Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 58
Scan 58
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.
1position of this piston the sound has the greatest intensity and sweetness. If the volume is too great, the lower sounds are feeble and hollow, and the higher sounds bad and poor; if it is too small, the lower sounds are thin, and the higher sounds less pure.
3If we determine the sound of the air (by the means already described) when we find the sound of the strings to be at their best, we find that it rests within certain limits, which depend upon the form and other elements of the instrument. In experimenting thus with instruments of Stradivarius, we have found that the air always gave the do b of natural philosophers, corresponding to 512 vibrations per second, that is 512 single vibrations, or 256 double vibrations—the French philosophers always count single vibrations; the English and Germans, double vibrations, or the do b of the present scale. Now, it is to be noted that at the beginning of the eighteenth century, when Stradivarius constructed his instruments, the pitch was half a note lower than at present.
5All the instruments, therefore, of this great master were in do. Several musicians have found that in tuning their instruments in do b, the tone was better. In examining a great number of excellent violins of Stradivarius, we have always found this condition to be fulfilled.
7Here then is a fact acquired by industry and science; without this condition, a violin leaves much to be desired. If the air gives the sound do #, the low sounds are bad; if it gives the si or la below, the high sounds lose their power, and are more difficult of emission,
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