Scan 78
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 30. See the scan on archive.org.
1woods were used. It is possible that the makers who chose them for the sides and backs of their instruments considered it desirable to have material more akin to that adopted for the bellies, which was the finest description of pine, and that the result was found to be a tone of great mellowness. If they used these woods with this intention their calculations were undoubtedly correct. They appear to have worked these woods with but few exceptions for their Violas, Violoncellos, and Double Basses, while they adopted the harder woods for their Violins, all which facts tend to show that these rare old makers did not consider soft wood eligible for the back and sides of the leading instrument; and later experiment has shown them to have arrived at a correct conclusion on this point. The experiments necessary to obtain these results have been effected by cutting woods of several kinds and qualities into various sizes, so as to give the sounds of the diatonic scale. By comparing the intensity and quality of tone produced by each sample of wood, plane-tree* and sycamore have been found to surpass the rest. The Cremonese makers seem to have adhered chiefly to the use of maple, varying the manner of cutting it. First they made the back in one piece,
3* The Germans call the plane tree "morgenländischer ahorn"—i.e., "oriental maple." From the German word ahorn is probably derived the term "air-wood," often corrupted into "hair-wood." Thomas Mace says, respecting the lute, "the air-wood is absolutely the best; and next to that our English maple." Engel, "Researches into the Early History of the Violin Family."
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