Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 40
Scan 40
The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1by a simpler method, viz. :—Merely hold the centre of the plate between the finger and thumb, and draw the bow across one of the corners of the plate edgeways, when it will give the same sound. We may obtain various sounds from the same plate, by changing the position of the damping, and place of bow, but the foregoing is quite sufficient for our purpose. If the reader wishes for information upon the sounds of plates, I refer him to either Chladni or Professor Tyndall's works upon sound, the latter being a recent work of much interest.
3We can easily observe for ourselves that the old makers made a difference in the sound of back and breast. If I hold with my fingers the back of the violin at the part where the sound-post would be, and strike it as a bell, it will give forth a tone; if I do the same with the belly, it will also give forth a tone—but a tone different. Now, this is as it should be; the portion first conveying the vibration has the initiatory advantage, and rules the next portion, compelling it to accept its vibrations, and deliver faithfully the message, merely modifying the quality of tone in which it is uttered.
5I would remark that perfect octaves in unison, always swallow one another up. In organs, if we make two pipes precisely similar, and place them together, one could not tell whether one or both were sounding, except that, if anything, two would not sound so powerful, and carry so far as one; consequently, the scale of every rank of pipes is varied, and as the quality varies, so the combining sounds become a more perceptible amalgamation, and reinforce the waves of vibration.
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