Any questions?

If you have any questions about the process, history, etc. of violin making, please post your question as a comment here, and I will be happy to answer in a new post.

Il Violino Di-vino...Violins, Music, and Wine

I could go into depth about this concert, but really it would be better if you clicked on the link below--it explains the idea much better:
http://www.newhavensymphony.com/wine08.htm
For all those lucky enough to have tickets to this event, I hope to see you there. If not, just wait till next year and buy your tickets early. This is one concert you do not want to miss.

Copying the 1736 Muir-Mackenzie Strad

The Muir-Mackenzie turned out to be quite a difficult instrument to copy--for many reasons. Wood is the first consideration when one is copying a violin and the Muir-Mackenzie is quite unique in this aspect--at least as far as Strads are concerned.
The back is made of one piece maple--cut on the slab. For those unfamiliar with this term, it means that the wood was cut out of the log like planks rather than the usual pie-shape wedges most violins are made from. This gives the back a distinctive grain pattern as well as making it succumb to warping--much in the way old floor boards warp. This warping is prominent in the back of the Muir-Mackenzie, and while it does give the violin an immediate feeling of age, warping like this presented me with a difficult decision:
How far should I go?
Should I copy warping in a violin or not?
This may seem like a relatively mild worry, but questions like these are some of the most trying to the copyist. Copyists in other fields--such as painting--are stuck in much the same situation as the violin copyist; while they may feel free to copy the color, shape, and shading of a great work, do they hesitate to copy the build-up of dirt, damage to the canvas, or fading that the painting has undergone over the years? Many painters seem to believe to copy these is an attempt at forgery--a line few wish to cross.
But with violins, the line between forgeries and copies is blurred. Every Stradivarius has a distinctive, unique look because of the rough life violins have. The varnish is worn into attractive patterns, allowing the golden hues of the ground to shine through. The ground itself gets dirty and aged, staining to a beautiful nut brown. Dirt gets captured in the pores of the wood, giving the wood a look very much like mahogany. All these attractive qualities are due to age, damage, and wear, and were a maker to leave any of these out when copying a Strad, the resulting instrument would look quite unlike the original. The difference would be like trying to paint a portrait of your Grandmother and cleaning up the wrinkles and gray hair until the painting resembles a plastic Barbie Doll instead.
I never liked Barbie Dolls.
I copied the warping.

A brief history

My lifelong interests in music and woodworking led me, at age seventeen, to begin an apprenticeship with renowned cello maker Lawrence Wilke in 1995. After the three-year apprenticeship was completed, I was hired to assist Mr. Wilke in the making of his cellos. During this time, we experimented widely in the copying of Italian instruments.

At the 2004 Violin Society of America competition, Lawrence Wilke and I were given the highest tone award for a Cello we had made together. The instrument is now owned by Nicholas Tzavaras of the Shanghai String Quartet. I also submitted a violin to the competition that earned a Certificate of Merit for workmanship.
In 2005, at the age of 27, I was certified as a Master Violin Maker by Lawrence Wilke.
I now make instruments from my own shop in Guilford, CT.