Nothing is more subjective than the sound

The images are tenacious. You are going to know why you imagine the older luthiers in blouse (grey), back arched on violins (out of age), the feet in sawdust. Our luthier is called Joël Klepal. Despite his twenty-five years, it retains a baby face and a dreamy air. He works for Jean-Yves Tanguy, in Caen, the judge "intuitive, very fast and passionate". Joël is gifted, if not more: two years ago, while he was out of the school, his violin seduced the jury of the prestigious competition Etienne Vatelot, which awarded him the grand prix de la Ville de Paris before 112 other more experienced candidates.

We are pushing the door of the shop and see it, the gouge in the hand, applied and relaxed at a time, on his next violin. Wood, varnish and turpentine odour give a pleasant fragrance to space that occupies three floors of an old house with stones and the beams. In the air, such as Bayonne in a deli hams, dozens of violins and violas, shimmering and varied colors, hang from the ceiling, waiting for hands that will make them vibrate. More land, a few cellos and a double bass await the barge in silence.

Like most French luthiers, Joël has made its classes at the Ecole nationale de lutherie, Mirecourt (88). If he makes more than violins, it passed its review on a copy of a cello of Tommaso Balistrieri (18th century). It would seem that it "sounded" well since it is now up to the soloist of the Opera of Stuttgart. More than two months are needed to make a cello; a violin requires 200 hours of work averaged.

Ebéniste and sculptor

The manufacture of the violins has practically not changed for more than two centuries. Spruce to the soundboard, and maple, as on the merits, the ribs and the English channel, are cut into quarters (from the bark to the centre). Each wood piece is determined in two to obtain a perfect symmetry wood veins. The tables (part of the top which are drilled Gill) and the Fund are carried out according to the method "to open book". Then the ribs (the strips of wood that connect the table and the bottom) are wet and folded hot around a mold. Luthier conducts at the same time the English channel and the scroll of the head. "We are both cabinetmakers and sculptors," explains Joel Klepal. The parties are then assembled. Comes to the varnish, the culmination of the work.

The luthiers of today use the same glue to assemble the parts of the instrument than the legendary Stradivarius. Combining the gesture to the floor, Joël and Jean-Yves take three large jars in glass on a bookshelf. We have taken at first glance the first for a Brown candy jar, but is in fact os Pearl glue. Contrary to what one might have thought, the second does not contain the small corn flakes, but nerves glue dehydrated and, finally, the last, does not contain the red sugar powder but fragmented skin glue. Mixed and then heated with water, these ingredients form a glue which has the advantage of very well pass the vibrations... and to take off perfectly for intervention on the instrument as a violin is always fully removable.

The Stradivarius myth

Joel's award-winning violin was inspired by the Italian luthier Guarnieri (late 17th - early 18th century), one of the famous craftsmen of the city of Cremona, pupil of Amati, as Stradivarius. According to Jean-Yves Tanguy, the luthier has hardly changed since 1750 and the end of the Stradivarius workshop, the mythical reference. Stradivarius, who lived in a period hinge between the baroque and classical, has produced a very large number of violins in his workshop. "It has greatly reflected on the sound and constantly adapted to the modern music of his time, explains Jean-Yves Tanguy. It was a visionary. Can say that he invented the violin of the future and that the following directories have magnified it. "And it, even if very few instrumentalists play with instruments totally original: most have been transformed to adapt to the evolution of music. Thus, sleeves were refined to allow more virtuosity and the form has been modified to increase the string tension and pressure on the bridge to increase the power. "The golden age of the stringed instruments was completed for the death of Stradivarius, deplores Jean-Yves Tanguy. In the 18th century, were applied to rules, different, sometimes more approximate than today units ' today but the luthiers simply and instruments were wonderful. "The decline is explained by losses at the level of the transmission of knowledge. "We then entered a period of decadence," deplores the luthier. The structure, the mathematical tool disappeared. The form evolves more. It fills, it mimics...

Violin ringing

The artisan nuance very quickly this deadly vision. According to him, this situation has fortunately changed since a few years. Even if lot of knowledge have been lost since the half of the 18th century, there has been a revival of the creation. A relatively new paradoxical because it passes through a better understanding of the old traditional techniques! "This is manifested in the form as in the design, precise Jean-Yves Tanguy." We always interpret classical forms, but never a violin is the exact replica of another. We see immediately if there is a hand or not, the reference markers. And then there is the varnish, the dress of the instrument.

Contrary to what one might believe, among the violins (as for the other instruments of the family), "old" does not necessarily equal to "good". Moreover, instruments of the 18th century were not necessarily a better sound than those of today. "A very good current violin may be also interesting as an old, provides Jean-Yves Tanguy. But it is not all the same characteristics. A former instrument will be less reliable (especially due to humidity variations) but will respond better to the instrumentalist with a better sound emission. "Despite the care provided by luthier as talented as Joël to manufacturing, it is never clear in advance what will be the characteristics of the instrument. However, "if it is always the same model with the same wood, it decreases inevitably uncertainties", says the young expert.

Listen to them, the design of a violin that "rings" seems still well mysterious. "I have more experience, less I certainties!, fun Jean-Yves Tanguy.". Nothing is more subjective than the sound. The instrumentalists are not seeking the same characteristics for their instrument. A violin for a soloist must pass before the instrumental mass with his wealth stamps and sound power whereas an instrument for a Quartet must further blend into a whole. "The two luthiers agree that it is mainly the player makes, regardless of the instrument. Joël Klepal returned from the Canada where he saw and heard a same soloist play with dozens of new and different altos which he had yet to get its own sound.

Joël illustrates somewhat the revival of the manufacture of the violins in the luthiers, whose activity has long been "only" to repair or restore instruments of heritage. Artisans such as Joël and Jean-Yves manufacture not violins of study, but the very high range. These instruments cost between 6,000 and 12,000 euros (the price of one who has won the competition Etienne Vatelot), from 500 to 600 euros for a nine study tool. Jean-Yves, he is dedicated to the manufacture of bows, including copies of old, such as those of the family pie, the first archetiers in France and in Europe in the 18th century. An original can rate 75,000 euros and a copy to climb to 1,500 euros.

Contrary to what one think, luthiers do not "baby blues", feel when a beautiful violin leaves the store who saw him rise. "On the contrary!, exclaimed Joël.". He will live his life in the hands of a musician. One of the most beautiful moments precisely, it is when the violin was adopted. It values the time, the research and passion. Hear a concert the violin that is made is always an unforgettable moment.