Saumur. Visit: Adele Debias makes scrolls in her Saumur workshop

On the Place de la Republique in Saumur, a young boy of about ten years old proudly walks towards the monumental Théâtre du Dôme. A small triangular case on his back, a view holder in his hand. Some crystalline notes are flying from the floor of the building. A small workshop on the Quai Mayaud, just steps away from this beautiful musical show. The sign says “Les violins d’Adele”. It’s hard to make a mistake as many pieces of wood are visible through the window. A man of a certain age arrives by bike, Saumur obliges. He enters the shop and comes out a few minutes later with a magnificent violin, shiny brown. Without a case, he puts it in a small backpack, what some people in the South call a “pocket”, then does some pedaling and goes away. We in turn push open the workshop door. First impression, smell. The one made of wood, the one that has just been cut. “You’re lucky, there are days when the smell is less pleasant because of the glue made from animal bones or the varnish made from mealybug excrement and linseed oil”, says luthier Adele Debias, who has held the position for 7 years now. Inside, violins and violas adorn the walls, hanging from their captivating, revolving heads. On the floor, the cello, a similar shape, but much more impressive size. And on the workbench, a huge grandmother: “This is an 1850 double bass that a customer gave me to restore. He got this from Saumur Music School. It was stored in poor conditions for a long time. I had to dismantle the equipment by completely removing the table to strengthen the internal structure., Adele explains. A real open heart operation and a project lasting about 6 months to bring new life and new vibrations into this woman with wide hips.

from bow to plane

Adele DeBiase’s passion for the violin started very early. In his native Alsace, he learned piano and viola at the age of 7. “Actually, I happened upon a luthier who regularly looked after my instruments. This was my first encounter with this profession. You really have to practice equipment to actually meet him and trace his activity because he was a little hidden, in a small village, in a workshop with no storefront., Over time, Adele is no longer able to fully develop by only practicing the viola. “I was missing something, possibly the manual side”, He then decided to learn to make violins, combining his desire to work with his hands and his passion for music and the violin in particular. “This luthier was not encouraging. He didn’t want to take me on any apprenticeships or internships and told me to give up because it was too hard. , He did not give up and after his graduation he tried to register in two schools in Europe to learn violin making. One in Mirecourt in the Vosges – luckily it’s close to home – and the other in England. She would not be placed in France and would eventually go to study across the Channel. He trained in quartet violin making (violin, viola, cello and double bass) for 4 years and graduated in 2011. “When you finish your studies, you are thrown into nature and you have to explore widely.”, Adele then sends applications across Europe to Sweden, Belgium, England and France. Eventually he got a positive response from a luthier in Le Mans! “A stroke of good luck, especially since I was taken from September in view of my studies, and places in the workshops are very expensive. This is a specialized profession and you have to be willing to go where the work is. , She stayed there for 5 years.

violin making in saumur

Then the desire to settle down and set up my own workshop arose. “I came to Saumur, I found the area very beautiful and pleasant. To settle down, we often look where there are orchestras, and we move closer to big cities. I did not do that! I chose Saumur. It took more time to settle in and make myself known. But I have no direct competition! And today everything is going well and I manage to get enough business in my number of clients so that I don’t have to worry. First the customers come back. , Today, its clientele is very wide: “People from Paris who pass through and hand me their equipment. They find it more practical and simple here. I’m cheap too! I also have foreign clients, including an American who has a house in Candace. It must be said that there are many secondary houses in Saumur. I usually branch out to Cholet, Brasseur, Thouars or even Poitiers, where there is only one luthier. , As many professionals as there are hobbyists and lovers who want to bring an instrument back to life. “The hardest part is to understand what the customer wants. Restoration may take several months. There is no need to rush, study the problem carefully. There is no standard solution. You have to observe and listen. Sometimes when the customer comes back to try his instrument he is really a crush, I would have tears in my eyes sometimes, especially when he plays well.she explains. “I also especially enjoy working with children. We see them start and grow over the years. With the music school, there is strong demand for rentals. I chose to build a collection by buying old violins and restoring them, rather than importing them from China. , It also provides tuning, maintenance and restoration services as well as the manufacturing of new violins. Certainly new violins, but the appearance and architecture are virtually unchanged over the centuries: “It is true that the violin has a very classical image. But the model exists and works great just the same. Its construction was carefully studied and studied. In construction, it is the details that make the difference, the beauty of the top, the wood used, the varnish, the way the edges are folded (editor’s note: the edges of the violin). Players are also usually very classical and looking for very specific sounds. We have to adapt to the demand. , It takes 300 hours of work from the board he receives to the finished violin, and double that for a cello. Obviously, these devices have a special relationship with time. His project for 2024: “Start playing the violin seriously!” ,