Students Learn Exacting Craft of Making Bows

It may be reassuring, in this modern age jammed full of products manufactured by robots, that some things must still be carefully made by hand, using skills and learning that cannot be recorded somewhere on a floppy disk or computer chip.

It is this melding of art and craftsmanship that 15 students are learning at Cal Lutheran University’s Summer String Institute, a program that focuses on the making of fine violins and the bows used to play them.

Although many aficionados of classical music are familiar with the tradition of fine craftsmanship handed down in the making of violins, few realize that the bow used by a virtuoso on the instrument can take more than two weeks to make and may cost $2,500 to $4,000.

On Wednesday, the class concentrated on the craft of making bows.

“I don’t count them, but there are a lot of steps to make them,” said student Zoran Stilin, originally from Zagreb, Croatia, and now living in Tucson.

Stilin worked very slowly as he carved a shallow finger groove into a block of ebony that will become the frog of a violin bow, a sliding piece held in the player’s hand that anchors and applies tension to the horsehair bowstrings. He worked slowly because mistakes are costly--a good piece of Pernambuco wood used to make the bow’s stick can cost up to $50.

Stilin and his colleagues were learning their craft from Lynn Hannings of Pownal, Maine, who has made bows for violins for 26 years in the French tradition, meaning an almost complete reliance on special hand tools used for carving and shaping. The only power tool in the workshop is a small band saw.

Hannings said many musicians underestimate the role the bow plays in shaping the sound produced by a violin and its sister instruments, the viola and the cello, and its cousin, the double bass.

“I think the general feeling is it just comes in the case with the violin, but it really needs to be made by hand to the player’s needs,” Hannings said.

Hannings said the weight, balance and strength of the bow must be carefully considered, since they can change the voice of a violin from round and mellow to strong and and harsh.

“But the most important thing is it needs to be comfortable,” Hannings said. “About 70% of all string players are playing in constant pain.”

The demand by violinists and others for well-fitted bows compelled Hannings to pursue a degree in occupational therapy to better meet their special needs. She makes 26 bows a year and sells 25 of them directly to musicians.

“I save one under my bed each year as a retirement fund,” Hannings said.