BERNARD OUCHARD; BASS 1962There are many reasons to why Bernard Ouchard, was one of the most estimated and respected bow makers of France; it was he who began to reintroduce the great school of the Tourte and Persoit, and I personally have another one; the beautiful gift he has given my instrument.
Contrabass bow Bernard Ouchard 1962 The object in question, is a rare bow that hasn't any need of authenticity certification of the making year and craftsman. The reason is simple: The owner, Master Franco Petracchi, bought the bow directly from Vidoudez in 1962. I must thank for possibility I have had to photograph, measure and copy the bow.
Bernard Ouchard had an introverted character which wasn't particularly suitable for commercial. When his father Emile Auguste, moved to the United States in 1949, Bernard preferred to work by Vidoudes in Geneva, where he worked until 1971. He dedicated himself to rediscover the antique French tradition. A tradition which had almost been forgotten by the tons of more or less poor made bows made in the period of the second half of the 19th century and a great part of the 20th century.
All the most important musicians of the time, went the noted workshop of Vidoudes, and it was therefore possible to study the styles and mechanics used by all the great craftsmen on every kind of bows - except the bass bow.
The antique school has made very few bows to my instrument; I am only aware of one bass bow made by F.X. Tourte, and another made by Dominique Peccatte, and there are several reasons to this. First of all, the bass reached, or better maybe reached, its definitive measures and dimensions a lot later than the violin and cello. Just think about the instrument made by Giovanni Bottesini (1821/1889) which still had three strings. Furthermore, great craftsmen feel almost insulted when asked to make a bass bow. Not only are they very tiring to make, but compared to the violin bow, they are also easy to make work. The French bass bow began to appear in a larger number, when the workshops started to expand, when they became small factories with manual capacities of all levels. A classic example was the workshop Morizot, where the most skilled craftsman, André Auguste, was entrusted to the making of the violin bows, Louis Gabriel “the fireman”, less talented, made bass bows, and Marcel Louis “the old”, probably the least talented, was doomed to roughing all his life. The number of bass bows began to increase only in the second half of the 19th century, therefore the bass bow inherited completely the new school of mechanic by Francois Nicolas Voirin. Practically there wasn't any representative examples from the early period to study, and Bernard had to do all by himself.
The Bow The bow is made in a dark and dense material which reveals the manual and stylistic capacity of the craftsman. Having chosen an antique mechanic to the bass bow, Bernard had to change the geometric of the bow head. This made him come up against the same difficulties as his distinguished predecessors. Leaving less curve to the last part of the stick, he had to act on the chamfer, the wedge and the ivory tip to correct the projection of the bow head. The problem is - as for the violin bow - to contain the excessive thickness caused by the backwards rotation of the chamfer and the rising of the the wedge; it is just that no one has found an ideal solution nor to the cello bow nor to the bass bow. Not even the good Bernard succeeded completely; at least in this case. The stylistic problem of this head is that it is to long and it does not allow a correct relation between the low circumference of the wedge and the high circumference of the chamfer. It is actually what happens when passing from one mechanic to another; when one is used to particular form he will re propose it; but when finished he will realise that the chamfer and the wedge are not compatible in that same bow head.
The frog is made in an excellent ebony, which a classic to Bernard Ouchard. A deep and circular throat, recalls his kindred origin. A Parisian eye with a small mother of pearl and a bigger silver ring, is also his characteristic, and the slightly conical form is an inspiration form the antique school.
As you can see on the photo MºPetracchi has used the bow a lot. Bass players place the thumb inside the throat of the frog and the result is often a disaster.
The collar is a classic, at least until 1970. Afterwards wide and often not very deep.
We were stimulated by this rare example of a bow with an antique mechanic to take the measures and make some copies. Having played the bass myself, I tried the bows and I immediately understood what many violinists feel when playing with a bow made by my colleague for the first time. The the first day is a struggle; you want to make the bow do something and it rebels. You don't understand why in your mind is crossing “Logically it should be more simple to use, even so, I fatigue more than with the other one”. The second day you begin to sense that if you want to use the bow you will have to understand it and stop violating it. From that moment on, it is a continuous upgrade. After having made three bows we decided to interrupt the production of bass bows. They were a nightmare to sell because no one knew how to use them. The fortunate violinists who have tried bows made in the beginning of the period of bow making, knows that if they do not connect with the bow it almost always depend on them self and not on the bow. Bass players hasn't any craftsman to compare with therefore if they don't connect with the bow, it is the bow that doesn't work. At first these bows gave me some difficulties too, but being an ex bass player and expert in the mechanic of bows, I know for sure that this kind of curve is superior. My ex bass player colleagues snob these bows. Blissful ignorance.
To read more about this topic: BERNARD OUCHARD; THE HUMBLE EDUCATOR FRANCOIS XAVIER TOURTE 1820 - 25 JEAN PIERRE MARIE PERSOIT 1820 C EMILE AUGUSTE OUCHARD; THE BOW MAKER OF TWO WORLDS MORIZOT BROTHERS AND THE SUPER HEROES FRANCOIS NICOLAS VOIRIN 1872/1875 So long, Paolo
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