Since the beginning of my professional work I have been interested very much in all questions concerning the sound. However, within the traditional violin making craft that I have studied I did not find any conception for a specifical sound tuning or shaping. For this reason the results of my work remained to be unsatisfying to me for a long time. After having intensively dealt with different sound problems I concluded that only a conception which harmonizes the music-acoustical principles, the musician and the instrument may create a satisfying sound result.
Searching such an artistic overall concept for string instruments I discovered a coherence between the violin and the human body.
Considering the phenomenon that a talented singer activates each part of his or her body as a sound box for his/her voice and is able to form the sound in this way I looked for comparable connections between the quality of the sound and the particular parts of the violin.
Finally stimulated by my interest for the Osteophonie (l’art de l’écoute, méthode François Louche), the works of A. Tomatis and the investigations of the Russian violin maker Denis Yarovoi, I discovered that the particular parts of the instrument correspond to different parts and organs of the human body with regard to their resonance function.
A special sound training enabled me to feel and to experience with my body the resonances of the violin. Investigating the analogy of the violin to the human body I found out that each single part of an instrument has an influence and is important for the sound including the parts which are considered only to be technical accessories (tailpiece, pegs, fingerboard, etc.) or decoration (scroll). Even if only one of those parts is not in harmony with the instrument it is a source of interference for the sound.
The different resonance fields must be balanced in particular and reciprocally among each other und with the musician, in order to achieve the best sound possible.
Making new instruments I am in the position to have an influence on the sound by the choice of wood, the design of the curvates and their thickness. Obviously, once the instruments are finished, there is no such possibility any longer but it is still possible to change different accessories or to harmonize the existing ones according to my sound system. On this occasion I carry out minimal changes of the form of these accessories and work with the new method of acupuncture I developed.
The idea to use acupuncture for sound tuning came up by searching methods to improve the sound of an instrument without changing its material. This idea arose while examinating the specific features of some classical old italian instruments.
I should like to ensure the musicians that there is no need to worry about their instruments.
I do not use the method of acupuncture at parts of the instrument which are considered to be important for the worth of the instrument (resonance box, sides, scroll with peg box and varnish). In addition, the pricks are hardly to be seen because they are most tiny.
It is for example possible to take influence on the complete range of sounds by designing and tuning the bridge. With acupuncture, the bridge plays the same part for the instrument as the outer ear for the human being. The bridge is an image of the whole instrument and offers a large variety of chances to tune the sound.
In each special case I work together with the musician (in particular after having replaced for example bridge or voice). The musician plays the different ranges of sound to me and by that we analyse them with regard to harmony, sound quality, presence of the tone, volume and soundness. The musician should also mention the problems of the instrument, for example howling tones.
After that I continue with working on each particular register in small steps and the musician checks the effects of the particular steps until we are both satisfied with regard to the overall sound. Ideally the sound of the instrument will be balanced, more full and present in all its registers. By an instrument that is optimally balanced the listener will be involved more intensively in the sound event because his or her body resonances will be responded and stimulated.
Applying this method, I have successfully treated so far all kinds of string instruments (violin, viola, cello, bass) and, in addition, classical guitars, mandolins, jazz-guitars, E-guitars, harps, pianos and various woodwind and brass instruments.
A documentation of the changes in the sound has been developed in cooperation with the musicologist Dr. Rolf Bader (University of Hamburg). Profiles of resonance (graphically) and records of the sound before and after treatment demonstrate the changes, which can audibly and visibly be understood (experienced?).
