason, I'm always happy to make these small violas, which are a model I designed years ago and have been refining ever since, with the aim of making affordable but musically satisfying instruments for children. The first … [Read more...]

This viola is a commission from a family in the West Midlands, UK, for their musical son. He's on a smaller viola at present and we have timed  making the viola, I hope, so he will be just ready for it when it's finished. The back and front are made from solid wood, two pieces jointed at the centre. The front is from lovely, characterful spruce that I bought in Germany years ago and slightly forgot about, so I'm glad to have found it a good home now. The back is of beautifully figured maple … [Read more...]

I've had a long period of catching up with odd jobs, varnishing and finishing instruments, also preparing and cooking resins for varnish, and some work for the charity I chair which supports student violin makers, www.rabtrust.org. Now at last I'm properly back at the workbench, with an exciting new project. I've had this cello model in my sight for ages, and in fact bought the wood for the mould in the spring, but other work intervened. It's a very late Stradivari cello, to a pattern … [Read more...]

New year, new lockdown. We violin makers are so lucky to have work we enjoy and I really feel the benefit of a nice warm, quiet, safe environment to work in. Never has my lovely purpose-built workshop seemed more enticing. As orders are thin on the ground I'm enjoying continuing my exploration of models I've either not made before, or not for some time. I wanted to make another violin. The last three have all been to a Stradivari model I love and which works really well, but I thought I might … [Read more...]

As lockdown continues into February of 2021 and customers are thin on the ground, I'm continuing my survey of what I call the Stradivari Outliers: the models which are atypical of the Stradivari workshop output. This started by accident, when I measured and then made the 1734 'Habeneck' violin, in fact by Francesco Stradivari, Antonio's son. I'd also had in mind for some time that I'd like to make the 'de Munck' cello, another atypical instrument, the only one in the Stradivari output to a long, … [Read more...]

This viola is a commission from a player who has braved the complications of lockdown to try and find her perfect instrument. I sent two small violas to her by courier to try, which she liked but which didn't quite fit the bill. After discussing by email and video call we have established, I hope, what will suit her small hands and requirements for sound. I felt I could match this best by revisiting this viola model. It's actually the first viola model I ever made, while I was a student in … [Read more...]

This viola is a commission from America, from a player who does a lot of chamber music and who wants a small, manageable instrument that will hold its own. Abi and I have discussed what they are after, by Zoom and email, so I'm ready to start. The first choice is the wood. The front is a stunning piece of spruce from the Fiemme valley in northern Italy, the region where the classical Italian makers sourced their wood. Storm Vaia hit the region in October 2018 and felled a huge number of … [Read more...]

This is the smallest size of viola I make, equivalent to a 3/4 size violin. It's a commission from a viola teacher in Hong Kong, who wants it to lend to his pupils. I really enjoy making these small violas, testing my expertise to deliver the best possible sound at an improbably small size, and making an instrument that will inspire a child to really enjoy being a viola player. I've picked old wood for this viola, hoping that will help the instrument stabilise more quickly when it moves to … [Read more...]