Scan 35
A Review Of Ancient And Modern Violin Making, 1899
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1Wood can be no exception to the rule. It naturally follows that when a violin attains its maturity it must enter upon its period of decline, and decline foreshadows its death. How many of the once famous violins are there today that are what they have been? I think I may safely say there is not one. They are mere wrecks of their former greatness, caused by the loss of their powerful tone; the fire of their maturity is gone, and they retain only an increased pathetic sweetness. The fibre of the wood seems to lose its life by the long-continued vibration, even as much as by age. This fact is more plainly shown in the piano. It is well known that pianos will retain their fullness of tone only for a few years, if much used. Twenty years is the limit, and but very few seem to know why. The cause is very simple, and the remedy also. If the soundboard be renewed the tone will be fully restored. The piano loses its power so much sooner than a violin, because of the greater amount of vibration from steel strings being so powerfully struck.
3As nearly all violins when new have a comparative rough tone, it is this vibration that wears the roughness away. If the effect of vi-
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