You'd better be as good as Vanessa Mae, Arif

From being a guitar-student drop-out 30 years ago, I now have the privilege to choose a violin for Arif that should last him to his diploma (in violin) level and perhaps will take him through performing!

Of course there is a price to pay to have that privilege - one need to have a fat wallet!

And I definitely don't have one, beyond the fact that my wallet is fat due to my habit of sticking receipts into my wallet - grocery bills, petrol receipts; you name it, they are all there!

To my untrained ears, they all look and sound alike; be it a RM2000 violin or the whopping RM10,000 (or more) violin.

Much like a Matsalleh who would say that, to his eyes, all Malays look alike, or even to the extent that he can't tell the difference between say a Malaysian and an Indonesian.

Arif has been playing his RM300 violin that he got upon starting his lesson a couple of years ago and now has progressed so much to a grade high enough that he needed a 'handmade' violin to perform for his Associated Board of Royal School of Music (ABRSM). He needed something reasonably good; something that would not impede his progress when the examiner from London tests his playing skills.

But how does one choose a violin?

In my world, it is easy. I can decide on the brand (say HP), and if I were to take it to say their service centre, they would be able to tell the exact specification of the notebook or if they were genuine at all and the year of manufacture. I can ask for 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD. I can tell them I want a Samsung DVD player with certain reading speed etc. I know too, that when it says my notebook is made in Japan, I can rest assured that it is made in Japan.

But not 'intagible' instrument like violin.

A German violin may be made in China. A handmade one may actually be made in the factory. Anyone can just put a sticker that says it is a Stradivari violin and people like me would not be able to tell the difference.

Actually there are guidelines vailable on how to choose a violin. The maker (the Stradivari, the Vuillaume, the Gagliano or the Scarampella), the country of origin (Italy or Germany of China), the age (the older the better), the condition etc would be a guiding criteria. But again, they are all ambiguous.

But nothing is as ambiguous as the tone!

There are hundreds of adjectives that describe the tone of a violin: "warm, lyrical, rich, clear, deep, smooth, brilliant, and on and on. How do you define warm? Or for that matter lyrical?

I have no idea, to be honest.

I am also told power is such an important criteria for violin; there is a reason why an orchestra would have 35 violins and only 3 flutes!

So this afternoon, after taking James and Peter for a satay Kajang treat, Arif's violin teacher brought 3 violins with price range from RM4300 to RM7800. Two of them are Chinese-made violin, while the most expensive one is of course the German one (Klauss Heffler). The Chinese made violins were marketed under the name of a Singapore-based company (Synwin).

(This is a cheapest of the two Synwin)

Honestly, if you were to ask me, I can't tell the difference.

(This is the second Synwin)

I can't tell which one is more lyrical, or warmth and apparently neither could Arif!


(This is German-made. It is expensive)

So I asked his teacher for her opinion.

"Actually what I brought you today are all in the same range in term of sound quality. The German violin is more expensive since it is made in Germany, and that it is more of an investment, as you can sell it easily compared to the China-made one. Then again, it is a matter of prestige if anyone were to get a German one!"

She was upfront with me.

I have not decided on which one to get him. I don't just, for the sake of buying him one, take out a cheque and sign away RM7800 for anything. It is a lot of money for me to give to a 17-year old kid, even if I had hope that he would have the traits of Hassan (as in Hassan, pemain biola or penggesek biola in the PRamlee's classic Anakku Sazali).

But I am also hoping, if he can be as good as Vanessa Mae, I would close my eyes and sign my life away!

EPILOGUE

I guess that's the end of my dream of getting some new toys for myself ;-) Aaah, man, I am a typical dad. The kids would be wearing branded goods while the dad would wear singlet and slipper! Hahaha....

Now I am wondering when Akmal would be asking for his hand-made Spanish guitar.

I guess I would have to sign my life away to the devil! Not!

Then again how did Hamzah Dolmat or Idris Sardi (the famed Indonesian violin player) came into being in this industry, if it is that expensive? Or may be they make do with a cheap violin and pour their heart out and became great players before they opt for say an expensive violins?

Point to ponder, Arif.