Most all musicians of varying abilities have seen a social media phenomenon where professional players make comparisons between cheap instruments and expensive instruments. Sometimes these professionals acquire extremely cheap instruments to demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument or lack of when pushed to its limits. At times the listener is surprised that sometimes the inexpensive instrument comes very close to the sound quality produced by the higher quality instrument. This basically leaves the listener with questions about why the professional chooses to play on a multi-million dollar instrument when another instrument seemingly does the job. Another question comes to mind where the beginning or intermediate musician wonders why they can’t make their instruments sound as wonderful.
Let’s explore some thoughts on the matter…
At one time, a young student of mine was turning in a little, old, impervious but decent Kay cello. It was time to upgrade and so I accompanied the student and the mother to a local string instrument store to help them select an instrument. The decision came down to two instruments. One was a cello for purchase and the shop owner was offering a killer deal; he needed to sell an instrument. The other cello was a rental cello. I played both instruments so that the student and his mother could compare. They really liked both instruments nearly equally, but because the lesser quality rental sounded good, they decided to take the rental to save money...much to the shop keeper’s chagrin. The point of this story is, an experienced musician can pull the best out of any instrument. My student is very good, but it will be quite a while before he can pull that type of sound. So the moral of the story is: any instrument will sound as good as your current ability allows.
Why don’t professional musicians play the cheap instruments? Several years ago, we had a cellist, Carlos Prieto, provide a concert consisting of all six Bach Suites. Carlos can probably be categorized as a top amateur and/or professional cellist (depending upon your definition of “professional”) as he actually had a job in the field of science before he returned to his love of cello. I greatly admire his drive. I do not remember the circumstances as to how he did it, but he acquired the Piatti Stradivarius, wrote a book about the history of that particular cello, and went on tour. The book he wrote was titled The Adventures of a Cello, which is a very interesting read! However, usually when I go to hear a performance, I have heard of the cellist, who happens to have a fantastic instrument. In this case, the fame of the cello came before the cellist.
The concert was very focused on the wonderful instrument and secondly, the man that played it. This of course lends one to believe that the best cellists in the world have amazing, antique instruments not only for their quality, but naturally it adds to the performer’s credentials to be worthy to have such an instrument. It’s no mistake when people attend performance Q&A sessions, it generally includes someone from the audience asking the performer about their instrument. People love the idea of hearing an instrumental voice nearly 300 to 400 years old.
I had a confession that I told my luthier, Christopher Dungey, a couple of years ago. When I was younger, I had the opportunity to see a concert with Yo Yo Ma and attend a masterclass. During the masterclass, he had his Montagnana cello and amazingly allowed the masterclass participants to play his cello under the watchful eye of an assistant. Besides being extremely nervous and scared that I would inadvertently break it, I tried playing it. Afterward, I was secretly disappointed. Most likely because of my lack of ability to control the instrument at that point, but I just didn’t like the sound sitting behind it and it was a bit unwieldy. Not trying to be a cello snob, I was just expecting something more magical and easier to use. Embarrassed to admit this to Mr. Dungey, he could see why I would feel that way as I explain in the following paragraph. May I also add that a high quality instrument does not suddenly make a beginner, intermediate, or advanced cellist sound like a professional. Let’s reestablish the fact that it is truly “the touch of the master’s hand.”
Antique instruments have some concerns. This is important to keep in mind as uninformed cellists can make the age of the cello more important than the sound quality for bragging rights when acquiring an instrument. If you watch Lynn Harrell’s 100th birthday tribute to his cello teacher Orlando Cole, he addresses an issue with aging instruments concerning their “health” with their sound and power. Cellos from luthiers such as Montagnana, Amati, Gofriller, and Stradivarius were definitely the gold standard and very few luthiers were able to recreate the quality which gave them their beauty not only in sound but also aesthetics. As time passes however, old wood becomes fragile and brittle. The flexibility in the front and back pieces for vibration becomes limited. Some of these instruments had been cut down from their original bass violin size to match the typical cello size we see today (Fun Fact: Zuill Bailey’s Gofriller was saved from size reduction by the intricate rosette carved into the front of the cello located under the fingerboard. Fingerboards used to be shorter so the rosette was visible in its original form). Again, some of these cellos have not always been cherished or preserved in their best form during their long lives and have been repaired countless times. Some to the point that they cannot be played and are now silenced; displayed in museums. We know that cracks in the front and back of the instrument are structurally concerning, even if they have been set and glued. All of these elements can adversely affect the versatility of the instrument, especially in dynamics. Additionally, playing a very powerful piece on an antique instrument can be worrisome due to the physical power required/effort, and fear of damaging the instrument; especially if it is not responding to the performer. Quite a few professional musicians have old instruments, but they also possess newer instruments made by modern luthiers. Lynn Harrell preferred to play his Dungey cello in many settings. Yo Yo Ma owns a modern Moes cello and a Luis and Clark carbon fiber cello in addition to his antique instruments. Some instruments made by modern luthiers have beaten the best antique instruments in blind, sound-quality international competitions. Due to scientific advancements and the ability to examine and measure these antique instruments, many modern luthiers have cracked the unreachable Stradivarius “quality” code. The owner of the string instrument shop I mentioned before, pointed out that during the late 1990’s and 2000’s, Chinese luthiers undercut the modern European instrument factory makers and put them out of business. In their quest to take over the market, they produced high-quality instruments at an extremely reasonable price during this time frame.
I owned a little German cello during my youth and some of my adult years. It worked fine for everyday orchestral pieces and gigs. As I began taking lessons again as an adult and moved into advanced concerti, I began to develop repetitive hand injuries in both my right and left hands as well as back issues. I was learning that my cello, even though it had a nice mellow tone, lacked volume and had serious tone issues with thumb position string crossings; not cool when playing Haydn C Major Concerto third movement. About this time, I was looking to upgrade my instrument and ended up purchasing a custom-made Dungey cello. I was really concerned about my hands as I was discovering that my German cello may have been closer to a ⅞ size cello and my Dungey ZB Edition definitely had a noticeably longer string length comparative to my old cello. After a time of my cello and me getting used to each other, I was amazed to find that my hand and back issues were disappearing. My physical problems weren’t so much an issue of bad technique, but trying to force my old instrument to do things that it couldn’t do easily due to quality, volume, and tone issues. The instrument had been outgrown technically. Because of this experience, I would argue that professionals can make nearly any instrument sound great, but would they like that as their primary instrument? I argue that with time, the effort required to play a low-quality instrument may cause adverse physical tolls upon the player that a beginning or intermediate player would not encounter with the same instrument due to technical difficulty of repertoire.
When watching videos of professionals demonstrating instrument quality, it’s important to consider the hidden factors that may affect a listener’s perception and beliefs that may make the video more fantastical than it really is. It is also important to listen to your teacher, your budget, your technical needs, and your body when deciding the correct instrument for you. Do not draw the conclusion that if you don’t own an Amati you will never be good enough. Most professionals did not receive their fine instruments until they were in graduate studies or working professionals. There are many instrument options out there that can help you in your quest for your definition of excellence.