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Berg Bow Bulletins

April, 2011

Please click here to check out the recent article in The Suit Magazine on Michael Duff about The Craftsman Behind the World’s Greatest Violinists.

April, 2011

Article from the Strings magazine, Jaime Laredo, Augustin Hadelich Take Us Inside the 2010 Indianapolis Violin Competition. 165 violinists from 23 countries compete in the 'Olympics of the violin world' .

September, 2010

Michael Duff presenting a gold mounted 'Tourte-Voirin' model Berg bow to Clara-Jumi Kang, gold medalist of the 2010 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

September, 2010

An expanded endorsement has been gratefully received from violin virtuoso Augustin Hadelich. On December 6, 2009 he wrote saying;

"Michael, the Bergbow crafted by you and awarded to me, as one of the prizes for winning the gold medal at the Indianapolis International Violin Competition in 2006, is excellent. The sound is very beautiful, and the bow has great balance. It always does exactly what you want it to, resulting in clean crisp articulation. I love performing with it."

Augustion Hadelich

July, 2009

New Model Berg Violin Bow:

Berg Bows announces a new model violin bow which very successfully combines qualities of TOURTE and VOIRIN bows. Now our clients can commission bows in the weight range from 57 to 61 grams incorporating these qualities. Those at the lower weight range are not weak as some Tourte bows can be, while those of higher weight still have a nice flexural quality in the lower third of the stick, the octagon region.

The inspiration for developing this model came first from internationally famous virtuoso Mark Kaplan, professor of violin at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music,who favors performing with a very light pernambuco bow, at 56 grams. He tested two prototypes, the first weighing 61 grams, the second weighing 58 grams. The latter is the one now owned by virtuoso Eduard Melkus of Austria. Professor Kaplan praised both highly, specifically their flexural quality. Mr Melkus enthusiastically concurs. Further inspiration for developing the new model came from internationally famous virtuoso Corey Cerovsek, a pupil of the late Josef Gingold. Corey kindly made it possible for me to make detailed measurements of a Voirin violin bow that he favors. The data were very valuable.

The new model is a resounding success. Their sound is resonant and focused yielding crisp articulation, and their response is incredible in the difficult “off string” bowings because of the sticks fast vibration propensity.

Early purchasers of this new model are great masters of the violin, namely; professors Jaime Laredo and Mimi Zweig at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and professor Eduard Melkus retired after many years on the faculty of the famous academy for music in Vienna.

April, 20005

Berg Bows Celebrates 20^th Anniversary

2005 is a very significant year for Michael Duff and Berg Bows, as it represents the sum of 20 years of innovation, experience, and fine bow making. The following is a letter from Mr. Duff reflecting on some of the history as well as current issues involving the Berg Bow.

This year is the 20th. Anniversary of the forming of Berg Bows. Therefore it is appropriate and certainly interesting to reflect on those twenty years. To see how the significantly new standard of bow making fared, measured against the established traditional crafting of performance quality bows from pernambuco wood. For the reader's information Berg Bows pioneered making high quality performance bows, originally violin and cello, followed by viola, employing composite materials and molding technology. I qualify this statement by stressing that Berg bows were from the first year favorably compared to the best bows of the famous French tradition. In the early years there was prejudice, mainly from dealers and traditional makers, but also some, though much less, from respected performers. It is likely that some of it resulted through a lack of understanding, specifically of the unique Berg process and perfectionist standards of craftsmanship. For every step in traditional bow making Berg executes an equivalent step. Nothing is mass produced at Berg Bows, and no technicians are employed. I, Michael Duff, the founder of Berg Bows, do all the molding and crafting. Prior to founding the company I studied with the Danish violin maker Ole Stefan Dahl, an excellent teacher I might add, who had apprenticed with the Hjorth family of violin makers of Denmark. Ole had a great love for and knowledge of pernambuco bows. During several years working beside him a great number of high quality bows passed through our hands, most owned by faculty and students at renowned Indiana University School of Music at Bloomington. Also I was assistant instructor to Mr. Dahl when we initiated a diploma course in stringed instrument technology within this music school. It was the dream of members of the string faculty who successfully wrote a grant applying for funding. These years of experience gave me a great foundation for the Berg bow making project.

My bow work was admired and praised by a respected dealer in Germany, namely Heinrich Dick of Gunther Dick Company. I well remember his comments about the von Bennigsen bow company who were the next to get on the band wagon, but ultimately failed. Heinrich simply said 'They don't know bows' By implication he was telling me that I did know bows. It is true. However I never stopped learning. Many famous performers that reviewed my early work shared their experience with Berg bows. For my part I listened intently. I have much to thank them for. What I did was combine what I was learning from them with my knowledge of the mathematics of bow stick design and the use of our proprietary combination of materials, which I refer to as composite materials. To summarize, Berg Bows have a perfect stick design by virtue of computer and mathematical studies. This endowed the bows with exemplary steadiness and responsiveness. I addition I worked tirelessly to produce a bow which looked like pernambuco wood with its grain and varying colors. This has been the envy of several newer bow making companies employing carbon fiber. Their bows are gray or black and are very different from the tradition. The wood-like beauty of Berg bows are tremendously appreciated by my distinguished clients. Many of them own Tourte and Peccatte bows and expensive instruments like Stradivarius violins. They have said to me that they are proud to place their Berg bow in the case beside their valuable French bows. Beautiful looks are clearly important too.

As the years have passed several new companies have formed that make carbon fiber bows. They vary greatly in quality. Most are student quality and are relatively inexpensive. Because they are shock proof they fill a valuable niche in the market. My perception is that they also are appreciated by students because they generally perform the challenging off-string bowings well. This is a valuable quality for beginners struggling to master these strokes. Their shortcomings are that they are mass produced and to the trained eye they come up short on craftsmanship. They are made by technicians, not by master bow makers. The mission statement of these companies has to be 'Make large profits'. Also carbon fiber bows produce a sound which is not warm enough for the discriminating concert artist. The late Franco Gulli switching back and forth between several Berg bows and his Charles and Domenique Peccatte bows declared the Bergs to have a very 'healthy' and 'clean' sound matched with his Stradivarius violin. Overall it is pleasing to watch these other companies prosper. In the early years the wise pundits predicted failure for them - indeed for all of us. They were wrong!

People sometimes ask 'Why are Berg bows so expensive?' They are so because the craftsmanship is very high quality. Now it is the highest it has ever been, and the sound and performance quality are simply great. If they are 'neck and neck' in quality with famous French bows as so many artists claim, then relative to today's market Berg bows are a great bargain. In addition they are virtually indestructible and do not fatigue or warp with age. Furthermore, again contrary to the wise pundits' predictions Berg bows are also appreciating in value. Another question that I have been asked is 'What makes Berg bows the best - what evidence is there to prove it?' This is an easy question to answer. Study the recordings in the audio section of Berg Bows web site, all performed with Berg bows on very expensive instruments. This testimony stands as strong and unique evidence. New recordings with Berg bows are waiting to be downloaded to CD quality. If you are a Berg bow owner and have a recording that I am not aware of please notify me. It could be added to the list in the listening booth.

One of the problems challenging companies like Berg Bows is that of promoting and marketing. In the early years upwards of thirty thousand dollars was invested in advertising. Two leading journals got most of that. The reward is a great image, but sales were not commensurate with dollars spent. A lot of readers are not professional performers and don't buy bows. Some of that money could have been on a new mold or further research. Another problem with that type of promotion is that you must keep it ongoing. Advertising rates have become exorbitant. You frequently hear it said that word of mouth is the best advertising. I have proved this to be true, however, in the classical stringed instrument world many professionals are very reticent to share what instruments they own with students and colleagues. They appear to be more inclined to talk about their violin, viola or cello than their bows. This may be reflected in an article or noted in the notes accompanying a CD recording. Only once did a world famous soloist and concertmaster (London Symphony) discuss the whole picture and refer in the CD booklet notes to his using his Berg violin bow for his recordings of the complete solo violin sonatas and partitas of J. S. Bach. That artist is Gordan Nikolitch. Bravo Gordan and thank you! When you read this want you to know that your performances and interpretations are the ideal of your famous violist colleague Csaba Erdelyi. I sent him copies and he plays them to his students to inspire and teach them. It saddens me to say that another of my famous clients recently requested his Italian recording company to mention in the notes that he always performs with his Berg bows. They did not act on his request. It is truly time to begin telling the whole story, and believe me the readers of these stories love the details. They tell me so. There is a significant story in print, in Strings magazine I think, about famous bow maker William Salchow saying to a cellist after his concert when he mentioned what cello he performed on, that he ought to have also mentioned that he performed on a Salchow cello bow. Whereupon the cellist replied 'You are right'. This seems to say that the omission to include reference to bows is simply and oversight. It is time to change that. Strings magazine has certainly done admirably in having their featured artists include what bows they perform with. So let me make a further earnest appeal to all artist/teachers to make the change. Share with your students, colleagues and producers of your recordings. Insist, if possible, that they mention your bows in the notes.

Making Berg composite bows for twenty years has been a challenge that has been very gratifying. To make them to comparable quality and aesthetic beauty as top quality French bows is a great achievement. To be the pioneer at that high standard and still maintain first place in overall quality is a major success story. It Francois Tourte's bows represent a milestone in bow making because of their new shape, then Berg bows deserve similar status because of their new materials. My dear friend and colleague in France, Alain Herou, said to me during a shared International Workshop presentation in Biaritz, France, "Michael I see why you have been so successful. You have stayed so close to the tradition in both appearance and sound". In closing I wish to express my gratitude to all string players who have made it possible.

Michael F. Duff (bow maker - founder, sole proprietor of Berg Bows)

P.O. Box 6235
Bloomington, IN 47407-6235

Phone: 812-336-8994
email: bergbows@bergbows.com