| One day, finally, I got around to making myself a Fiddle. As I was not making it for anyone else it would sound like I wanted it to and it certainly wouldn't look like an attempted copy of Stradivari! I made the fiddle from really old maple that wasn't the most amazing piece of timber to look at but it rang like a bell. The belly was my favorite Sitka Spruce from Canada. I made it quickly with deep gouge strokes in the scroll and full arching on the back and front. The f holes say "here I am and I sound like this". I had some inlay left over from a Viola I had just finished so I decorated the edges with diamond and circle lozenges and finished it with a distressed type varnish which I had only been experimenting with. The result was exactly what I had been after. The sound was rich and deep on the G string and sweet up higher. When people saw it for the first time they usually took a step back; I think violinists thought it might bite them. I now had a fiddle I could play with my friends and one day pass on to my children. The violin lived its first six months without a case, sitting on a table where we had lunch in the workshop. It had many near misses with spilt coffee, dropped capos and much more! It never objected and continued to make my playing sound almost listenable… |
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Everyone who hears Larry Campbell play knows what a great musician he is. William Blake said that music was the most direct communication with heaven…I bet he can hear Larry's playing all over the place! Larry is also a great guy and I am sure his parents must be really proud of him. I am certainly very proud that Larry now has two of my Violins and has helped me in developing my semi - acoustic instruments. The first violin Larry got from me has given me so much pleasure, particularly as I have heard it played on a number of recordings. |
| In 2003 Larry was on tour in Melbourne and as this is my home town we had the opportunity to catch up. As always Larry had his violin with him which was fortunate because I really wanted to fit a new bridge and generally make sure everything was OK. The time schedule was tight as I now live in the country out of Melbourne and couldn't get back for a couple of days because I was going riding motorcycles with Tony. We arranged to meet later in the week back in Melbourne so I would have time to make the necessary adjustments. This created a big problem because Larry would be without a violin for about two days! The prospect of this isn't even worth contemplating. "No problem" I would lend Larry my "workshop" fiddle, I knew he wouldn't be afraid that it would bite him. We exchanged the instruments after a show when there wasn't time to get the fiddle out of its case (the first time it have ever been in a case) to describe what this instrument was. Two days later I arrived in the lobby of the hotel to give Larry back his original violin with the new bridge. I rang Larry's room and was met with an explosion of compliments regarding my workshop fiddle "man it looks like it belongs in a museum… come on up". He gave me the room number but when I got out of the lift I just followed the sound of some of the best fiddle playing I have ever heard. |  |
| I stood outside his room listening for a long time before I knocked, when Larry opened the door he said "what took you so long?" I've been standing out here listening" I said. As usual inside Larry's room there were instruments everywhere, he even had Tony's bass plugged into the computer! I'm thinking, "This guy must have spent a lot of time in his bedroom picking guitar as a kid". Anyway, Larry is really driving my fiddle and while it's singing, he is singing its praises. He was picking up his original fiddle then the other one and vice versa, comparing the merits of each. I was actually more interested in his new guitar which I hadn't seen before and asked politely if I could have a look and maybe play a few chords. "Sure" he say's "go right ahead". So there we are playing and picking and generally just doing our own thing when Larry says while holding my workshop fiddle (and this is the point of the story)… "I know what song this fiddle has got in it" "Oh yeah what's that" I say Larry says "It's in the key of D". O.K. So I am ready with his guitar round my shoulder and my fingers forming the standard D chord, pick sweating in my fingers. Larry picks up the bow and gets ready to hit those strings just like Vassar would. The bow comes down in a double stop on the D & A strings and through a burst of rosin dust I immediately recognize "Faded Love". I lasted about two bars. Larry stops and starts explaining the chord changes to me. "No it's not that" I say "It's just that…well…" Larry could see I was getting a bit flustered and asked what was wrong. I tell him that every time…yes every time without exception that when I complete an instrument I play a certain song to see if the instrument is successful. To confirm whether it can communicate and if William Blake, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams can hear it. That tune is Faded Love! |
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I told Larry this fact. I looked at him and he looked at me, we turned and both looked at the fiddle then sort of coughed and said "mmm…yeah….Right…OK…let's go and get some breakfast". Of all the music that has ever been written Larry sensed the very tune and the very key of the song by which I judge my work. I knew right away what that fiddle was saying to me. It was saying "Thanks buddy for bringing me into to this world but with all respect you have played me out of tune, your timing is erratic. You have dropped crumbs on me and left me alone at night in a cold workshop. Now I have seen the light. I now know the heights to which I can aspire and know that I can reach them in the comfort of a warm, padded case. I have found someone who understands me and will look after me…so long it's been good to know you". |
