Books › INTRUMENTSO F THE MODERN ORCHESTRA & EARLY RECORD OF THE PRECURSORS OF THE VIOLIN FAMILY, 1910 › scan 251
Scan 251
INTRUMENTSO F THE MODERN ORCHESTRA & EARLY RECORD OF THE PRECURSORS OF THE VIOLIN FAMILY, 1910
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 197. See the scan on archive.org.
1Construction. The main points of difference in the construction of the Stelzner instruments are the four following:
2(1). The elliptical curves of the body.
3(2). The shape of the end blocks connecting the belly and back.
4(3). The parabolic shape of the ribs.
5(4). The form of the soundholes.
7(1). The ellipses of the Stelzner violin are to be seen in Fig. 1, at A, B, C, compared with the semicircular curve of the Italian instrument which is denoted by the dotted line. The upper and lower ellipses, respectively, E, D, E3, and P, D1, P3, bear fixed and immutable relative proportions, and the power of the tone is increased by the reflection of the soundwaves from ellipse to ellipse, and from parabola to parabola.
9(2). On examining the end blocks in Fig. 2, which represents the interior of the belly of the Stelzner violin each will be found to form two parabolic curves, G, S, whose foci and axes are so related to those of the ellipses as to strengthen the energy of the soundwaves. These foci and axes are indicated in Fig. 2.
11(3). The ribs of Italian violins (see Fig. 3, F, G, and H, I) are either of absolutely equal width, or at best slightly higher at the lower end, whereas in the Stelzner instruments the edges of the ribs form parabolic curves (Fig. 3, K, L, M, and W, L, O). The most important point in this change of outline of the ribs, is the manner in which the soundboard is fitted on. Here the forces of nature are brought into requisition to further Dr. Stelzner's system; the greater the tension of the fibres of the wood, the greater the resonance; the back and belly are cut straight according to the general practice, and are forced on to the ribs during the process of glueing, whereby an artificial tension of the fibres of the wood is induced.
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