Bow & Bridge Violin and bow makers, as the old books printed them

Books › The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904 › scan 49

Scan 49

The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904

20 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.

1"it remains in this virgin state, it becomes modified
2"little by little, and, after a somewhat short time,
3"the tone becomes poor and feeble. It must
4"therefore be concluded that the varnish, while
5"giving a more pleasing appearance, conserves, pre-
6"serves, and that therein, above all, consists its great
7"utility."
9The Abbé Sibire (who spoke for Nicholas Lupot) expressed a similar opinion (75).
11The concurrence of M. Félix Savart with this view will, a little later, be quoted at length.
13The table of a violin (the back also in a somewhat auxiliary sense) is intended to be a diaphragm which, receiving its vibratory impulse from the strings, through the bridge, communicates the vibrations to the air contained in the instrument.
15In order to fulfil the delicate functions required, such a diaphragm must possess a certain amount of homogeneity, its component fibres must not be susceptible of independent motion or vibration; it must be sufficiently elastic to respond to the slightest impulse, but its resistance must give rise to vigorous reaction.
17In trying to understand this complex problem, let an extreme case be supposed: a diaphragm is constructed of unsized paper, i.e., of practically pure cellulose in the form of interlaced, elongated cells. Vibration communicated to this diaphragm will be disseminated among the fibres of which it is composed, the motion will be individual instead of combined; as a diaphragm it will be a failure.
19Saturate this diaphragm with a varnish which, when dry, will render it homogeneous and elastic, it

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