The Classification of the Arcus Bows

Why is the bow so important for the sound of a violin/viola/cello/double bass?
Why do our bows come at so very different price points and how do we classify our bows?
The vibration of the string is coupled to the vibration of the bow. And one doesn't work without the other. So the string and the bow together make the resonance which is then amplified by the instrument.
Essential for our classification of the bows is the sound quality, meaning that we are classifying the bows according to their quality of the sound.
So like violin makers would tap on wood to hear its resonance quality, we tap the carbon sticks and listen to their response: How long do they vibrate, how easy, how smooth and so on.
There are many different factors that affect the quality of the sound. For the most part, this has to do with the nature of the material and how homogeneous it is.
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[@Rh0mbus]

Ever since I got my Arcus S7 french bass bow, my playing has transformed. I got it back in 2017 and it does absolutely anything I want it to do effortlessly. My entire bass section at my orchestra has switched to Arcus bows because of trying mine. I have always looked for a pipe organ like sound in a bass, but what made it happen was the bow. It is incredible how much of a difference the bow makes to the sound. Thank you for changing my playing forever, I can never use another bow.

[@ARCUSMuesing]

Thank you so much for your feedback. So you are the one then who created all the demand for bass bows that we can hardly fulfil. :D But seriously, we are selling (and making) way too many bass bows and demand is not taking a break for years on end now. Which of course is just great and we promise to keep working hard to make every player happy.

[@Rh0mbus]

@@ARCUSMuesing I think that higher quality bass bows is much harder to come by compared to the upper strings, so no wonder y'all are getting massive demand for them! They are beyond worth it! Thank you for what you do!

[@michaels7889]

What a pity I was not aware of these videos during very recent selection of an Arcus bow for my violin. It was based comparatively on my experience with an Arcus P6 viola bow (a revelation when I bought it a few years ago) but also enlisting the aid of professional friends. These videos are excellent, confirming some of what I had understood or realised about their manufacture but adding a great deal more. The bows are excellent. I have abandoned wood! Lots of arguments below about robotic testing but who, apart from an automation fanatic would ever buy a violin made and tested that way! It has been said by many well known musicians encountered in chamber music courses that one's bow is even more important than the instrument. The point being that human sensibility is primary in such things, not robotics and a bow is also an instrument.

[@ARCUSMuesing]

Hello Michael, thanks a lot for the praise. We do put all we have in making the ideal bows and this requires a lot of craftsmenship and manual work. Some people think because this is a synthetic material, the bows are more or less machine made, where in fact it is the other way round. And yes, it includes the classification for which I would not even have a wild fiction of how any machine or robot could do it. Just like with playing the violin properly.

[@Violamanben]

As someone who manages a violin shop that sells Arcus bows, I’m grateful for the video and insight on how you differentiate sticks. Arcus bows have fascinated me for years. I don’t think I’ve ever played a bow with more power and volume. My only reservation has been the weight. I’ve heard there is a philosophy behind the unusually light bows, but I’m not sure what it is. They’re truly incredible in so many ways, but I am curious why they’re 10+ grams lighter than their wood counterparts.

[@ARCUSMuesing]

It's not only the weight, but also the weight distribution. Our sticks are extremely light, very thin walled, which is ideal for their resonance quality, but the tip/head and heel/end of the bow are rather heavy. With more mass at the extremes the get all the in-flight-stability you need, while still offering superior manoeuvrability and comfort. We have made many bows that were significantly lighter or heavier than the current models, but they sold really slow, if at all. The thing is, once you get used to the lighter weight, you find wooden bows are quite heavy.

[@heinrichnutzel7031]

AWESOME!!!

[@nickarran5221]

I just bought a T5 'cello bow. I had a T4 and M4 on trial (with some same priced wooden bows) for 2 weeks. The T4 was best from the moment I picked it up - I thought it maybe sounded too bright and a bit thin, but for someone standing a few meters away it sounded the best. So, out of interest, I tried a T5 as well ... it really IS better; the sound is clearer and richer. I belies belief that a small difference that the Arcus workshop can hear by tapping the stick would make so much difference to the sound (and price!!!! it cost 50% more than the T4, though some of that is the fancier wood and silver bindings ... I'd have been happy with stainless steel TBH). I didn't dare to try the T6!

[@BogenmacherD]

Hello Nick, when we made the first Arcus bows 22 years ago we had no idea how individually different they would come out. It appears like when you work on the edge of technology that is what happens. I'm glad to know that you are happy with the T5 and I wish you many happy hours playing it.

[@a95180]

At the end of the video you state that ”the upcharge for a gold is not that terrible”. I would like to disagree. The S8 gold vs silver is claimed to sound and handle absolutely exactly the same. But still there is a 1000 euros difference, that’s a heck lot of gold I would say! Also, the S8 gold is not even fully wound, since the lapping is whalebone imitation. By the way, I own an Arcus S6. Very happy with it :-)

[@ARCUSMuesing]

Sure, yes, you are right, gold is in fact very expensive and the difference to silver in then enlarged by some dealer margin and taxes. "Terrible" is probably not the word that I should have used here. The winding is indeed half "plastic" but the gold wire is really quite thick. Most gold mounted wood bows are made with a silk winding, which is a lot cheaper of course. And then there's the tip plate that is also solid gold where on gold mounted wooden bows it is almost always ivory or bone.

[@zhiyizhang3291]

I was surprised to see a few Arcus level 6 bows not visually straight, although they felt great. I wonder if visual straightness is one of the things you look for when classifying the sticks. Also, if I understood correctly, you classify the sticks before making them into bows. Is it true that once the sticks are classified, you don't go back to re-classify them anymore after the product is finished?

[@ARCUSMuesing]

I don't think there are any Arcus bows about that are not perfectly straight. Our quality control system it pretty much water tight and our customers are used to perfectly made Arcus bows. If you ever come across a not-perfectly-straight Arcus we will be happy to pay you a reward. The classification is relatively easy to do on a pure (naked) stick, when it is made into a bow you can of course play it, and the experience shows that our classification is 100% correct. It may vary a little with the instrument.

[@LaurieIsrael]

How are the bows manufactured and finished by the craftsmen?

[@ARCUSMuesing]

Our bows are manufactured in a unique and complicated production process here in our workshop in Germany, which requires machinery but even more craftmanship of the highest level. If you are interested in the production, we would be delighted to welcome you here in Würzburg and show you the workshop.🙂

[@puffin140]

What's the difference between a violin bow, and a viola bow?

[@BogenmacherD]

The most important difference is the elasticity of the stick. Because viola strings are more heavy and vibrate at lower frequencies the player must apply with more down force than on a violin. If you play viola with a violin bow you will find that the bow is so flexible that it collapses on to the strings when you play forte, or even with mezzo-forte. Our viola bows are about 20% more resilient (stiffer) than our violin bows. Viola bows are also more heavy, as a certain mass required to start the strings to vibrate for off-string bowings. That's why our violin bows are around 50 grams, our viola bows around 60.

[@alexagno6559]

​@@BogenmacherD There's something wrong with the last sentence I think. But thank's for the information, very interesting!

[@BogenmacherD]

@@alexagno6559 Right, funny, I guess I'm the one who should not mix up those numbers. :) Fixed them.

[@andreassattler5025]

Did I understand correctly that you classify the bows by how they sound to the ear, and not by e.g. analysis of the acoustic spectrum, i.e. quantitative measurements?! Also, it would be great if you could demonstrate the sound of these bows by tapping. I had the impression that you were listening to the bow in the video, but I couldn't really hear the sound.

[@ARCUSMuesing]

We classify by feeling the vibration AND listening to it. We have tried in the past to measure the resonance quality with all kind of devices but none could beat our hands and ears. Seems like the human being is still superior to machines when things are getting really complex. Like for example making violin or playing them. The same seems to be true for making our bows and classifying them.

[@manuelcardona5133]

@Andreas Sattler if you listen with headphones you will heard the sound, 6.20 minute Arcus T6

[@andreassattler5025]

@@ARCUSMuesing Very interesting indeed. How much easier it would be if one could just measure it, but the analogy with making an instrument and judging its sound quality makes it quite obvious. Did you perhaps also try to classify the vibrations etc. with artificial intelligence? Since these methods have become quite powerful they might be able to differentiate between the different TXs. Just like they can also recognize faces and voices. Bow making seems like a great and fascinating subject!

[@andreassattler5025]

@@manuelcardona5133 I listened with the loud-speakers of my computer, didn't try headphones yet.

[@BogenmacherD]

@@andreassattler5025 Hm, now that's an interesting question. But who would be able to develop such software and build a machine or robot to make these measurements? And if this would be possible, what would it cost? And then, would the classification be actually be more accurate than ours? Maybe this idea will work some day when robots have taken over the chairs in symphony orchestras...

[@midnighttutor]

I guess this is the best marketing positioning they can come up with. I was hoping for a more quantitative analysis. Also I believe that the dampening of certain frequencies is really what separates bows based on sound. There was no discussion of playability characteristics. Some bows can read your mind. Overall a very disappointing presentation.

[@ARCUSMuesing]

Would you please point me to a KZbin channel about bows where they give more real information? And you have watched any of the other videos that I made, trying to explain the fundamental physics of the bow and string interaction for example? And no, of course there is nothing about playability in this video, this is really only about the classification of the sound quality of the bows. Explaining the bow types and their characteristics is a topic in many of my other videos but you can find plenty of information on our website too. Your believe that damping of certain frequencies is completely wrong but I would love to hear of any evidence about that. And no, bows don't read minds, that is the typical fairy tales that are circulated so wildly in the violin world, it is actually absolutely ridiculous. You may want to indicate that the best bows are extremely nimble and responsive, which is a quality you can find in a top of the range Arcus bow, but then I assume you have never really played one, have you?