Question 1

How does commissioning a Badiarov instrument begin?

Accepted Answer

A commission begins with the musician, not with a fixed template. Dmitry Badiarov asks about repertoire, pitch standard, current instrument, physical needs, desired response, tonal direction, and the role the new instrument must serve. From there, the model, setup, wood, proportions, stringing, and adjustment can be considered with a clear musical purpose.

Question 2

What makes Badiarov Violins different?

Accepted Answer

Badiarov Violins is shaped by more than three decades of research, making, and performance experience. Dmitry Badiarov’s harmony-first method began with questions about historical instrument acoustics in 1989 and was refined through practical work as a luthier, violinist, and violoncello da spalla performer. The result is an atelier where instrument making is guided by musical proportion, professional use, historical practice, and the physical needs of the musician.

Question 3

What is the typical timeline for a commission?

Accepted Answer

The timeline depends on the model, the complexity of the commission, and the current workshop schedule. Most serious commissions are planned months in advance rather than treated as quick purchases. After the first conversation, the scope is clarified, the appropriate model and setup are discussed, and the work is scheduled. The exact timing is confirmed individually before a commission is accepted.

Question 4

While waiting for an instrument, may I already play one of the available instruments?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when a suitable instrument is available. In some cases, a musician may borrow an available Badiarov instrument while their commissioned instrument is being made. This is arranged individually and, when possible, is offered without an additional loan fee.

Question 5

How are payments structured?

Accepted Answer

Commissioned instruments are normally handled through a staged payment structure. A deposit confirms the commission and secures the place in the workshop schedule. The remaining balance is arranged according to the agreed scope and is completed before delivery. Any applicable VAT, import duties, shipping, insurance, or destination-specific costs are discussed separately where relevant.

Question 6

What is the price range for a Badiarov instrument?

Accepted Answer

Prices depend on the model, specification, setup, and level of decorative or structural detail. Individual instrument pages show current reference prices where available. Some models are also available in more restrained workshop versions beginning from €22,314, excluding VAT. A final quote is always confirmed after the musical and practical requirements of the commission are understood.

Question 7

Can the instrument be adapted to my repertoire, pitch, or setup?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Badiarov Violins makes historically informed violins, violas, and violoncellos da spalla for professional musicians working in different contexts. Setup, pitch, stringing, response, projection, and physical handling can be adapted for early music, modern performance, gut strings, transitional use, or a musician’s specific practical requirements.

Question 8

What happens after delivery if the instrument needs adjustment?

Accepted Answer

A new instrument continues to settle after it has been played. Adjustment is therefore not a failure of the commission, but part of responsible instrument making. If tonal balance, response, bridge, soundpost, strings, or setup require refinement after delivery, this is discussed as part of the settling-in process. The aim is that the instrument continues to serve the musician in real performance conditions.

Question 9

What if the commissioned instrument does not feel right after delivery?

Accepted Answer

Badiarov Violins understands that a commissioned instrument must serve the musician for the long term. Commissions therefore include a two-week evaluation period after delivery, during which final adjustments and practical assessment can take place. If serious concerns remain, possible solutions — including further adjustment, replacement, or other arrangements agreed in writing — are discussed individually and in good faith.

Question 10

How are international commissions handled?

Accepted Answer

Badiarov Violins works with musicians outside the Netherlands. International commissions can be discussed remotely, with clear attention to repertoire, setup, pitch, physical needs, delivery, insurance, climate, and practical follow-up. Shipping and import conditions depend on the destination country and are clarified before delivery.

Question 11

Can a professional violin be designed for smaller hands?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Dissonances model was developed for players who need a shorter vibrating string length or a more manageable physical setup without accepting a reduced musical result. The aim is not to make a student-sized compromise, but to reconsider proportion, response, balance, and tonal presence around the player’s body.

Question 12

What is the harmony-first method?

Accepted Answer

The harmony-first method is Dmitry Badiarov’s design approach in which musical relationships are resolved before measurements are finalised. The rationale is simple: while one cannot hear millimetres, one can hear and feel the result when measurements are organised as musical relationships. These relationships define the geometry, arching, response, and sound of the instrument.

Question 13

How predictable can a new instrument be before it is finished?

Accepted Answer

A handmade instrument can never be reduced to a mechanical formula, but a commission does not need to be guesswork. By studying the musician’s repertoire, sound ideal, setup, pitch, physical needs, and performance context before construction begins, Badiarov can shape the instrument with a clear target for response, balance, projection, and handling.

Question 14

What makes a historically informed instrument different?

Accepted Answer

A historically informed instrument is not merely an old-looking violin. It is made with attention to proportion, setup, stringing, pitch, response, and musical use. The aim is not nostalgia, but a more precise relationship between instrument, repertoire, technique, and sound. For professional musicians, the value lies in articulation, colour, tension, projection, physical ease, and the responsibility of carrying musical culture forward.

Question 15

Why does musical proportion matter in violin making?

Accepted Answer

In Badiarov’s work, proportion is not decoration. It is a way of organising musical and physical relationships before they become measurements. Body length, vibrating string length, arching, balance, response, and tonal character are considered as parts of one instrument. This allows the finished work to serve a musical idea rather than merely reproduce a standard outline.

Question 16

Why does Dmitry Badiarov build violoncellos da spalla?

Accepted Answer

Dmitry Badiarov has been closely associated with the modern return of the violoncello da spalla since 2003. His work with the instrument connects making, performance practice, research, and collaboration with leading early-music performers. The violoncello da spalla is therefore not a side project, but one of the central areas of the atelier’s historical and musical expertise.

Question 17

Does Dmitry Badiarov belong to a historical musical lineage?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Dmitry Badiarov’s violin lineage connects through Mark Komissarov, Veniamin Sher, Serge Korgueff, Leopold Auer, Joseph Joachim, Louis Spohr, Pierre Rode, Giovanni Battista Viotti, Gaetano Pugnani, Giovanni Battista Somis, and ultimately Arcangelo Corelli. This does not mean a musician commissions an instrument because of the ghost of Corelli hovering over the workbench. It means the work stands inside a long transmission of violin playing, teaching, sound, and musical responsibility.

Question 18

How is this lineage connected to Arcangelo Corelli?

Accepted Answer

The connection to Corelli is a teacher-to-student musical lineage, not a claim that the instrument should sound like the eighteenth century has been bottled. The line reaches from Dmitry Badiarov back through Komissarov, Sher, Korgueff, Auer, Joachim, Spohr, Rode, Viotti, Pugnani, Somis, and Corelli. For Badiarov Violins, this matters because instrument making is treated as part of musical practice, not separate from it.

Commissioning a Badiarov Instrument

Before commissioning an instrument