Matt Wehling Makes Bows with Balance, Strength, Weight, and Longevity in Mind
Wehling has been making high-end bows that help players minimize their effort (while maximizing their power) and color their tone for more than 20 years
Instruments, Bows, and Gear
Mike Block’s Cello Gear Has to Keep up With His Eclectic, Multi-Style Career
The “multi-style musician" plays in the Silk Road Ensemble, an American/African fusion band, a tabla duo project, an acoustic folk group, and more
Mark Wood’s Viper Electric Violin Has Enough Star Power to Make Guitarists Envious
His energy as electric as his violins, Mark Wood has been on a mission to disrupt the most venerable of musical traditions since his first day at Juilliard.
Desmond Timms Has Been Building Fine Violin Cases for Over a Quarter of a Century
As he approaches retirement, Timms is acutely aware that he is indeed “the trustee” of a long tradition of English case making.
Violin Maker Jacob von der Lippe Focuses on Giving His Instruments a Signature Sound
Musicians create a signature sound. Composers do, too, obviously, and have over the centuries. Why not violin makers?
Mia Pixley’s Ripple Cello, Made with Luthier Andrew Carruthers, Pushes the Boundaries of Conventional Instrument Making
The Ripple cello blurs the lines between an electric and acoustic instrument.
The Tiny Pochette Violin Made Constant Travel a Breeze for Dance Masters of the 18th Century
A pochette, an 18th-century violin about 2/3 the size of a standard adult violin with a proportionately larger fingerboard, has contributed immensely to modern dance music, including hip-hip.
An Insider’s Guide to Violin Labels
It often comes as a surprise to learn how unreliable that paper label pasted inside your instrument can be in identifying an instrument's maker, age, and place of origin.
Gasparo da Salò’s Violas and Violins Illustrate a Style That Stood in Contrast to the Cremonese
By Philip J. Kass There’s a famous tale that everyone in the world of violins eventually learns. This tale involves the competition for the design of the vi... Read More...
Mr. Tourte, I Need a Bow! How the Tourte Design Became the Model for the Modern Bow
The story of the development of Tourte's bows—now the gold standard in bow design—illustrates the interplay of influence among bows, instruments, and musical style.