Violoncello da Spalla Podcast

About Violoncello da Spalla Podcast

Not only classical music: from research to pure fun, through early music, jazz, pop and rock! Musical instruments, repertoire, accessories, technique, people... and everything about Violoncello da Spalla! violoncellodaspalla.substack.com (https://violoncellodaspalla.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Daniela Gaidano & A. Visintini

Category

music · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Dec 2023

Latest episode

28 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

38 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   28 Sept 2026

   Come and meet us in Cremona this weekend!

   Need tickets? Write us at info@violoncellodaspalla.it This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/subscribe (https://violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

2. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Violoncello da Spalla strings update

   Sorry, this will be a long one. But it’s a serious issue, because without strings, there is no Violoncello da Spalla either. It was postponed several times, because it’s not easy to write about things you are so deeply involved with. Frequently asked question: Isn’t the Violoncello da Spalla a Baroque instrument? Why do you use modern strings? Like the violin, the Violoncello da Spalla was born in the Baroque era, but today it’s used with a variety of strings, depending on the kind of music performed and, especially, the voice the performer is searching for. Among our customers, we have musicians who have a professional modern musician job but use the Violoncello da Spalla with gut strings, and others who perform mainly baroque music with modern strings, as well as others who happily mix and match. Unlike the violin, the Violoncello da Spalla is not ascribable to a label, it is not baroque or modern. It personifies the freedom of expression, the pure research of a personal voice, the joy of music performance through access to a super wide repertoire without being ascribed to a fixed role. Which strings are available for the Violoncello da Spalla? Until now we had the choice of 3 manufacturers: Aquila Corde Armoniche (https://aquilacorde.com/corde-musica-antica/violoncello-da-spalla/) Atelier Boussoir (https://www.atelier-boussoir.fr/boutique/cordes/jeux-de-cordes-speciales/) Thomastik Infeld The breaking news is that Thomastik Infeld strings for Violoncello da Spalla are discontinued. The breaking news is that Thomastik strings for Violoncello da Spalla are discontinued. If you are interested in buying from the remaining stock, you should write to Mariana Leszko (mailto:technik@thomastik-infeld.com). Eliakim Boussoir is still offering a range of strings: he doesn’t produce pure gut himself, so he offers the set of historical basses (3 strings) with gut core, a set of historical basses with silk core, and a set of 5 strings balanced as a modern set, with silk core. We personally love them all. I recently got a message from him introducing a new string: a gut core C with tungsten and silver winding. He also said he will need to raise his prices soon, because he needs to restock metal wires (we’ll be back on this serious issue). Atelier Boussoir recently introduced a new C string with gut core and tungsten and silver winding. Aquila Corde is offering an historical set with gut-core basses and pure gut trebles, and a modern set with synthetic core. There is also the option of the “Red” strings, which are synthetic treble strings with a special winding to allow a good grip and response. We’ll be shortly back to Aquila’s sets. If two years ago we already thought that having only 3 choices was not enough, not safe enough to guarantee the continuity of the instrument, now we feel we have to act as we’re potentially facing a real crisis. Making strings is not the first job for Eliakim: he is a luthier and a teacher at Mirecourt violinmaking school. The requests for strings are already saturating his “free” time. Mimmo Peruffo, head of Aquila Corde, despite being retired is always at work: the company is big, making several different kinds of strings, and every day is a battle to solve different issues, from supplies and employees issues, to production settings and quality, to customer care and orders delivery, there is a lot to deal with everyday. The geopolitical situation of this decade, from the pandemic to the wars and duties, is heavily affecting what is otherwise imagined as a traditional craft fundamental for the art of music. Why has Thomastik Infeld discontinued the Violoncello da Spalla strings? Thomastik is a huge company. They need numbers. When I was at Aquila we were battling every week with the accountants, because they wanted us to discontinue gut production, as it was not profitable enough. It didn’t matter (to them) that gut string making was the core mission of the company. Between mapping the availability of good row material, laws and regulations changing all the time for the trade and detention of goods made from livestock’s, transportation of fast deceasing materials or values -gut and silver-, the production taking more than half of the space in the facility, employees needing constant attention because they are working with natural materials subject to changes in quality, and, finally, customers needing attention because a gut string set is every time a custom order, tailored on the specific instrument or musician, all of this took probably more than half of the resources of the company, but this rough number was far from being matched by a corresponding profit. As making ukulele and guitar strings was providing bigger numbers with a much more standardized process, the consultants wanted us to dismiss the gut string production and dedicate the company only to the modern one. There was also a daily internal battle, with the managers always trying -without our consent- to dismiss the small distributors, old friends and luthiers, in favour of big ones that made numbers easily, giving a less attent service to the customers but also less work to the office employees… This long digression on my personal story, to explain why a string company is resistant to making strings for a niche instrument. The more so if it’s a big company that is ruled by a team of managers and not anymore by the enthusiasm of the founder. For a highly automated company like Thomastik, making strings for the Violoncello da Spalla means stopping production on one machine, changing the settings (something that requires the intervention of a technician), making it work for half an hour to produce some dozens of the strings needed, then repeat for the other strings, maybe change machine if the core is of a different kind… It’s probably one full day of work for a couple of people, at the cost of losing a full day of regular production (that could amount to close to 800 strings). The high price of the single da spalla string still doesn’t compensate for that loss. To this, you should add the time of office employees to manage the orders, and the very long inventory period (the strings that are now going out of stock were the second production batch, made in 2022). Years ago they were selling with a minimum order of 12 sets (which meant roughly 6000€ in one purchase), then, after pressure from the market, they set the minimum to 3 sets and recently they took out the minimum order and allowed also single strings purchase. However, they never did the fundamental step of making them available to distributors in the world. The only way to order is through the office manager and technical and development assistant Mariana Lesko. This made Violoncello da Spalla sales more difficult: how can you propose to a shop to carry an instrument when they cannot carry the strings for it? It makes dealers cautious. Now, the Thomastik management team decided to dismiss those strings, which, they said, never gave satisfaction and only brought trouble. Let me add that while they did, several years ago, a great job with Sergey Malov to design the first set, then they didn’t sit at a table again with Sergey to get his feedback and review the work. This would be much needed after a few years, with the growth of experience and research of the possibilities of the Violoncello da Spalla! Now, seeing that even Sergey is trying different strings, they feel their efforts are not rewarded. Anyway, I believe that the real core of the decision is numbers. The Violoncello da Spalla is not comparable in numbers even to the Viola (…yet! 💪🤪). What’s the matter with Violoncello da Spalla strings? Apart from being a niche there is a technical issue. This will be techy, I will try to make it simple. The violin and the cello are perfectly proportioned instruments: at the time where gut was the only option for strings, was it plain or loaded or as a core for a wound string, they were using a vibrating length allowing the first treble string and the last bass to perform at their best, employing four strings tuned by fifths. With the technology available, if you want to go higher, you need to shorten the instrument, loosing power and response in the basses, and if you want to go lower, you need to go with a longer instrument, loosing the possibility to tune your first string likewise as it will break. It’s not a cohincindence that also another family of instruments like viols even if employing more strings, it was always in a range of between two octaves. This are the physical rules of a same-length instruments. Harps, theorbos, archlutes work by changing the length. Back to our Violoncello da Spalla. Its length is roughly 2/3 of that of a big cello. If we stop with our thumb the strings of a cello in fourth position, we have four strings playing at the length of a Violoncello da Spalla with the tuning of the first fourth of a Violoncello da Spalla. So, when gut was the only option, a normal cello set was what was needed for the first four of the cello da spalla. And we believe this was a huge push for “standardizing” this measure of instrument. Modern materials, like synthetic and steel cores, and all different wires for windings, had made things more complicated. But don’t you think they increased much the possibilities: putting it veeeeery simply, they copy the function of old gut strings, and the tension is what is needed to make a string work under a bow at a certain note at a certain length. You cannot go higher and higher, because the tension will increase on your instrument and be too much for it, and you cannot go lower and lower for the same reason: the instrument was designed to support a certain amount of tension. Amplification is what comes at help in the case of six and seven strings violins. However, this huge amount of complications introduced by the widening of the possibilities of combinations between the materials available today into the same phisical rules of the past, is what designer string makers have in mind when I try to explain them the simple fact that the first four string of a spalla are a normal cello set, light tension. They look at me with that “you poor girl have no idea what you are speaking about” look. And if I tell them: please, I’ve been a string maker, I know what I am speaking about, they either laugh at me or back up terrified that I’m there to steal some secret. Anyway, given as a fact that the first four strings are already in the catalogues of all string companies, the trouble comes with the C string. For that, they have to invent something. A heavier core (like steel), heavier windings (like two times silver, or tungsten), etc… and when you design something different you need to find the good balance between the core and the wire, and what eventually needs to be in between to facilitate the respinse of the bow. This is what terrifies them. Hours of trying, wasting of materials, hours of testing, and possibly dealing with feedbacks. Given as a fact that the first four strings are already in the catalogues of all string companies, the trouble comes with the C string. For that, they have to invent something. This is what big companies don’t want to deal with, because they don’t have the resources anymore for this, for them it’s a too huge investment. Why was the Warchal project abandoned? That is why, two years ago, we decided to trust Warchal strings and try a collaboration with them to have a new set. Because they are making top level modern strings, but they are still a rather small company run by the founder. Unfortunately things didn’t go as expected. We had the strong feeling that the cards on the table were being changed at every step, and we decided to let the thing drop. I have never given a (much due) explanation to the 24 people that supported us buying the first C string, so I’ll try to do it now. Everything started with a casual meeting with their representative: “no, we make a different instrument, you can’t do strings for us” - “yes, we can do anything, just come over with your instrument and we’ll work it out”. On their website they advertise strings tailored on the instrument: you leave your instrument with us for 3 days and you’ll get your custom set. So we got in touch, and we arranged a meeting. We drove 2000 km and brought them 3 spallas with 3 different modern set of strings. They were so kind to host us in their beautiful town in the heart of Slovakia, but they didn’t allow us into the facilities. I was expecting to work a bit together, but it was very clear that they were scared I was there to spy something. So I left them my personal instrument, not imagining that it was to be left in a factory to some workers for tests. I mean, I trusted the man who had been a professional violinist, but I wouldn’t be keen of leaving my instrument with a worker I knew nothing about. I didn’t get any damage. After 3 months with my instrument, they got out with a C prototype and the request of a test on the market: they wanted to know if the market was receptive enough, so we settled the launch of the C string, and we sold 27 in less than a week. But here came another surprise: the orders had to be made in multiples of 30 (!!). And they didn’t want to deal with customers even later, so we had to be their exclusive distributor (an honor we didn’t ask for, exclusivity for one year) and place orders of minimum 30 sets, but this only after leaving them my instrument again for months to design the rest of the set. This is when we dropped. We were aiming for a modern set easily available worldwide, instead we ended up with solution even more complicated than with Thomastick. The distribution issue is a serious concern, because shops want to deal with big distributors that have everything. When I was running a European ukulele distributor, a decade ago, I had a wonderful brand of ukuleles, with a very good money/value proportion. Much better than anything else in the european market. However it was difficult because shops didn’t want to focus on ordering good ukes from us, despite the wide margins and no minimum order policy. They preferred to order from big distributors and put in the same order drum sticks, headphones, kazoos, a couple of ukes and a piano… no matter the quality of the ukes. Same is for string distribution, shops won’t order a single set from a luthier overseas, they need them to be available in the big distribution. I know Warchal’s change of attitude was also driven by a mishappening on Facebook. He entered the da spalla community group, announced he was working on da spalla strings, and someone was very bad at him, insulting his father. He expected the administrator of the group to defend him, but he didn’t, saying he knew the other guy to be a usual hater or troll. So Mr Warchal wrote me that the da spalla environment was very bad and he didn’t want to have anything to do with it anymore. He didn’t know that we had nothing to do with that group. Being in the right groups is not only strategic, but also necessary to enjoy networking. There is another group on Facebook: friendly, tiny and with enthusiastic people involved. It’s the Da Spalla Enthusiasts group. If you want to be part of a community sharing about the Violoncello da Spalla , this (https://www.facebook.com/groups/6006478806077037/?ref=share_group_link) is where to be. What are we doing to face this issue of scarcity of choices of strings? After the failure of the Warchal project, we talked to Pirastro (http://www.pirastro.com/public_pirastro/pages/en/Customized-Strings/). It was my fault to miss a meeting with Pirastro on the previous year, but that invitation came with no precise timing, I tried to show up but they were always busy and I was not bold enough to make me way, and in that moment I still had trust in Warchal despite him making me pressure to avoid contacts with any other brand. How stupid of me! Last year I settled that meeting with Pirastro properly, but it didn’t go well. I had two people listening to me while introducing the Violoncello da Spalla and its issues, the tecnical director and the sales manager. They told me they would write me back, but they didn’t, and I heard rumors that they are discontinuing Viola da gamba strings because they don’t make big enough numbers. But these rumors could be just rumors as I still see them in their catalogue online. I tried to write an email to see if they would be interested in another meeting in Cremona this year, we’ll see. Our customer Martin is originally from Mainz and he would be available to go to their facility with the instrument to test strings. This year in Mondomusica we have two more meetings. Larsen (https://larsenstrings.com/) strings already made clear that they are not interested in producing a Violoncello da Spalla set, but they welcomed me to go and visit them anyway to show them the instrument. The other meeting is with the Dogal (https://www.dogalstrings.it/it/azienda) string company, a relatively small company family owned. We think they might provide something interesting because they have many niche instruments in their catalogue, so they shouldn’t be intimidated by the da spalla. They are based close to Venice, so we could easily have a close collaboration with them, the logistic is not a problem. They make modern strings since the 50s, mainly with metal core or, more recently, even with synthetic core. So, finger crossed for these two meetings! Since May, when the first rumors of Thomastick discontinuing strings reached us, we reopened our collaboration with Aquila Corde Armoniche (https://aquilacorde.com/corde-musica-antica/violoncello-da-spalla/) to help them designing a set which is powerful, responsive, projecting and with a good tension. When we approached Mimmo, he was already conscious of the need of reviewing his strings, and we were in need of a good set of gut strings to bring to Berkeley for the restaured Hoffmann. So, we are driving there whenever is needed to help test strings on our instruments and give our feedback. In one day we can test five or six prototypes in a row, making progresses way faster than having every single string, every single step, shipped to us and then making videos and both sides having to stop what we are doing to put in place a single tiny step of the process. With a few hours of work together we can achieve much more. Why is Aquila changing the strings design again? Violoncello da Spalla strings contained a huge amount of silver wire. In the past 20 years the price of silver has been quite stable around 0.40 € per gram, raising to 0.60 € (+50%) after 2020. On the 29 of January 2026 it was at 3.18 € per gram, + 800% compared to when string prices were established in the catalogue. It’s now fluctuating between 1.60 and 2 € per gram. Between +400% and +500%. I believe Aquila had to restock their silver in February this year, and it was a huge shock. 30K € for a single spool. So, Mimmo decided to discontinue the silver Violoncello da Spalla strings, that were eating out so much silver, because he cannot increase prices of 500%. In the meantime I was insisting with him on the opposite direction. I also tried the “Reds” on the Viola da gamba and found them wonderful. The reds are synthetic strings with a winding of a cheap material that helps with the grip of the bow and the response. I never liked them, but the new version I tried in February were really convincing, so I was pushing to have also a new synthetic set from him. I thought he was resisting to my pressures because of the serious family problems he was dealing with and were keeping him far from work, but when we got to talk better, I realized the problem was the silver price and accepted the idea of changing it for copper wire, more affordable. This required new prototypes and testing, and we started the process in May with very good results. However, troubles were round the corner: a bad supply of gut ruined the summer production and there was more time required to get to a good copper wire, cooked in the right way (Mimmo had to test many to see which cooking stage was the best). At last, the good copper arrived, but… the factory sprayed some oil on it to prevent it to oxidize, so it was not usable again! You’d be surprised hearing the percentage of troubles caused by good intentions! Now it’s finally time to test the good copper with the good gut cores, and test the right quantity of cushion inside for the best grip and response. We’ll be going there this Friday, and if necessary again just after Cremona. I’m sure we’ll get to a good string still affordable. Everybody told me they would be happy to pay more to have the old silver ones, but 5 times more? With shipping and customs, around 2000€ per set? I feel gateful that Mimmo decided to go on and test more and find a solution. It would have been easier to discontinue the strings! So, which strings are now available on the market for Violoncello da Spalla? Aquila Corde Armoniche (https://aquilacorde.com/corde-musica-antica/violoncello-da-spalla/) is offering two sets: an historical one with gut core, and a modern one with synthetic core. Atelier Boussoir (https://www.atelier-boussoir.fr/boutique/cordes/jeux-de-cordes-speciales/) is offering a set of historical basses with a gut core, a special C string with tungsten and silver winding, and another set of historical basses on silk core. Plus, a modern complete set of all five strings wound on silk core. In the “Accessories” section (https://violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/t/accessories) of this newsletter you’ll find some old demo by us on these sets. We’ll keep you updated with new demos soon! If you want to try to buy something from the Thomastik Infeld remaining stock, you have to write to Mariana Leszko at this (mailto:technik@thomastik-infeld.com) address. The e is already out of stock, they actually offered me a h instead (from a da spalla set with a different tuning) 🫣🤪. How about mix and match with strings made for different instruments and from different brands? I am personally not very fond of mixing and matching as a principle, because we like to follow the idea of experiencing what the producer designed for us. When listening to a cd, I never set on “shuffle”, exactly for this reason. In the same way, we like to use a full set with a coherent idea of sound and tensions. However, this might be not the ideal option for everybody, because of availability of strings, shipping and customs, because of some peculiarity of their instrument or simply because they are endlessly researching for new possibilities and for a specific idea of sound, response, articulation. The last is the case of Sergey Malov, who is constantly trying new strings, and sharing with us his findings! At the moment he is set on Thomastik cello G Spirocore S32 light (wolfram) for the D, and Thomastik cello C Soirocore S33 light (wolfram) for the G. He is testing doublebass strings for the C and fractional cello Pirastro strings for the A. If you wish to do the same and try what is around, remember the little math about normal cello strings: the light version well applies to the spalla, but switching one position up: C to G, G to D, etc… If you already have your favorite set, please comment below and let us know, thank you! Important news, save the dates! In October, from 2nd to 4th, we will be exhibiting in Cremona! If you are planning to come to Cremona Musica and you need tickets to get in, write us, we can’t wait to meet you and we’re super happy to send you tickets! This year you will find us in two events simultaneously: Cremona Musica and, for the first time, the Darling Cuvée Exhibition. Want to try a Violoncello da Spalla before they all do in Cremona? Get in touch, we’re happy to welcome you in Meltina, South Tyrol, Italy! Featured video of the week Enjoy this long-waited interview with Sergey Malov in which he is giving insights on his music philosophy: what’s behind the genius? Are you a luthier interested in making a Violoncello da Spalla? In the archive of this newsletter, I documented the whole process, sharing measures and templates. You can check the index and some of the posts at this link, and if you subscribe to a paid plan you have instant access to all the posts and to a private chat where you can ask me any question. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/subscribe (https://violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

3. 

   12 Jul 2026

   Alessandro Visintini’s new Violoncello da Spalla

   _____ Are you a luthier interested in making a Violoncello da Spalla? In the archive of this newsletter I documented the whole process, sharing measures and templates. You can check the index and some of the posts at this link, and if you subscribe to a payed plan you have instant access to all the posts and to a private chat where you can ask me any question. https://violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/t/how-its-made (https://violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/t/how-its-made) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/subscribe (https://violoncellodaspalla.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

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