This feature-length video features Harold Hayslett, a retired pipefitter and master builder of violins and cellos, and documents in fascinating detail, from start to finish, the entire process of his construction of a cello. Harold begins by searching his rural West Virginia forests for the rare 'curly' Maple tree, his preferred source of wood. As the instrument then slowly takes shape in his workshop, we witness his Appalachian inventiveness and craftsmanship and learn of the exhaustive knowledge of string instruments possessed by this award-winning member of the Violin Society of America. The video then ends as musician Bob Webb performs on the new instrument, and Harold's cello is compared to other world-class instruments at the Library of Congress, including two Stradivarius violins.
Directed by Bob Gates
2000, color, 105 mins.