This week I received a message from Sergey Malov: A-case, a company based in Croatia, competed the prototype of their Violoncello da Spalla case, made on his request, and it is now available for orders! Look at the pics. Isn’t it gorgeous?
The base price is 1100€. You have all the options of a cello case (look on their website), and you can get in touch through their website or Instagram.
Updates from our workshop
It was intense and very informative, and I had a great time! I bought a bunch of old bows from an auction for this purpose so that I had a vast choice of different cases to work on. Now, with time, I will restore every bow, one by one. They are all made in Pernambuco. Pernambuco is on the list of prohibited materials for importation. No legal harvesting is allowed (as well as almost all the other materials from which a bow it’s made: ebony, ivory, mother of pearl). So, old bows are a precious resource not to spoil! In Italy we are too connected to tradition to pay attention to the damages we made at the environment, so I am thinking at how to involve more shops and musicians in this enterprise of saving old bows. There is no need for synthetic materials if we don't waste what we already have!
There is an important program I want to contribute someway, the International Pernambuco Conservation Initiative. Check also this website: Even ebony and maple at at risk, soon violin making will be a challenge like bow making already is today!
Our instruments are getting on too! Thanks to Alessandro’s precious help the top of my Violoncello da Spalla has a bass bar and is glued on the ribs!
Featured video of the week
From my records, it seems that I never shared this video before! Possible or not, it’s maybe the first video I saw with a modern Violoncello da Spalla:
I received my spalla last week. I would love to share a photo with you. It is the first spalla by a very young maker. https://share.icloud.com/photos/02fEL4jGqxEzdVzgQKKVubIXw