Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 127
Scan 127
The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871
8 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Thus reason and experience lead us to suppose that the curvature of the surface tends to be a detriment rather than an advantage, but we must not forget that the curved interior surface is very powerful in producing reflexions of the sound. Savart, therefore, in the construction of his new violin, used flat wooden plates instead of the common curved ones; and, in order to maintain an equal vibrating surface on either side of the strings, he formed each breast and back of two pieces cut parallel with the grain from the same board, their edges being united by glueing.
3To withstand the increased pressure on the breast at the part where the bridge is placed, he strengthened this part by making it about 1/5th of an inch thick, whilst the thickness of the outer edges was only about 1/12th of an inch. The bridge was the next part of the instrument to which he directed his attention.
5What purpose the bridge serves besides being a support for the strings, is shown by the following experiment:—Stretch a violin string along a plank 2 or 3 inches thick, fasten the two extremities, and insert a bridge below the string as in the violin. Get a circular disc or plate of lead, and place it between the bridge and the surface of the plank, and upon this leaden plate strew some fine dry sand, when, if a bow is applied to the string, we will find the sand has formed itself into a symmetrical figure upon the leaden plate.
7We learn from this that the vibratory motion given to the string by the bow is communicated to the bridge, and from the bridge to the leaden plate on which it rests, and by analogy we now know that it is by means
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