"Violins are also living things" What does it mean to be a string instrument craftsman?

This article is open to the public. Please donate to support for the Myanmarese refugee children's centre

(Interviewed July 2019)

This is the eighth interview article of TANQ-JOB writer Midori Watabe!
What kind of life does a violin craftsman have? This time I interviewed people from the world of music!

Introducing Ms Miki Matsushita

She is currently working at a violin speciality store called Virtuoso Violins in Kyoto.

Virtuoso Violins Kyoto shop info
It is located in Kyoto Shijo Karasuma-Dori, a very convenient place! It is a store specializing in string instruments. There are various grades of instruments, from introductory classes to German and Italian masterpieces. Besides Kyoto, there are stores and offices in Nagoya and Italy. They also sell online.
Click here for the homepage

Basic parts of the violin

Bow

Why did you decide to work with the violin?

I started learning the violin as a child. I started watching it on TV and thought it was cool (none of my family members plays the violin). I loved making things since I was little, so I went to an agricultural school for high school. But when thinking about my career after graduating from high school (whether to find a job or go to university), I wanted to work with musical instruments. I used the internet to find vocational schools. (I went to the school I found on the Internet.)

There was also an entrance exam at a vocational school for making musical instruments. My knowledge of music and musical instruments was tested. There were a lot of people in the school, and I met people who came to the school immediately after graduating from high schools, like me, and those who came to vocational school after graduation from college. The vocational school was a school for various musical instruments, and there was also a department to learn craftmanship for wind instruments along with string.

The string instrument department was gone after my graduation and my year was the last generation. I was a little sad that there are no juniors, but there weren't many students who wanted to learn to make string instruments, so it may be inevitable.

In the violin department, you study for two years, during which you learn the basics of becoming a craftsman, from how to build a violin to how to make a violin. At the end of the second year, we will exhibit all the violins made by everyone.
At the exhibition, it's like a test of violin making, you get tested on your crafting skills, basically its colour, shape, and sound. If the violin was good, you're a good craftsman.

What did you do in High school?

My high school was an agricultural school and had nothing to do with musical instruments or music. After graduation, I was the only one who went to the music field. We went to the high school fields and harvested vegetables and made sweets. I just think that the two fields of study are related via the fact that they both involve making stuff and crafts.

What do you do at Virtuoso Violins?

We prepare necessary parts for violin, viola and cello and repairs damaged instruments. (We have a workshop in the shop.)
We also sell the instruments themselves. Many of the instruments and parts in stores are made overseas. Europe, Brazil, China and so on. Some are domestically produced. Those made overseas are brought to Japan on an aeroplane.

In the shop

The people I work with are those who have learned about string instrument making and repairing at school. I am currently working on assembling the violin (completing the violin).
At times other than working and customer response, we practice to acquire the necessary skills to repair string instruments. If I can do it well, I feel a sense of accomplishment, and I am happy when customers choose and buy the violin I assembled. It takes at least 10 years to become a fully independent craftsman. I think it is important to work hard every day.
I do technical work in the store and read books for practice.

Ms Matsushita:
I need to repeat the technique over and over again, so I am still learning. We aim to be a craftsman who repairs broken instruments so that they do not break again.

Scenes in the workshop

What is assembly for an instrument?
Attach the last part to the main body of various instruments and assemble the instrument to the completed state. For example, attaching strings, bridges and fingerboards is called assembling.

Violins awaiting repair

How are instruments obtained?

The president of our company goes directly to the workshops of craftsmen in Italy, Germany, etc., and returns with instruments to Japan.
The majority of violins come mainly from Italy and Germany, and bows are bought in France. Also, he participates in musical instrument auctions in the United Kingdom and France. Pernambuco wood, the raw material for the bow, is native to Brazil and is designated as an endangered species. Imports and exports of raw materials are prohibited to protect the tree internationally under the Washington Treaty. But we import bows itself from Brazilian craftsmen.
The bow hair is the horsetail hair and is imported from Mongolia.

Real horsetail hair

Instruction manual for violin

・ Do not leave in the car
-Violin glue may melt due to changes in temperature and humidity inside the car, resulting in poor sound or damage.
・ Avoid high temperature, high humidity and extremely dry, low-temperature conditions. 
・ As the tuning peg area made of wood repeatedly expands and contracts, it gradually becomes inconsistent and starts slipping.

slipping:
Every time you turn the peg to tune the instrument, it spins back.

Ms Matsushita: 

Violins are the same as living creatures, please do not leave them in conditions that are harsher than the temperature and humidity that you would like!

The worst repair: A cello with a broken neck came to our workshop as the repair done before was not enough. At that time, the neck had to be screwed back, taking off the glue used in the previous repair and carefully fixing it so as not to damage it more than it was.
Also, cracked violins often come to the repair.

For children who are interested in playing musical instruments and becoming a craftsman

Please find a musical instrument that you are interested in and try it! It doesn't matter how you start. I started playing the violin because I saw the violinist playing on TV and thought it was cool.
The sound quality is different compared to handmade, but there are also handy, cheaper violins for beginners.
Even if you think that instruments are expensive, please try them.
Please try making things without giving up, try various jobs. Practice makes perfect.

For those who like music

There many associations that support string musicians such as the Japan Stringed Music Players Association, Japan Stringed Music Leaders Association, Japanese Stringed Musicians Manufacturers Association and Japan Stringed Music Association. If you are interested, please look at the homepage!

Homepage of each association

Click here for the Japan String Instrument Makers Association
(日本弦楽器製作者協会)
Click here for the homepage of the Japan String Association
(日本弦楽協会)
Click here for the website of the Japan Association of String Instrument Performer
(日本弦楽器演奏家協会)
Click here for the website of the JASTA
(日本弦楽指導者協会)

About the string instrument fair

Many string instrument fairs are going on, please try searching
"弦楽器フェア 2020" "String instrument fair 2020" to find if any events are going on around you!

Two of the violins assembled by Ms Matsushita
Left: Ms Matsushita Right: Watabe