15 inch (38cm) two-cornered viola |
return to work in progress December 2007 I developed this viola model a few years ago, looking for a really good sounding, lightweight small viola that would work well for serious students and professional players alike. This one is a commission from Lilya, a 14-year old student at Chetham's School of Music. She has always played the viola, using my two smaller sizes of viola before she was ready for this large size.
January 2008
February 2008
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It's
important that these smaller violas should have a powerful and
projecting sound, and one of the ways that I achieve this is by
steam-bending the fronts, rather than carving them from a solid block of
wood. With bent fronts you keep the maximum length of grain, so
the wood is much stronger than if were carved, so the finished front can
be somewhat thinner. I bend the front in its two halves,
temporarily held together round the perimeter using wooden clamping
blocks, and then, once the wood is softened by the steam, I can drive
wooden wedges in to form the wood to the desired shape. The blocks
and wedges stay in place for a few days while the wood stabilises to its
new shape.
The
back of the viola is made from maple. Lilya has been to the
workshop to pick a piece she liked; it's a handsomely figured piece of
wood I bought a few years ago in France. Unlike the front, the
back is carved from solid wood, and the picture shows the initial shape
roughed out using a large gouge.
I'm
now inlaying the purfling. The purfling itself is made from a
sandwich of pear wood dyed black with an inner strip of poplar, and it's
fitted into a channel cut around the edge of the back and front.
Its purpose is to strengthen the edge against cracks and damage, and to
focus the eye on the edges of the instrument.
The
arching of the back and front have now been finished. I've chosen
good, strong shapes for the arching which will help the power and
projection of the finished viola.
The
next job is to hollow out the back, and to reduce it to the final
thickness. The initial bulk of the wood is removed with a large
gouge, before I work it down to the final thickness.
I
build the ribs for these violas directly on to the back. First I
glue the top, bottom and corner blocks to the back, then bend the ribs
and glue them in place.
Meanwhile,
I've been working on the front. I've finished thicknessing it -
it's light and resonant and I think will make a good-sounding, powerful
viola. I've cut the f-holes and fitted the bass bar.
The
rib assembly is finished now - the ribs are bent and glued and the
linings have been fitted, so all is now ready to glue the front to the
ribs.
The
viola has a simple-shaped head which is light in weight, and which
visually compliments the streamlined shape of the body.
I've
now made the fingerboard and fitted it to the neck, then fitted the neck
into the body of the viola.
The
neck is shaped and the viola finished "in the white", ready to
be varnished. 
The
viola is now varnished a warm reddy-brown colour, and I've
set it up using good handmade fittings and a carefully cut bridge and
soundpost. It's sounding good; it's even, responsive and powerful.