Books › On the Function of the Sound-Post and on the Proportional Thickness of the Strings of the Violin, 1883 › scan 4
Scan 4
On the Function of the Sound-Post and on the Proportional Thickness of the Strings of the Violin, 1883
4 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1the other leg of the bridge which agitates the elastic wooden plates." Undoubtedly it is the 4th string foot of the bridge which is the more powerful in agitating the upper plate, but the other foot appears to me also to have an influence. When the post is placed exactly under the foot of the bridge, then the belly on this side is almost without vibration; if the post is absent, then this foot appears to agitate its own side of the belly as strongly as the other foot. As there is no post on the 4th string side of the fiddle, that foot stands in a position most favourable for setting up vibrations in the belly, being nearly halfway between the supports of the belly at the tail and the neck end of the violin. The other side of the belly, on the 1st string side, where the other foot of the bridge rests, is divided into two parts by the damping effect of the end of the sound-post, namely, the part a and the part b. It is obvious that this foot of the bridge is unfavourably placed for setting the part of the belly, b, into vibration, since it is so far from its central mobile part. On the other hand, its position is favourable for a portion of its energy of vibration to be transmitted through the post to the back.
3Practically very small differences of position of the top of the post behind the foot of the bridge are found to alter largely the character of the tone of the fiddle, and in the case of fine instruments the setting of the post is an operation demanding much care and judgment. The explanation lies probably in the circumstance that a small difference in the position of the post will alter greatly the proportion of energy passing through the post to that which is absorbed into vibrations of this side of the belly. At the same time it must also alter slightly the nodal arrangement of the belly which must have an influence on the tone. If from the form of construction, or relative quality of the wood of the upper plate as compared with the under plate, the conditions of a violin are such that the highest quality of tone of which it is capable requires a relatively larger amplitude of vibration of the back, the position of the sound-post should be nearer
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