tales of the trade | Strings Magazine | For players of violin, viola, cello, bass & fiddle

Kremer Pigmente’s 45-year Journey Reproducing Historical Pigments for Violins

Celebrating 45 years of making violin varnish and other products for luthiers and artists, Dr. Georg Kremer has spent a lifetime crafting products that faithfully recreate the past.

Yam Uri Raz Found His Way to Violin Making in Hawaii Via a Winding Road

Yam Uri Raz started out fixing guitars before founding Yam Violins around 2018 as a small, single-maker operation in the town of Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Kun Celebrates 50 Years of Bringing Comfort to String Players

Joseph Kun’s experience teaching and playing coupled with his work as a luthier drove him develop the Kun shoulder rest in 1972. The company celebrates 50 its 50th anniversary this year.

Leatherwood Bespoke Rosin staff-Carl Plaisted, left, Eden Plaisted, Andrew Baker, and Emma Quirk-Baker

Andrew Baker Takes Bespoke Rosin Seriously

Andrew Baker, founder of Leatherwood Bespoke Rosin in New South Wales, Australia, tailor-makes rosin to the specific needs of a string player.

Luthier Iris Carr’s Best Work Is Invisible—Which Is a Very Good Thing

Iris Carr is one of the go-to luthiers for violin restoration work, particularly neck grafts and detailed retouching, thanks to her eye for texture and color.

Luthier Rozie DeLoach at the workbench working on an instrument

Luthier Rozie Deloach Draws Out the Stories of the Violin-Making World

Luthier Rozie DeLoach not only repairs stringed instruments and bows, but she brings their stories to life as co-host of the popular Omo podcast.

Bowmaker Richard Riggall planing a stick for a bow in his workshop

Richard Riggall’s (Day) Dream Career Making Baroque Bows

While he makes modern bows, Richard Riggall’s specialty is early bows, primarily of the Baroque era. It is a mystifying and, for him, exceedingly satisfying endeavor.

A New York Story: Eric Aceto is on a Quest to Reinvent Stringed Instruments

By Greg Cahill | From the March-April 2021 issue of Strings magazine Eric Aceto of Ithaca Stringed Instruments (ISI) grew up in a family of musicians and ar... Read More...

Next Gen Jam: The omo Podcast Began as an Inside Joke… But Didn’t Stay That Way

By Caeli Smith | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine Violin maker Christopher Jacoby is editor of the Violin Society of America’s membe... Read More...

Making His Mark: These 7 Players Have Found Bliss in Hiroshi Iizuka’s Violas

By Greg Cahill | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Caeli Smith met her dream viola in 2013, a few days after Thanksgiving, at the ho... Read More...