VO text

Before filming could begin I decided to write out a possible Voice Over text in order to make sure that I would cover all areas once filming began. Together with a violin maker I went through all the different stages of making an Instrument and later came up with the following text, suitable for the use of VO:

The human race has made and played a large variety musical instruments for thousands of years. But in western music, for almost 500 years the most important instruments have been those of the violin family. Most people still associate the violin with classical music, but it also hugely important in the modern entertainment industry. In fact it is so commonplace that we are often blissfully unaware of the essential role that it plays in television, film, and popular music and culture.

The violin first appeared in the small northern Italian city of Cremona in about 1550. It’s inventor was probably Andrea Amati who’s family along with their contemporise Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari became the most famous violin makers of all time.
Remarkably violins from these makers are still being played today. They are extremely valuable and are often sold at auction for millions of pounds. These inflated prices coupled with a massive surge in interest in countries like Japan, China and Korea, mean that the demand for new violins is still growing.

In spite of advances in technology the violin is still being made in the traditional way with traditional tools and materials. The main woods used for violin making are maple and spruce. Although common varieties only trees grown at high altitude in the alps can be used. They grow very slowly increasing in girth only about one or two mm per year. This means that some trees are more than a thousand years old when they are harvested.

Such timber is known as tone wood and before it can be used it must be stored and dried in the open air for at least ten years. A set of old tone wood for a single violin can cost as much as 2000 Pounds

The first stage in the making process is to steam bend thin strips of maple around a wooden form in the shape of a violin. These will become the instruments sides.

From these sides the outline of the violin is transferred onto the maple back and the spruce front blocks. These outlines are sawn out and finished with rasps and files.
Contrary to popular belief the bowed fronts and backs of violins are not bent to shape. They are in fact carved from solid blocks of wood with gauges and small planes.

When the outside shape is completed the both back and front are turned over and hollowed out. This hollowing process is complex and is critical to the final sound of the violin. It is one of the few processes in which modern technology can play a part. A tone generator is used to vibrate the plates and to create sound patterns with black powder. Although in earlier times these patterns were more difficult to create, they were known to Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century.

With the hollowing complete two matching sound holes, are cut through the 2.5 mm thick belly. Their shape allows the centre of the spruce top to vibrate more freely in order to transmit sound.

Once the back and belly are completed the sides are removed from the wooden form and the main body of the instrument is assembled using a traditional glue made from animal gelatine.

With this stage of the operation completed, the violin maker begins work on the head and neck of the instrument. The so called scroll and peg-box is carved from a solid block of maple. Like the inlay the scroll has also become a symbol of the craftsmen’s skill.

A fingerboard of black ebony wood is then fixed onto the neck. This ebony board is the surface on which the players fingers will stop the strings in order to create individual notes.
It is essential that the fingerboard and neck are carefully worked and finished to the players individual requirements.

The final stage of the wood working process is fitting and gluing the neck into the body of the violin.

The violin is now ready for varnishing. This is one of the most difficult operations as both the tone and the appearance of a violin can be destroyed by poor varnishing.
For generations makers have tried to rediscover the secret of Stradivari’s magnificent varnish. However, in recent years scientific analysis has provided some answers to this age old question enabling modern makers to produce instruments that virtuoso violinists can rely upon.
Once the varnish has dried the maker applies the fittings which will eventually allow the player to release the violins sound, hopefully a sound that with luck and care will continue to please audiences for several hundred years.