As widely known, today¡¯s precision technology can make top quality wood frames for violins (same for violas, cellos and contrabasses). Today¡¯s so-called ¡°white violin¡± has superior wood properties to those available three centuries ago. However, no completed violin today can sound like the old masterpieces of the Renaissance era. It is therefore logical conclusion that the difference lies on the varnishing material and method. Hundreds of musicians and scientists attempted to revive the lost secrets of the Renaissance varnish, especially the Cremonese one, without success.
What made Stradivaris and Guarneris so ¡®perfect¡¯ as musical instruments? Were the ¡®Right¡¯ types of wood and ¡®perfect¡¯ constructing skills all that explain it? If it were true, then why can¡¯t we find better instruments nowadays when today¡¯s advanced technology and precision tools help us make even better wood frames. It has to be the natural conclusion that the difference lies in the varnishing of the instruments.
Today¡¯s varnish is basically artificial, chemical varnish. Fundamentally, it is not much different from the varnish coated on the surface of furniture. Its foremost purpose is to protect the wood from scratches and moisture. However, varnish for musical instruments should do much more than just surface protection. Thanks to decades of effort by Maestro Andrea Bang, it is discovered that the natural varnish used by Cremonese masters completely permeated into the wood frame to transform its cell structure to the one that produces the heavenly sound. Particularly, later works by Stradivari have their interior surface also varnished to maximize the effect. The cross section of the wood frame of Stradivari, therefore, revealed that the permeated varnish both from exterior and interior surface meet with each other and achieve perfect saturation of the wood frame. As a result, the wood frame was transformed to have unequalled uniformity in density, hardness, responsiveness and resonance. This mysterious process can never be achieved by today¡¯s chemical varnish
It is relatively easy to see if an instrument used natural varnish like the Cremonese masters. The instruments with natural varnish show distinct evidence - so called ¡®pockmarks¡¯. Pockmarks are the small pits that are formed on the surface as the varnish dries and hardens. So, pockmarked surface is not smooth, but it is rather grainy to finger touch. No artificial, chemical varnish can leave these pockmarks on the surface.
As shown in the picture below, the surface of Pietro Guarneri 1705 (owned by Cremona In Seoul) clearly shows pockmarks and uneven surface. On the contrary, a violin made in ¡°West¡± Germany, based on a premium white violin, has very silky and smooth surface as shown in the picture. When its varnish was removed within 5 minutes with a simple application of acetone (nail-polish remover), the bright wood surface was revealed. It clearly shows that the varnish had never permeated into the wood to transform the cell structure. Consequently, we can conclude that today¡¯s varnish doesn¡¯t do much more than just furniture lacquers do.
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All of the Maestro Andrea Bang¡¯s instruments have been coated with his natural varnish, the result of his research and development of a few decades. As time passes by, the surface of his instruments begin to show distinctive pockmarks as shown in the pictures below. We can immediately tell the surface is very similar to the ones of Pietro Guarneri 1705.
Maestro Andrea Bang¡¯s instruments don¡¯t just look like the Cremonese masterpieces, but their sound quality is considered to be superior to that of many old masterpieces that evidently begin to show the deterioration of aging. It is because Andrea Bang¡¯s violins, violas and cellos are based on the world¡¯s best wood frames and coated with Andrea¡¯s natural varnish. Furthermore, Andrea Bang¡¯s own specially-treated sound posts and bridges are used to enhance the sound.
Therefore, his instruments are so special that many renowned musicians treasure Andrea¡¯s instrument as their main instruments. It is no more just a dream for a serious musician to own an instrument that looks and sounds like an old masterpiece instrument at its peak sound quality. Today¡¯s so-called ¡®replica¡¯ instruments may look like the genuine ones, but they never sound like the masterpieces.
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