Why Violin Bows Are So Expensive | So Expensive

[Music] in 2017 a single violin bow sold at auction for 690 thousand dollars you can buy a beginner's bow for less than 50 but a top-rate professional bow can often cost thousands of dollars a bow like this is completely handcrafted by skilled artisans and just one can take an entire week to make even the most subtle differences in the way a bow is made will change how well it plays [Music] so why would someone pay so much for a bow and what makes it so expensive [Music] violin bows are far more complex than they appear and so much of what sets the value of a bow comes down to the artisan who makes it [Music] [Music] has spent the last 30 years mastering this craft at her family shop to begin building a bow she needs raw materials from specific regions of the world the most essential are purnim muco wood from brazil and horse hair from mongolia that cost 900 a pound typically horses in cold climates have thicker and stronger hair which won't break as easily while playing this importance of it colorful because of this wear and tear even professional ones must be re-haired every three months which is a large part of a bow maker's restoration work so much of this process relies on the natural instinct of a bow-maker [Music] perspective refers to bows that are too stiff for a musician to maintain balance they must be sturdy yet flexible enough to move fluidly please every small alteration by the bow maker from carving the head of the stick to tweaking the curve of the bow determines how well a bow will play and ultimately sets the final value [Music] um so even as ideal as this wood is for bows it's up to the bow maker to determine that the shape of the stick is just right then sandrine must consider the age of the wood another time-consuming element of the process [Music] is [Music] has restored bows made by master artisans from hundreds of years ago these bows only remain playable with routine repairs but because of their rarity in centuries-old wood just one of them can be worth tens even hundreds of thousands of dollars whether a bow is ancient or modern each one appeals to different people and it's up to the musician to decide whether the price and quality of sound are worth it [Music] like sandrine many esteemed artisans have studied this craft in france where prominent french bow makers like francois xavier tort developed the modern bow bow makers don't typically go to school as you would with violin making instead many must train as an apprentice for three years under a master bow maker that tradition continues for sandrine today as she shows the next generation how to make bows by hand [Music] m [Music]

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 527,886

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, violin, violin bows, instruments, music, france, artisan

Id: eUqANggt0iU

Length: 6min 17sec (377 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 10 2021