Violin Standards.
As each day passes I am reminded of my belief that the violin is perhaps one of the greatest creations of human beings. What kind of world would we have had without the violin? What would music be like without the violin – for solos, chamber music, concertos and symphonies with orchestra, operas and oratorios and many other forms of music for this versatile instrument? What else could fill the lives of so many who go to concerts, as well as the soloists, teachers, and thousands of players including amateurs and young students who love their violins?
Despite the importance of the violin during the past 400 years or so, we do not know for certain the origins of the violin. We do know that Andrea Amati made violins, and other string instruments before Gasparo da Salo. But did Andrea Amati simply wake up one morning, go to his shop and make his first violin? Some have thought that the viola and violin originated from the dispersal of Jews and Arabs from Spain as ordered by Ferdinand and Isabella, some ending up in Cremona? Maurice Riley discusses the possibility that the violin and viola originated from the lira da Braccia (pp. 7-11, The History of the Viola, Vol I).
In any case three generations of Amatis from Andrea, the Brothers, and the great teacher, Nicolo provided the basis for Stradivari and other Cremonese makers. There followed Guarnerius del Gesu, who may have even worked in the shop of Stradivarius, making his first known violin in 1720.
I made my first 40 violins about 25 years ago, starting with a model based on Stradivari. My son made twelve violins, two based on Stradivari in 1993 and ten based on del Gesu in 1995 and 1996. I began making violins again (after many cellos and violas) based on Guarnerius del Gesu five years ago. I have well seasoned excellent wood for making another 70 violins, if all goes well. I believe, as stated more in detail in Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of my booklet which can be readily accessed on this web, The Standard Viola, that the wood used, especially for the top plate, is critical for developing a good tone. Briefly I use wood that has a density between .370 and .390 for violins and with adequate stiffness (by measured modulus of elasticity) along and across the grain with longitudinal/cross-sectional stiffness ratios of 14.6 to 19.4. Charles Woods, a retired engineer and violin maker has performed many measurements for me. He recommends long/cross ratios of 10 to 20 but never above 30. Carbon fibre has a long/cross ratio of 1.00 and the stiffness ratio for balsa wood is about 99.
I never go too thin on top or bottom plates, having started violinmaking using thicknesses based on Simone Sacconi and Robert Cauer. As with cellos and violas I keep careful records of each violin and try to copy the wood and thickness schedules of the best sounding violins. There are of course fads and fashions among makers and dealers. I think that it is a great mistake to follow the doctrines of lightness and thinness. Such instruments may be responsive and loud but they may bottom out, and lack colors, contrasts and expressiveness. I believe those that do research on the violin should learn something by comparing modern violins, some which have tone as good as the classics and makers who have records of many things including details of the arching, the wood used and graduations. I think focusing on old Cremonese violins with measurements of weight and graduation can be deceiving. See the graduations reported by the Hill brothers in their classic books on Stradivari and the Guarneris written more than 100 years ago. Even then they had in their hands violins that had been thinned out. Listen carefully to recordings made by artists using different violins. Compare the 30 Stradivari and Del Gesu violins played by Elmar Oliviera in The Miracle Makers published by Bein and Fushi.
Arching is critical for violins, as well as violas and cellos. I hope that I am close to following the arching of some of the violins which I believe have the best tone – the 1714 Stradivari Soil used by Menuhin and Perlman, The Muntz Strad made in 1736, a year before the master’s death and the Kreisler 1733 del Gesu.
Adjustment for me is simplified for my own instruments. I learned that it is important to center the bridge. The join of the top plate as well as the back plate is centered, so that the center of the end pin lines up with the center of the neck. I am certain Stradivari as well as others did the same. Otherwise how could the neck line up with the centerline of the button so neatly. But I do not follow the schemes of positioning the upper ff holes, proposed for Stradivari by some modern makers. I simply place the upper ff holes equidistant from the centerline and then cut the inner ff holes exactly centered. It then takes only a few minutes to check if the distance from the inner ff hole is the same for the treble and bass sides of the bridge. The bridge should also be centered to line up with the diapson notches. The bass bar must be positioned on the inside of the upper plate so that the violin bridge overlaps the bass bar by 1 to 1.5 mm. The sound post is positioned the same distance inside the treble side of the bridge. I place the soundpost 2 to 2.5 mm behind the bridge. I make certain that the post is perpendicular to the body of the violin; and that it is placed firmly with top and bottom fitting exactly to the upper and back plates. I find it interesting that some players and teachers tap the bridge one way or another to “improve” the tone, even before purchasing the violin. There are of course others who say that they just put in the post and move it around until they think the best sound results. I was even told by a VSA competition assistant that for violas made by a certain maker that he could move the post all around without affecting the tone! Caution! Never leave your violin in the hands of anyone who may feel free to knock the bridge this way or that. The tone can be destroyed by moving the bridge in the wrong place, especially leaving no gap between the post and bridge. It takes only a split second to do this.
Evaluation of tone is very difficult. See Introduction and Chapters 1, 3, and 7 of The Standard Viola. I believe the methods discussed can be applied to violins. Viola tone is, and should be, very different on all strings than the violin. The best examples are the violins used by Kreisler, Menuhin and Perlman, among others, including some modern violins.
Playability is also important and I recommend that players who try out my violins not be put off by things that can easily be changed in the shop, accessories such as chin rests, the kind of strings or string heights (see Robert Cauer’s web site www.cauer.com). I began to learn something about tone evaluation by listening to music from a very early age to the present where I have ready access to two University classic radio stations. I have tried to attend as many live concerts as possible over the years. I learned the importance of playing scales across and up each string from Robert Cauer, comparing instruments, with a good example on hand. One does not need to be an accomplished player to do this and perform a good initial evaluation of tone.
Charles Harman, P.O. Box 4031, Brookings, OR, 97415, phone – 541 469-6658, [email protected]
Despite the importance of the violin during the past 400 years or so, we do not know for certain the origins of the violin. We do know that Andrea Amati made violins, and other string instruments before Gasparo da Salo. But did Andrea Amati simply wake up one morning, go to his shop and make his first violin? Some have thought that the viola and violin originated from the dispersal of Jews and Arabs from Spain as ordered by Ferdinand and Isabella, some ending up in Cremona? Maurice Riley discusses the possibility that the violin and viola originated from the lira da Braccia (pp. 7-11, The History of the Viola, Vol I).
In any case three generations of Amatis from Andrea, the Brothers, and the great teacher, Nicolo provided the basis for Stradivari and other Cremonese makers. There followed Guarnerius del Gesu, who may have even worked in the shop of Stradivarius, making his first known violin in 1720.
I made my first 40 violins about 25 years ago, starting with a model based on Stradivari. My son made twelve violins, two based on Stradivari in 1993 and ten based on del Gesu in 1995 and 1996. I began making violins again (after many cellos and violas) based on Guarnerius del Gesu five years ago. I have well seasoned excellent wood for making another 70 violins, if all goes well. I believe, as stated more in detail in Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of my booklet which can be readily accessed on this web, The Standard Viola, that the wood used, especially for the top plate, is critical for developing a good tone. Briefly I use wood that has a density between .370 and .390 for violins and with adequate stiffness (by measured modulus of elasticity) along and across the grain with longitudinal/cross-sectional stiffness ratios of 14.6 to 19.4. Charles Woods, a retired engineer and violin maker has performed many measurements for me. He recommends long/cross ratios of 10 to 20 but never above 30. Carbon fibre has a long/cross ratio of 1.00 and the stiffness ratio for balsa wood is about 99.
I never go too thin on top or bottom plates, having started violinmaking using thicknesses based on Simone Sacconi and Robert Cauer. As with cellos and violas I keep careful records of each violin and try to copy the wood and thickness schedules of the best sounding violins. There are of course fads and fashions among makers and dealers. I think that it is a great mistake to follow the doctrines of lightness and thinness. Such instruments may be responsive and loud but they may bottom out, and lack colors, contrasts and expressiveness. I believe those that do research on the violin should learn something by comparing modern violins, some which have tone as good as the classics and makers who have records of many things including details of the arching, the wood used and graduations. I think focusing on old Cremonese violins with measurements of weight and graduation can be deceiving. See the graduations reported by the Hill brothers in their classic books on Stradivari and the Guarneris written more than 100 years ago. Even then they had in their hands violins that had been thinned out. Listen carefully to recordings made by artists using different violins. Compare the 30 Stradivari and Del Gesu violins played by Elmar Oliviera in The Miracle Makers published by Bein and Fushi.
Arching is critical for violins, as well as violas and cellos. I hope that I am close to following the arching of some of the violins which I believe have the best tone – the 1714 Stradivari Soil used by Menuhin and Perlman, The Muntz Strad made in 1736, a year before the master’s death and the Kreisler 1733 del Gesu.
Adjustment for me is simplified for my own instruments. I learned that it is important to center the bridge. The join of the top plate as well as the back plate is centered, so that the center of the end pin lines up with the center of the neck. I am certain Stradivari as well as others did the same. Otherwise how could the neck line up with the centerline of the button so neatly. But I do not follow the schemes of positioning the upper ff holes, proposed for Stradivari by some modern makers. I simply place the upper ff holes equidistant from the centerline and then cut the inner ff holes exactly centered. It then takes only a few minutes to check if the distance from the inner ff hole is the same for the treble and bass sides of the bridge. The bridge should also be centered to line up with the diapson notches. The bass bar must be positioned on the inside of the upper plate so that the violin bridge overlaps the bass bar by 1 to 1.5 mm. The sound post is positioned the same distance inside the treble side of the bridge. I place the soundpost 2 to 2.5 mm behind the bridge. I make certain that the post is perpendicular to the body of the violin; and that it is placed firmly with top and bottom fitting exactly to the upper and back plates. I find it interesting that some players and teachers tap the bridge one way or another to “improve” the tone, even before purchasing the violin. There are of course others who say that they just put in the post and move it around until they think the best sound results. I was even told by a VSA competition assistant that for violas made by a certain maker that he could move the post all around without affecting the tone! Caution! Never leave your violin in the hands of anyone who may feel free to knock the bridge this way or that. The tone can be destroyed by moving the bridge in the wrong place, especially leaving no gap between the post and bridge. It takes only a split second to do this.
Evaluation of tone is very difficult. See Introduction and Chapters 1, 3, and 7 of The Standard Viola. I believe the methods discussed can be applied to violins. Viola tone is, and should be, very different on all strings than the violin. The best examples are the violins used by Kreisler, Menuhin and Perlman, among others, including some modern violins.
Playability is also important and I recommend that players who try out my violins not be put off by things that can easily be changed in the shop, accessories such as chin rests, the kind of strings or string heights (see Robert Cauer’s web site www.cauer.com). I began to learn something about tone evaluation by listening to music from a very early age to the present where I have ready access to two University classic radio stations. I have tried to attend as many live concerts as possible over the years. I learned the importance of playing scales across and up each string from Robert Cauer, comparing instruments, with a good example on hand. One does not need to be an accomplished player to do this and perform a good initial evaluation of tone.
Charles Harman, P.O. Box 4031, Brookings, OR, 97415, phone – 541 469-6658, [email protected]