The reason to attend a competition (Or NOT?)
I decided to check in my two latest violins to a competition - Suomalaisen Viulun Päivä 2016 www.svr.fi/suomalaisen-viulun-paiva-2016/. Fortunately I'm not in the business of selling my "Strad Sounding" violins because it did not go well. I'm really happy for my friends that also attended the competition and scored high 96/94 out of 100 in sound and two violins placing second and third in total scores.
Together we checked in 5 violins, 1 Viola and a Cello. I got to test all violins (two of mine) before and after the competition and this gave me valuable comparative information, together with all datasheets from the judges. I also heard that there was a judge from Cremona. I think one of the reasons for this competition was to compare Finnish violin making to International standards. The exhibition was on Wednesday (working week) so I did not get the chance to see the other instruments.
One of the first observations was that the judgement was not random, in fact they had a clear opinion on what they liked or not. The following are construction sheets from my two latest violins, that are very similar - exactly the same scores:
The sheet from Sound grading is in Finnish so I'll try to translate them here, also quite consistent for both violins. (84 and 70 newer one/100)
* Good quality, maybe still slightly rough
* Carrying Sound (Newer one Normal)
* G string slightly stuck, D-A-E ok.
* "Ignition", Reaction, playing soft and high up - Normal
Some Images of the violins