Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 72
Scan 72
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.
1of the f holes of these instruments being larger than those of Stradivarius.
3It is possible, then, to construct violins of any form and thickness, provided we keep within the conditions indicated. The problem being indeterminate admits, as we have seen, of an infinity of solutions. It must be noted, however, that if we substitute flat tables for arched ones, or tables more or less arched, the timbre of the sound will be modified. We shall obtain greater purity as the tables approach being flat, but at the same time the sound will lose in brilliancy.
5Violoncello.—What we have said with regard to the violin leaves little to be added regarding this instrument. The violoncellos now made are generally good, and we can always arrive at good results by following the same principles as those enumerated with regard to the violin, and by taking the dimensions in proportion to the sound taken as a basis, with the exception that we must give the instrument greater proportional depth, otherwise they would be too long and very unwieldy. If exactly proportional to a violin in all parts, the length of a bass would be 35 in. by 20 in breadth, instead of which they are constructed of 26 to 27 in. in length, by 15 or 16 in breadth, but instead of being only 3 in. in depth they are made 4 in. The sounds of the violoncello being an octave and a fifth below those of the violin, the sound of the mass of air should be lower in the same proportion, that is to say, fa = 170.66 vibrations. This sound is arrived at by diminishing the surface of the tables, and increasing the depth of the instrument as stated above. To
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