Verdict Returned on Attorney’s Violin

Last year a local Ann Arbor attorney, Zachary V. Moen, apprenticed himself to Ann Arbor master violin maker Gregg Alf. And now, under Alf’s direction, Moen has completed two violins.

On Monday afternoon at Alf’s Prospect Street studio in Ann Arbor’s Burns Park, Moen and Alf allowed The Chronicle to bear witness to the first sound check of Moen’s second violin. It’s a copy of a famous instrument made by Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù (1698-1744), and played by Norwegian violinist Ole Bornemann Bull (1810-1880) – the Ole Bull del Gesù.

After coaxing the first notes out of the violin, the verdict from Alf on his apprentice’s work: “It’s an incredible D!”

For non-violinists: That doesn’t translate to D-plus as a letter grade … D is the name of the second string from the left.

Crafting a Violin: Not a Woodworking Job

The ground floor of Alf Studios, where the sound check took place, looks like a living room, not a woodshop. The shop is on the second floor.

While Moen is upstairs applying a final coat of polish – before stringing up his Ole Bull – Alf demonstrates to The Chronicle the adjustment of the sound post of another already-strung violin.

That’s accomplished by inserting a metal tool through one of the F holes – the elongated holes in the top of a violin, which get their name from the appearance of an italic F – and nudging the wooden post that’s wedged between the top and bottom of the instrument.

Alf notes that with the spring weather and the changing humidity, the instruments are “breathing” – it’s a moving target to adjust them. But you still adjust them, he says, because “you want them sounding their best.” After testing out the effect of the sound post adjustment, Alf observes that he’s accomplished an improvement by moving the post to one side by “the width of a pencil mark.”

Alf then reflects on the nature of his work. “People think of it as a woodworking job,” he says, “but that’s like saying that writing is a drawing job.”

“Sound has meaning,” he concludes.

If You Wish to Make a Violin From Scratch …

Writing the old-fashioned way with a pencil, of course, does eventually involve drawing letter shapes. In the same way, making a violin does unavoidably involve working with wood. The steps to making a violin are chronicled in detail on Moen’s blog, “Diary of an Apprentice Violinmaker.”

Even a cursory look at any of Moen’s blog entries makes apparent that the approach to crafting the violins in Alf’s studio is done in a methodical, painstaking way. Moen took things beyond the usual pain in electing to make his madder lake pigment for his varnish from scratch. On Oct. 2, 2009, he wrote [emphasis added]:

For readers who aren’t violin makers, madder lake is a red pigment made from the roots of a madder plant and is often used for the red color on violins. This pigment will, if I am successful, be used to add the red color to the varnish on my violin. There is, of course, plenty of madder lake around the studio that I could use, but I wanted the experience of making my own.

The five steps to that experience stretched over 11 days. Here’s how it starts: “The first step is to combine the madder root with potash in water and heat the mixture at 40-45 degrees Celsius for 36 hours.” Even at that, Moen does not take astronomer Carl Sagan’s famous admonishment completely to heart: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch … you must first invent the universe.” [A video containing Sagan's quote at time code 0:22 is available on YouTube.]

Tuning the New Fashioned Way

While Moen puts the finishing touches on his Ole Bull, Alf’s sound adjustments on other instruments eventually require a tuner.

But locating one in the studio proves to be a challenge. There is somewhat of a flurry of activity in the studio, explains Alf, because he is leaving for China the following day. And Moen is leaving for Norway.

So in the course of contending with the myriad logistical challenges of travel, and completing work before the trip, the tuners have temporarily gone missing.

When his assistant eventually locates a device, Alf bows the instrument that he’s checking and guesses: “I’m sharp, right?” The answer: “You’re about 441.” The frequency of middle A is 440 Hz. So Alf is right – a bit sharp.

When Moen brings down the Ole Bull to string it up, it’s apparent that his approach to tuning is not the same as his approach to varnish – he uses an iPhone with a free tuning application. “I do everything the old fashioned way, except tuning,” he explains.

Moen’s law practice could be seen as a melding of old-fashioned approach to new-fashioned subject matter. His background in intellectual property law allows him to provide services to entrepreneurs in creative endeavors – artists, writers and musicians. He recently provided commentary on National Football League trademark issues related to the New Orleans Saints use of “Who Dat?” for Lucy Ann Lance’s radio show Business Insider.

Why Is Everybody Leaving?

What draws Alf to China and Moen to Norway?

Alf is serving on the jury for the first ever violin-making competition in China, which takes place in Beijing, starting May 5. Alf is heading to China early for two reasons.

First, he’s going to enjoy some hiking and cycling there before the judging begins. Second, he’s going to use that time to acclimate himself to the time change – it’s not the best idea, he says, to step off the plane and immediately try to evaluate a couple hundred different instruments.

Also violin-related is Moen’s trip to Norway, which hinges specifically on the copy of the Ole Bull del Gesù he just completed. A prominent violin maker, Christophe Landon, has invited all violin makers across the globe to make a copy of the famous instrument and bring it to Oslo as part of the celebration of Ole Bull’s 200th birthday.

Although the violin-making project is organized around a playing competition – the Menuhin Competition for violinists under age 22 – the Ole Bull celebration is just that. It’s not a competition. The original instrument will be on display during the celebration, which will culminate in a concert using some of the violins made for the occasion.

Some of the most prominent violinists of the world will be there to try out the instruments, Moen’s among them.

Moen’s itinerary calls for him to visit some other Norwegian cities on his trip, but he’ll also be spending some of the time with the instrument, watching musicians react to his Ole Bull.

The reaction from Alf after bowing the Ole Bull for the first time can fairly be described as enthusiastic: “It’s an incredible D! The D is just amazing! … I want to open, loosen the G up a little bit, but you know, it’s just brand new …”

Editor’s note: In the sound file included with this article, the tone at the beginning is from Moen’s iPhone tuner. The file splices together samplings from different points in the test, and concludes with the reaction from Alf and Moen [.mp3 file of violin sound check].