Books › Musical instruments, 1908 › scan 293
Scan 293
Musical instruments, 1908
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 239. See the scan on archive.org.
1too thick, or too slender, it will be a worrying soul. It is carved from even grain pine and its whole duty is to transmit the vibrations from the belly to the back, which will be impossible unless it is of the right height. As it is not glued into place it can only be adjusted through the right f hole, and long hours are employed in the task. It should be placed as near correctly as possible for each change means readjustment in the delicate equilibrium of the violin. Care must also be taken or the f hole is marred. Generally speaking, the position is one-fourth of an inch behind the right foot of the bridge, but an increase in the arch of the belly necessitates a position nearer the bridge.
3The bass or sound bar is the violin's nervous system. It is a strip of soft, even grained pine about ten and one-half inches long, running somewhat obliquely under the left foot of the bridge. It strengthens the belly and counteracts the difference of pitch caused by the severing of the fibers of the wood by the ff holes. The angle at which it lies is small, the bar deviating no more than one-tenth of an inch in its entire length and must be carved and placed to suit the individual instrument. Unless it is perfect it breeds the "wolf," that nerve rending growl which makes many instruments worthless. The edge, which is glued to the body is carved to follow the curve of the belly, and the opposite edge is rounding and undulating. The Cremona makers cut and fitted their bars to accommodate the lower pitch prevailing in their day, but the higher pitch of the present requires new ones, so that even the best of the old fiddles have modern sound bars.
5The sound holes vary a trifle with the various makers, but in outline they must be nearly the same or they will not do their assigned work. They must divide the fibers of the wood into long and short lengths so that there will be enough of the short to sound the high notes, and enough of the long to sound the low. Without them the belly would not vibrate sufficiently, and to them the violin owes much of its symmetry and grace.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.