Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE

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My violin

As I took my violin from its case this morning I had a strange sense of doing something completely natural with regards to playing this instrument. I don't mean that I am a natural born player....far from it. Indeed it takes me all my best endeavours not to make scratching sounds more associated with a dying cat. No, I mean the playing of an instrument constructed from a combination of completely natural and organic materials.

My violin would not be considered 'pretty', but it does have a somewhat rustic charm. Indeed it is not one violin but made up from the parts of several different violins which no doubt met untimely ends, but some clever Luthier decided to assemble this hybrid from the usable remains of the deceased. He used the front from an 18th century English violin and assembled that onto the back and sides of a French one equally as old. He used a scroll from the early 1700's and a neck that is probably early 20th century. Made from old wood it has the potential to make a wonderful, sonorous and rich sound.....if only my abilities were such to make the most of it. I believe it has untold depths.

But essentially, thus violin, as any other, is just a wooden box cut from a tree, shaped and varnished with holes to let sound out. It has strings stretched taught along its length, for which a cat did die. (Actually traditional strings are usually made from sheep's gut rather than cat gut as they're longer. But in truth, mine aren't even that, but they are the highest quality manufactured wire-bound strings.) And with this ensemble of strings stretched across the wooden resonating chamber, we take a wooden stick with the hair from a horses tail stretched taught, to complete the kit. To prepare the bow for use, we then take a block of rosin, originating from tree-sap and we rub the bow hairs along it to give the bow adhesion on the strings. The design of the violin is pretty Heath-Robinson, but mighty effective. Having evolved in the 15th century with other stringed instruments, it has changed little since.

So as I take my violin from its case and I hold this bizarre assembly of natural and organic materials, which now has its own life. They say, when a violin is left un-played, it sleeps. And with anything that has slept, it takes a while to wake up. I'm beginning to believe that mine was not been played much for many years before I got it, as it's only after some considerable time has it begun to come to life. If I leave it for more than a day, it first sounds rather dull but after 'playing in', it starts to resonate. Even after the 18 months since I got it, the instrument is only now seeming to come to life. And I need greater abilities than I'm currently blessed with to bring out its best. When it's played, the actual fibres of the wood vibrate; they begin to move. It comes alive and you can feel the whole thing resonating, vibrating and moving; it breathes.

It may be made by man, but it is constructed from completely natural materials and has a life of its own. It becomes a companion. A violinist develops an intimate relationship with his instrument as all its idiosyncrasies become known. And as in any relationship, one tries to enjoy it to the full and all it has to offer.

Posted by Noël on September 5, 2006 7:23 AM | Permalink