Gift to School Violins

Whether you're looking for

something custom made or

an instrument to take home

today, we've got you covered

SwanSong Violins is run out of the workshop in Jeff's garage. It's a small side-business, but he loves what he does and wants to share it with you. He has a dozen ready-to-buy instruments, as well as others in the works. He would love to talk with you about your specific needs!

My wife and I both benefited greatly by being involved in band and orchestra from Elementary / Middle School on. As we want to support our local schools and the families at those schools we looked at buying violin sets to help them out. We looked at the cost of buying instruments that were of the quality worth having. We realized we didn't have enough money to fulfill my desire of giving 5 violins to the Pointer Ridge Elementary School's String program.

Then, Covid19 swept through and we were told to shelter in place. I might not be able to afford buying instruments of sufficient quality, but I could make them - now that I had the extra time. So we bought 5 super-cheap violin sets from China. I needed a case, bow, and all of the fittings - pegs, bridge, strings, chin rest, and tail piece. So I took wood I already had on hand, some violin projects that were in-process, plans I already had, and put it all to the task of making three 1/2 size violins, and two 3/4 size violins.

Below are the pictures of the first set, and some of the process pictures.

The three on the left are 1/2 size, the pink one is the pressed plywood violin that came in the kit, and the two on the right are the 3/4 violins.

Choose the wood

Glue plates together

Rough outline them

Step-cut the arches

Cut, thin, bend and glue ribs to
corner blocks on the mold

Smooth arches, cut and insert purfling

Excavate the plates to
appropriate thicknesses

Fine tune the plate's resonance

Match the frequencies for
belly and back

Glue the ribs to back

Glue the belly to the ribs

Carve the neck joint and set/glue the neck

start the stain & finishing

Continue the finishing

Set the sound post and
attach all of the fittings:
Set-up the violin

Play the new instrument - help get it
broken-in and ready for the new owner

Now just waiting to get them to the students

Every violin bearing a label that tells it's wood, pattern, size, and to whom it is dedicated.

Every "f " hole is a SwanSong signature!

Next set for Northview Elementary School

The next set is well underway, the Fusion Viola series interrupted them for a little while.

The Tasker Middle School string teacher, who also teaches at Nicholas Orem Middle School expressed a need for three 15" Violas and Violins, as they might be available.

I had two used violins off of Ebay that I rebuilt, one of my own design that was the compilation of two previous violins put together, one violin I made from scratch for an Elementary school but was big enough and of enough quality to go to the Middle School, an experimental purchase of a 5 string plywood violin, and a cheap beginner violin I'd experimented on for the Princess cut-away design. None of these looked like they'd ever sell for profit, but they all played nice enough to give to the schools for kids to learn on. It is very difficult to learn on an instrument so cheaply or poorly constructed that an expert could barely get it to play. But give someone an instrument that responds to every good effort and the musician flourishes, whether the instrument is "perfect" or not.

The Middle School teacher explained that she could use at least three 15 inch violas for beginning students. I've made bigger instruments, but never attempt a 15 inch instrument for beginner Violists. So, since I love research and development, I made one Viola as Antonio Stradavari made his in shape and arches. I made one as Jacob Stainer would make his, and one as Lionel Tertis designed his in the 1950's and 60's. I made the 3 belly's from the same board and the 3 backs from the same piece of Maple. I shaped the plates and tuned them to be as similar in sound, as separate plates, as I could.

Stradvari Tertis Stainer

I'm also giving the Teacher a 14 inch Tertis style viola that I made for my wife several years ago, since then she has fallen in love with my 15 1/2 inch Princess Viola. So I'm passing the Chubby along to a needy student, as well.

It occurred to me that any school needing beginner Violas would probably also need beginner Cellos as well. So I reached out to my Chiropractor, Dr. Bryant Harris, and asked if he'd help get one for the school. He paid for a used Cello on Craig's List and I repaired it and set it up of use.

If you've ever seen a "well used" school Cello you know the edges get all beat up and abused. So I've installed Bumpers along the edges to keep the Cello in good shape, longer.

In September, when the Middle School string teacher picked up her Cello and a couple of other instruments she mentioned she had a broken Cello in her car. A reputable violin repair shop had said it wasn't worth the cost of fixing it. I don't have their overhead. So, it's all fixed, strung up, and bumper attached. For a super-cheap plywood cello, it sounds quite nice. It will respond well for some fortunate student!

While the teacher was over she mentioned she had a lot of very small students so she could really use some 14" Violas. Yes, you can just string up a full-size Violin with Viola strings so they have something to play until they get bigger.

But a 14" violin can't give them any real resonance on the low "C" string. The body is too small. So this gives me an opportunity to see if my Fusion Viola idea can help small violas.

I started with plans to make three Fusion 14 Violas where I take two 15 1/2" plates and shift them for a 14" reach. Got everything started and moving. Then, I realized that it would take a 17" viola case to fit one of these instruments. So I shifted plans and have shortened 2 molds to make two Fusion 14's that shift 15" plates to 14" playing length.

15 1/2" plates shifted

I was able to purchase a Quilted Maple board for this set of Fusion Violas. I can't wait to see how they look when all finished.

I'm also re-using my old Tertis Viola mold and making a pair of 14" Tertis style Violas. They're almost an inch wider than a typical Violin. I'm hoping to adjust the height of the ribs so that the internal air volume supports the low "C," giving it extra strength to the tone in spite of the small size.

RockBridge Academy, Crofton, MD

Having made the 15" Violas for Benjamin Tasker and Nicholas Orem Middle Schools, I approached Rockbridge's String Teacher to see if they could use any instruments.

Here are 2 more 15" Violas, one a repeat of the Stainer Viola, and one built off of the arches Del Gesu Guarneri used on his violins.