[rhythmic percussive music]
*
[somber bass music]
*
- Susan Lipkins: I love bows; I've always loved bows.
When I was in school, I just wanted always a better bow.
So I'm a little bit bow crazy.
*
I decided to specialize just to make bass bows.
[scraping]
Most bow makers don't want to make bass bows.
[somber bass music]
You use twice as much material.
It takes twice as much time to make,
but it can produce the most glorious sound.
*
- Alexander Hanna: The bow is often just as important or more important
than the actual instrument you have.
'Cause it's really, this is where, you know,
all of the heart and soul of the sound comes from,
is everything you do with your right hand.
I had been waiting for about four years
for the wonderful bow maker Sue Lipkins
to make me this bow.
And I'm really, really lucky to have this bow.
[gentle music]
- Susan Lipkins: Well, I moved here in 1997.
*
I was a single mom with Akira, my young son.
His dad died when he was six.
*
So after I start a bow and the bow is roughed out,
then we bend the stick
to a camber or the curve.
We use a dry heat.
When the bow is hot enough,
I push down on the stick and get the curve.
[light upbeat music]
But at this stage we need to tweak the camber.
Right here, that's gonna be 9 millimeters,
and let's see, I want, yeah,
right here, 9.5.
I have small planes that I had specially made.
This one has a little bit of curve on the bottom.
*
It's very difficult to use a flat plane
as there's so much curve.
So let's see, I've got 9.5.
So I'm gonna take a half a millimeter off,
and this, I got a ways to go, all right.
*
I grew up in Queens, New York City.
I was lucky to be in a junior high school
that had a string program.
And the teacher demonstrated each instrument and said,
"Now, who wants to play the violin?"
And I raised my hand, but he didn't call on me.
Viola, didn't call on me.
Cello, he didn't call on me.
And the only instrument left was the bass.
And it was a pure accident.
*
I ended up really enjoying the bass and went to Juilliard.
I have a bachelor's and a master's
in performance on bass,
but once I graduated, I couldn't get a job.
I was schlepping the bass all over on the subway.
Horrible. [laughs]
*
Then I got offered a job as a salesperson
for the shop of William Salchow,
who taught most of the bow makers in this country.
I thought if Bill would agree to teach me
bow-making after hours, this is a skill I could use.
And it was a fantastic training.
*
So this is my horsehair; it comes from China.
I try and get the best horsehair I can,
but it's also how you put the hair in.
The tension of the hair is really important.
[gentle music]
The Violin Society of America, every two years,
they hold a competition.
*
And I started competing in 2002, didn't win anything.
There was a kind of a looking down,
"Oh, she makes bass bows."
It's not that easy to get it in, especially in a bass bow.
It was a struggle for a number of years.
Then slowly
my bows started to win certificates of merit.
*
And then my entry won a gold medal,
and I was so thrilled.
And that was a glass ceiling broken,
because no woman had ever won a gold medal
in that competition.
Then the next competition, my bow won another gold medal.
So they finally recognized my work as top-notch.
*
Okay, that's looking pretty good.
Ian.
- How are you doing?
- Very good.
Let's talk a little bit
about what I'm gonna make for you.
I do have a long waiting list for my bows.
It's about ten years long.
One of the reasons is,
because I don't make bows very quickly.
I really take my time.
I have to make sure everything is perfect.
How tall are you?
- I am 5'11.9999".
- Okay. [laughs]
I'm happy if I make eight to ten bows a year.
How big are your hands?
- They're... - Oh, yeah.
- Yeah. I got some mitt. - Okay. Okay.
Okay. Very good.
I know what I'm gonna make, right? And--
- I do want the full Sue Lipkins experience.
- Okay. [laughs]
You're gonna get it.
I'm gonna start working on it very soon.
- Sweet. - Yeah.
[light music]
Well, right now, I'm looking for a blank,
a bow blank that I will use for Ian Hallas.
*
I want to give him a lot of camber.
So I want to look for a piece of wood
that's the right density and dark color.
This is wild.
This is a really wild wood.
[laughs]
Most bow makers use Pernambuco wood.
*
So one of the properties of Pernambuco,
if you tap it, it sounds like a crystal goblet.
[wood clanging]
So that was one.
[wood clanging]
Hear the difference? It's amazing.
[wood clanging]
This is good.
If I can get this one to work, it'll be a beautiful bow.
That's it. I chose. [laughs]
[upbeat jazzy music]
*
I met David in 1999
at a two-week bow-making
and violin-making workshop at Oberlin College.
But I didn't know anything about him, really,
except, "Oh, he's a violin maker."
*
- David Wiebe: I started to notice Sue,
and at the end of the two weeks,
I was able to get her email.
- And I fell in love.
[chuckles]
[gentle music]
David moved in here in 2002 when Akira was 11
and helped raise him in a beautiful way.
He taught him how to be a man and gentle at the same time.
*
- Several years ago, Sue wanted me
to make a bass for her.
I used this highly figured walnut
and sized it all
accommodating the string length that she wanted.
[bass music]
*
- One thing that the Juilliard training did for me,
I can make assessments about what the bow will need...
Wow.
For the final camber and finishing.
[rapid bass music]
It's very interesting.
I'm tempted to leave this bow just way it is.
Welcome, welcome! - Hi!
- Hi, Lizzie. - Good to see you.
- Good to see you too.
- Lizzie got on my waiting list
when she started Juilliard.
So let's go upstairs. - All right. Thank you.
- What are you gonna play, Lizzie?
- Lizzie Burns: This is a piece called "Psy" by Luciano Berio.
I chose it, because I thought it would show off
the strings of your bow really well.
[rapid bass music]
*
- I thought for sure
I would get to her bow before she graduated,
but it didn't happen.
*
Finally, her name came to the top of the list.
And it just so happened
it was right before she was getting married.
So it was a very exciting thing to make a wedding bow.
[laughs]
*
I want to make the best bow out of that piece of wood.
I want to do it justice. That's what I strive to do.
*
But I'm still learning,
and that's the beauty of bow-making.
*
Yeah, really cool! - Nice, yeah!
- That's great.
Yeah. [laughs]
Thank you so much.
- Of course, thank you. - Yeah.