Someone recently asked me what the difference could be between buying an old or a new instrument.
This got me thinking and I am not sure there is one clearcut answer to this question, but I thought I would write down a few reflections over this subject and hope someone find it interesting.
There is no doubt that the old violins of the famous makers of the 17.th an 18.th century holds a fascination to modern day players and violin makers alike. They represents unique pieces of art that amazingly are still in use.

We can hear the voice history ring out across the centuries whenever the bow is brought to the strings. Musicians are artists and also storytellers and playing an old instrument I believe helps in this regard as it becomes a vessel of history.

Some instruments in fact have been on incredible journeys in order to reach the hands of their modern owners. A great example would be the instruments of the Violins of Hope as each and every one of these violins have been the property of survivors of the holocaust before and during the war. I have not had the pleasure to hear them played however I can only imagine the emotion a musician must feel when playing one of these treasures. These emotions transcends any objective judgement of the instrument.

So what are the arguments in favor of contemporary instruments?

Centuries of knowledge

Contemporary makers have access to a catalogue of knowledge unique to our modern age.
Even though we practice a craft that has changed very little over the past 400 years we are equally blessed by how easy access we have to a huge amount of research on the works of the old masters that are being conducted every day by other makers, scientists and other experts within the field.
This of course gives us a huge advantage when perfecting our skills so that we can build the best instruments possible.

Sharing is caring

Sharing of knowledge between makers is another advantage point that we have nowadays and it is something that lifts all of us to a higher level. That is true in many fields and especially violin making.

If we look at the making of a violin as a scientific experiment in search of the ideal sound, progress is extremely slow on your own. Usually you count about 200 hours for the making of an instrument and if you want to test out a hypothesis you only want to change one small detail from time to time. It does not take a lot of calculating to discern that putting many minds together means that we all will advance much quicker.

Putting your own spirit into the instrument

This argument might get a bit cooky. As i was arguing in the beginning of this post musicians are storytellers and playing an instrument with a lot of history certainly can help in that process. However there can be an equally great value in knowing you are the first owner of an instrument that is hopefully going to survive centuries. Then you as a musician have the possibility of playing a little bit of yourself into the instrument.