Books › Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896 › scan 241
Scan 241
Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 221. See the scan on archive.org.
1XVII
3THE "SOUL" OF THE VIOLIN, OR THE SECRET OF THE SOUND-POST
5THERE is a little piece of wood which stands upright between the table and the back of the violin, just behind the right foot of the bridge. The English call it the "sound-post," but the French have termed it l'âme du violon—"the soul of the violin." And it well deserves the latter denomination, for everything seems to depend upon it. Of the many separate pieces of wood of which a violin is composed, this is certainly the most important. Indeed, without it, the finest instrument is absolutely worthless.
7It consists of a small, solid, cylindrical piece of old, well-seasoned, sound pine wood weighing 8 to 10 grains, and it is placed in its position, after the violin is made, by means of a curved steel instrument, called a "sound-post setter," which is sold in the shops for a shilling or two.
9It is set whilst the violin is unstrung, or, at least, when the strings are all quite slack, and the bridge
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