Sound

If a violin is made well, with good materials and within normal parameters it should sound good. However, this can be achieved by a factory. The challenge for the maker is to make a sound that is out of the ordinary and this means developing a concept of what exceptional sound is.

I work in both a rational and intuitive way to achieve my tonal goals. Rational in the sense that I try to work out what is making a violin sound in a particular way, and intuitive in the sense that the many factors that make up a violin must be "felt" to be incorporated into a piece of woodwork.

Volume, tone colour and response are the more tangible aspects of sound, but on top of this I like to think of giving the violin a "voice". Making a violin with a specific sound in mind is the hard part of violin making. There are skills involved too personal and subtle to be taught. It is here that the skill and talent of the maker really shows.

Jenny Thomas performs and records on a violin and viola by Rainer Beilharz

Min Yeo performs on her Rainer Beilharz violin,
Melba Hall 1999