Part 3 : The Butler did it !

In 1970, there was just a small number of people using period instruments. Those pioneers work and ideas, provoked mixed responses. But they made their point. And slowely, this movement of playing early music in an authentic way, on authentic instruments grew, and kept on growing.

So, more and more people got involved, more musicians, more violin makers, bow makers, string manufactors... The more people are getting involved, the more this "me big- you small" syndrome starts revealing itself. So it had to happen one day, it was to be foreseen, that one day, the tension used on period instruments would rise to a point of - in my opinion - madness. And here are the results. Today, 40 years later, I see baroque violins that measure higher tension than 1980's modern violins.

Fortunally, we are not living on the terminal point of evolution... but this also means that...

...that in the year 2034, I'll give you your first cup of coffee for free, if you make it up there.

Promised.

Copyright  © Filip Kuijken 2009

It could be 15 years ago or so, when I first realized that what we are witnessing now, is in a certain way, a repeat of history.

We have seen that from the 17th - 18th cent. till today, the tension of all instruments, as also the bows, went up. Strangly enough, the same evolution towards an increase in tension, is also happening amongst makers of period instruments and strings.

I found this to be a strange and interesting phenomenon. 15 years ago, I wasn't too much worried about it, because the baroque violins presented then, still measured a lower tension than modern violins. So maybe I did not always agree 100% with what I saw, but I still considered it to be acceptable.

When today, I look at baroque violins that measure a higher tension than a modern violin, (as shown on the previous page) and being claimed as "authentic", I feel very disturbed.

More and more, this phenomenon kept me puzzled. I wanted to understand what this really is.

Over the years, I learned that, in order to understand or analyze something, it is worth trying to approach the matter from different sides, in order to keep a view over the global picture. This also means that focusing too much or too long on one side or aspect, can drift me away from the overall view.

So for me, an important question emerged : why? Besides trying to understand what, when and how, the answer to why, would be a great contribution to my understanding of this phenomenon.

In other words, it is not enough to say : The Butler Did It ! To understand the case, I want to know where he did it, how and when he did it, and -very important, the motive!- why he did it.

Well... the butler did it because he is only human, and a butler, he did it because it's in his nature.

The reason there is an ongoing evolution towards higher tension, whether it is in todays modern instruments or in todays period instruments, is simply because it is part of our human nature. Most of the time, we are not even aware of it.

The example with the following pictures, might better explain what I really mean.

When I showed both pictures to a number of people, and asked them which picture they preferred, a vast majority chose the same one. It only took them a few seconds to choose between pict.A , and pict.B

Before you continue, please have a look at both pictures, and judge for yourself. Which one do you prefer?

Picture A

Picture B

But when I asked everybody why the prefered this picture over the other one, it usually took them longer than a few seconds to explain.

So there is a subconscious process involved here. Why is it that most of us prefer picture B ? Both pictures show the same violin. I shot them using the same camera, lens, strobes and film, scanned them the same way. The only difference between both pictures, is the position of the camera, relative to the violin.

On picture A, I placed the camera below the centre of the violin, you can see the upper corners of the back side, you can see the back side of the bridge. So here, we are looking upwards to the violin, the violin is placed higher than me. The violin is looking down at us. This gives me a bit of an unpleasant feeling. The violin does not look very nice like that, even a little threatening, it gives me the feeling : me small, you big... looking down at us like that...

On picture B, the camera was placed above the centre of the violin, we can see the lower corners of the backside, we can see the front side of the bridge. On this one, we are looking down at the instrument. The violin gives me a much more gentle impression, me big, you small... it doesn't disturb me, I feel comfortable in this position.

And that is it.

I do not make a living by selling my pictures, I try to sell the violins I make. So imagine I go to a place, an orchestra or a violin class, and I bring 2 violins (instead of pictures) of similar quality, but of a different tension, let's say a 8.6 Kg/df one and a 9.4 Kg/df one.

If the average Kg/df of the violins used there would be 9.0 Kg/df, then guess what will happen. Maybe they will say that my 8.6 violin sounds warm and beautifull and blablabla, but it will be difficuilt to sell it, because compared to the other violins in the orchestra, it is a bit small, just a little bit weak, missing some brilliance and power.

The person playing this 8.6 violin, will always have the uncomfortable feeling of running behind things. An impression of missing some power, an impression of... me small, they big...

Well, please try my 9.4 Kg/df violin then. Hmm... this one I like much better, it blends so much easier into the sound of the group. I do not have to push it to balance with the other instruments. This violin has more potential, I think. I just feel more comfortable on this one than on the other (the 8.6 Kg/df) one...

We just do not like to be in a lower or weaker position than our surroundings. If I wish to sell my instruments, they need to have the same level, the same tension as the others, minimum. Minimum... or just a little bit more. A little bit more, to give us just that little extra, that little bit more power and projection. That little bit more of that secure feeling of still having something left, just in case... The comfortable feeling of: me big, they small...

In the example given above, I will always sell the 9.4 Kg/df violin first. And I am speaking from experience here.

This is why the butler did it.

It means that, once there are enough people involved, things will go up, not down, things will get bigger and higher, not lower and smaller. It is in our nature. Not necessarily on an individual level, but as a collective, we are driven to go up, higher than before.

If in 1953, Sir Tenzing Norgay and Sir E. Hillary would not have reached the top of the Everest, the next expedition would have (theirs was not the first to try). They never made a second attempt. Today, the Everest is reached by how many a year, the recordholder has reached the top 18 times or so.

When I retire as a violin maker, I'll open a coffee house up there !

If violin maker A would not show up with an instrument that just has that little higher tension as the average one, then the next day, violin maker B would. If string manufactor A would not produce those little bit thicker, higher tension strings today, that other brand will present them tomorrow.

So at first, some people start using those new instruments and strings, and step by step, the average goes up. Followed by the next step.

It does not disturb me to see this evolution taking place in the modern instruments, strings, bows, and even the music itself. Although I do not always see the point of it, and even find it funny at sometimes, I take it for what it is. It is something that will happen, that should happen, that is only natural to happen, because it is part of our human nature. But 1720 is 1720, so if the modern violins tension continues to go higher, than the difference with a 1720 violin should always be getting bigger. There should not be a parallel evolution, at least not for the instruments claimed as being "historical authentic".