h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You mention the construction of the violin and some famous violinists, but nothing about famous violin manufacturers (do you manufacture, or craft?). Also, should probably mention that many of the famous violins have been modified since construction. I'm not an expert, but I guess this is to accommodate a change from Baroque to Classical. Perhaps someone musical can explain it all for me.

Hi manolan,

All good points. The entry as it stands is not a bad introduction to the subject, but if you believe that something is amiss, then why not research and write an entry on violin manufacture and submit it for peer review? It would be great if you could help us fill in the gaps!

Anna

Manolan--

All of your points about violin construction, restoration, and modification are really valid. Indeed, the story of modifications to the instrument throughout history is really fascinating--but too long, I thought, for an entry entitled only "Classical Violin." I think there's an implied "Modern" at the beginning of the title, but you can't have that in there for real or people will think you're talking only about Schoenberg or something like that.

But if you're curious, I do happen to know a bit about the history of violin construction--one of my best friends is a violin maker for a shop here in New York, and I spend an inordinate amount of time bugging him and asking him questions about it.

Very briefly, classical violinmaking can be divided into two main schools, the Italian and the German school. Between them, there isn't an incredible difference structurally; it has more to do with the approach to the instrument. Perhaps not surprisingly, the German school emphasizes a rigid form, exacting standards, while the Italian school holds to a rougher, curvier, and somewhat more organic aesthetic. The styles yield a somewhat different sound: German school violins have a brighter, livelier sound, while Italian violins tend to be fuller and more mellow. Of course there must be millions of exceptions to this rule--according to my friend, one is ultimately never sure how different construction techniques and materials will affect the sound. That's part of the fun. I should add that these days, despite Stradivari's international reputation, it is the German school that holds more sway in today's classical violin world.

Violin structure has changed somewhat over the years, but I'm not up on the more subtle differences enough to talk about them here. I can tell you, however, that the chinrest is a very recent addition to the violin, and most violins have had to be retrofitted for them (not a painful process--the chinrest is basically held on with a little metal bracket that does little else but hang on to the side of the instrument). This reflects a change in the way classical violin was taught. At one point, there were bitter disputes among violinists over which was the better way to play: at the shoulder, as it's played now, or in the crook of the arm. Among shoulder players, there was dispute over which side of the violin the crin should rest on. The history of this debate can actually be seen in the weathering of the varnish of older instruments: the sweat of arm-crook players would eventually create this hourglass-shaped wear pattern in the varnish of the back of the instrument, while the sweat of shoulder players would wear a cheek sort of pattern in the top of the instrument. An instrument can therefore be dated somewhat by the wear of the varnish. Modern instruments, unless they're played by some fiddlers, will never exhibit the wear in the instrument's back, unless the instrument has been antiqued by the maker. Antiquing is a nice way of saying that, after the maker has made the violin as perfectly as he can, he then beats the hell out of the thing to make it look older. My friend, when asked to antique the instrument, will first rub off lots of the varnish with turpentine. Then he'll find a rock on the sidewalk and scrape gouges in the instrument all over the place. At one point, I helped in the antiquing process by walking around his apartment banging the violin against the furniture. This process costs a couple hundred bucks, but classical players do it because it's considered uncool to have a new-looking instrument.

By the length of this mess, you can see that it probably deserves its own entry...

Dr. Funk