Mícheál MacAthlaoichViolin-maker
I taught woodwork all my life so I suppose I always had a leaning towards wood. When I was 18 I studied the violin, and I had a dream that one day I would make one.
If an instrument is not made with quality wood the tone will dim; a bit like metal fatigue, you get wood fatigue where the tone loses its power. It's what's in the soil as the tree is growing that gives the wood its power.
Violins are made with Bosnian maple for the back, ridge and neck and the belly is a specific type of spruce. The woods must be high altitude and high latitude species with slow growth and close rings to give high resonance.
I wanted a hobby for my retirement so I did a three-year course. I make the instruments for my own distraction. I leave the playing to my eldest daughter. She has perfect pitch.
The plates can be vibrated and calibrated using tea-leaves or tea dust which allows you to pick up the line of vibrations, known as modes. Invariably Lyric FM is on in the workshop when I'm working. I work about four hours a day. If you've anything on your mind you don't touch the instrument. You have to have a completely clear mind or you could undo 100 hours' work.
The instrument's tone is very bright when it's in the white, or unvarnished. Someone once said it's the varnish that makes the violin. It has a beautiful sound before it's varnished and when you impregnate the wood with a foreign substance that mellows it a slight bit.
My favourite part is hearing the first sound, the bow drawn across the strings for the first time. It's like hearing the voice of a newborn child. Each instrument is as unique as a child.
I'm a member of the Dublin Amateur Luthiers Association and we meet once a month. The average age is probably about 70. Once a year professional players will come and play the instruments. Stradivari wasn't a player but he had access to some of the greatest musicians of his day.
There is a similarity in the instruments I've made. They have a similar voice. I've made five violins and five violas. Now I'm just starting to make a cello. It's my wish to listen to a string quartet playing only instruments I've made some day. There would be something very unique about it.
Contact Mícheál MacAthlaoich at 01-8463202 after 6pm