Making copies is not my cup of tea, but I have a database of inspiring images. Have a look at these, they served to make some renaissance double bass bows for a Gasparo da Salo bass from 1585.
March 2019 I propose the following Violone bows :
Nr length weight playing length price
99 782 mm 82 gr 63 cm 750 €
35 717 82 56 Sold
264 707 83 57 750
282 733 83 59 650
155 745 85 60 700
Frogs are interchangeable to adjust the distance between hair and stick.
Click on images below to enlarge :
The following bass viol bows are available :
nr 298, 799 mm, 70 gr, black, pl 65 cm, boxwood frog, 800 €
nr 303, 760 mm, 73 gr, white, pl 61 cm, boxwood frog, 650 €
nr 295, 770 mm, 75 gr, white, boxwood frog, 650 €
With larger hair :
nr 266, 758 mm, 71 gr, black, pl 61 cm, boxwood frog, 550 €
nr 252, 765 mm, 81 gr, black, pl 61 cm, ebony frog, 750 €
Frogs are interchangeable …
Archets Renaissance récents
Nr 336, 724 mm, 117 gr, ebony frog, 800 €
Nr 335, 731 mm, 119 gr, abalone frog, 800 €
Nr 337, 739 mm, 130 gr, abalone frog, 800 €
Nr 338, 722 mm, 140 gr, walnut frog, 800 €
Archets baroques:
Nr 269, 730 mm 108 gr, boxwood frog, 800 €
Nr 211, 743 mm, 126 gr, boxwood frog, 800 €
aussi voir : https://archetsenboisderobinier.com/contrebasse/
Since 2016 the musicians of Nota Bene viol consort are playing with Renaissance viol bows made out of Acacia wood.
Recently they recorded the concert in the Slosberg Recital Hall, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA USA. We are lucky to share a moment of this beautiful event with Pietro Vinci’s music on Sonetti Sirituali.
It takes a lot of time to make a bow, but you can have a short glimps of the process in less than a minute :
To have more information or to order a bow, please send an email to coenengelhard@gmail.com
If this clip made you discover these bows and you order one, please let me know. You will have a promotional discount.
Hope to meet you soon, Coen.
Thanks to Hugo Voukassovistch Simka Productions for making the clip.
And thanks to Connie and Gérôme for the hair and horses.
The winter edition of “The Viol”, by the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, contains an article of 4 pages about the Renaissance Viol Bows.
Please click to open the PDF version : article-in-the-viol-45
Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain website : http://www.vdgs.org.uk/
How to make your own bow
I would like to share some information to help you make your own bow. The simplest form is really not difficult to make and you will be surprised that it will work.
That is : take a stick, tie some horse hair at both ends and put a little wedge between stick and hair at the frog end, rosin the hair, and you can play.
It’s true that making a good bow is an art but everybody who likes to experiment can try to make something.
I love to work with a drawknife on the shaving horse and then with the bandsaw. The photos will speak for themselves.
Then I go inside at the workbench with knife and planes to do the precise work of shaping the bow. For bow making you want to have the blade at a sharp angle in the planes, like the first of the two details.
Make the future bow first square, with 4 sides, then 8 sides with a nice course from thicker at the frog end to finer at the tip. When you go to 16 sides the stick is almost round. Then mortises and wedges.
A sketch of the tip and frog end with the mortises :
I start making the mortises by making two holes slantwise at the outer end with a 2.5 or 3 mm drill. Then some more (2 for the tip and more for the frog end) to make the mortise with the chisel (4 mm) more easily.
You can make the wedges from beech, around 3 mm thick. Make them strong enough to put them in and take them out as much as needed in the whole process.
Have a look at the video : How to shorten the play length of the hair.
Where do you find the horse hair ?
The best option for me is to get some hair directly from a horse. If you know a violin maker to ask some hair that is a good option as well. You can buy some for the first bows.
If you have a horse or friends with horses, take some of the tail, get the short hair out and tie one end before washing. You can simply wash in warm water with soap, rinse and let it dry.
Then you choose the right amount for one bow (between 100 and 150 if you want to count them), choose the right length and make a good tie at the end which goes in the tip, which corresponds to the end of the tail. Cut the end and put a drop of super glue on it .
Then you make the tip end wedge to fix the hair in the mortise. Comb the hair to the other end and tie at 4 mm beyond the extremity of the frog end mortise. Make a wedge for this side in the time the super glue dries. Put the hair in the mortise and fix with the wedge as in the video above.
Now put the frog in. If it doesn’t stay in place, put some rosin between frog and stick.
Please ask questions on the subject to devellop this article.
Are you looking for a bow ? What is your language ? What did you type into the search engine ?
To enable everybody around the world to come to the Acacia bows, I created this article. Please do suggestions for more languages. Let’s create a world wide, language transcending, bow interested community …
Vous cherchez un archet ? Envoyez un message à coenengelhard@gmail.com
Wilt U één van deze strijkstokken proberen ? Stuur me een mail en we regelen het.
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…………………………………………………….. coenengelhard@gmail.com , merci !
Playing early baroque music with a short bow, as we see on paintings, is an exciting experience. Articulation and response occur without any effort, obviously …
Come and try these :
nr 199 64.5 cm, 40 gr, black hair 55 cm, boxwood frog, 550 euro
nr 331 70 cm, 47 gr, white hair 59 cm, boxwood frog, 600 euro
Violin bow nr 109 tip and frog :
The orchestra of the ‘Pôle des Arts Baroque in Toulouse’ rehearsing with Acacia bows :
Bande de violon Renaissance :