Welcome to Bob's Blog. This page allows me to discuss what's important to me, or, failing that, to ramble or vent about whatever I happen to be thinking of at the moment. Agree? Disagree?

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May 3, 2008

Chinese Violins and Bowling Ball Economics

Chinese violins will be what saves the New Violin Family, given a few breaks and a stiff tailwind. Here's why I think so.

In the 1970s, when I was still teaching in public school, the first of the infamous Ebonite clarinets appeared on the market. Ebonite is a strong and dense material that was used to make bowling balls, so you know that it could take a lot of abuse. The clarinets were not really the items of most interest, however: it was what came next--Ebonite bassoons. For those of you who don't know much about this double-reed instrument, a bassoon looks like a bundle of tall sticks lashed together and studded with more keys than most people have fingers. It has a wonderful, distinct sound that is called for in almost all orchestral and wind band writing. Bassoons have traditionally been made by hand of wood, and they have always been very expensive. What all of this has to do with Chinese violins, the octet instruments, and economics will become clearer in a moment.

In the 1970s, a basic, shop-built bassoon cost up to $4,000, which was often more than the entire annual budget for a typical high school music department. Many schools tried to provide the instruments that students could not be expected to buy, but the bassoon was beyond them. Consequently, we were a nation of high school performing ensembles that rarely had a bassoon, let alone the two that are usually called for in orchestral scores. The result was stultifyingly predictable-- no bassoons, no bassoonists.

When Ebonite bassoons came to market at half the price or less, it was a revelation. The schools with more generous budgets were able to buy them, which enriched the musical experience of all the students. Competitors appeared on the scene, and prices fell even further, allowing still more schools with lesser budgets to begin adding bassoons to their inventories. As the number of students playing bassoons rose, there was a demand for better quality and sound. The industry responded, and even some professionals began to buy these "plastic bassoons" for garden gigs. But there was a dark side to this bright phenomenon.

Individuals and very small shops in the business of producing artist-grade bassoons by hand saw their world collapsing. How could the makers of $10,000 bassoons compete against production shops that sold nearly the same thing at one-fifth the price? The answer is that some of them couldn't, and doubtless some marginal shops closed their doors. But there was a bright side to this dark series of events-- bowling ball economics.

Now there were thousands of high school groups all over the country that had bassoonists, and as these players left high school and wished to continue playing, they began to demand even higher levels of acoustic excellence for university and professional use. The best players began to patronize the individual makers because hand-made, wooden bassoons still produced the best sound. One might argue that the situation today in this specialized field is actually much better than it was in the 1970s when only a very few professionals could afford to buy hand-made bassoons.

This same kind of bowling ball economics, if applied to the instruments of the new violin family, should ultimately produce the same kind of results. This is where the Chinese come into the picture. Very quietly, the violin has become a hugely popular instrument in many Asian countries. Factories sprang up in China to supply the domestic market, and many of them have excess manufacturing capacity. These companies have found it profitable to sell to western markets. The factory that I deal with has been eager to learn about the new instruments and willing to produce them initially in ones and twos for sale in the USA, and they can do so at prices much lower than we hand makers charge for our individual instruments.

It might seem that if I follow my own advice, eventually I will put myself out of business. It's hard to step back and take the longer view, but at this stage of the game, if the octet violins are going to gain a foothold, we have to understand that it is far better to sell 10 mezzo violins at $1,000 than it is to sell one mezzo violin at $10,000. A little pain now: a lot of gain later. Otherwise we learn the old lesson anew-- no mezzo violins, no mezzo violinists. If there is no market base, it doesn't matter how exclusive your product is, how well made it is, or how expensive it is.

Inexpensive Chinese violins could be shipped to shops that would rigorously check them and adjust them so that they meet the minimum standards for octet violins. While this adds to the cost, the final price of the instrument is still very low, and the instrument itself plays well above the usual violins of this class and represents an excellent value for the money. This is certainly not a new way to do business, but I think it would be the first time this kind of economic approach has been used to promote a cause. It's worth a try, and now is the time to get the ball rolling!