Being a physicist, I often thought about the presented procedures and methods as well. This would induce making sound replica of the great old instruments rather than mere morphological replica. True also that it also gives a chance to improve the quality of new instruments. Measuring rules.
Has anyone ever realized that the right F-hole of "Recamier" Stradivarius 1729 (Sayaka Shoji-played) is slightly longer at the upper curve (so as the upper leading hole) than those of the left F-hole, so the two sound holes are asymmetrical in front view of the violin?
I was trying to figure out what I was sering. I don't know enough about their construction to be certain. I am sure that you could have something there.
After listening to what was being said in the video, I heard nothing about his own insights or craftsmanship passion behind the making of a violin. All I heard was the hero worship of past great works! I’m glad he thinks highly of those past craftsmen, I feel the same way; but my interest is beyond the cheerleader stage, show me what you got!
The piece of music in the background is readily identifiable as the second movement "Fuga" from the J.S. Bach Sonata #2 in a- , BWV 1003, for "solo violin without bass" (as Bach himself labelled it). Regrettably, i am not sufficiently persnickety as to be able to identify the violinist performing it, but perhaps Henryk Szeryng or Nathan Milstein are reasonable guesses (it does NOT seem to be played in the currently-fashionable H.I.P. style, so a period-instrument player like Stanley Ritchie or Rachel Podger seems ruled out^^). More people today would just say refer to the piece as "solo Bach" or for "unaccompanied violin", but it seems wise to use J.S.'s own phraseology. I actually played that entire sonata complete as part of my 4th-year undergrad recital back on March 22nd (day after Bach's birthday) in 1989, but concentrating somewhat more on viola the past 9 years, it is unlikely i could duplicate that feat any time soon.^^ Scott Slapin was the first to record it in viola transcription, but the triple and quadruple stops are much more taxing on the larger instrument, and those with absolute pitch may find the effect of playing a full perfect-fifth lower to be somewhat jarring on the ears. Famous Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti actually proposed that violinists before tackling the monumental sonatas and partitas should first learn the Bach solo 'cello suites in transcription (up an octave and a fifth from the original, presumably), since the 'cello suites contain far fewer multiple stops; Szigeti's idea was that violinists should first master the musical principles common to both sets of works (foremost, conveying the sense of polyphony on a melodic instrument) before dealing with the enhanced technical demands of the s + p. Seems reaonable to me. Excuse this rather protracted answer; sometimes i cannot help using 10 words when two would suffice, but i like to be both accurate and encyclopedic in detail.
I love old violins also. I read the book of the man who repaired a lot of Stradivari. It is my belief that since he hung the violins out to dry that the air was filled with ash from volcanoes and this is actually glass or the stone peridot.
Tree ring dating (dendrochronology) of instruments against each other is solid because it rests on realistic assumptions (namely that the master used wood from the same tree or same forest repeatedly and that masters from the same city would have sourced from the same location or merchant). Tree ring dating against reference forests is much more tenuous and more often than not a fool's errand because the results from analyzing chronologies derived from forests as close as 50 km to one another can be "alarmingly poor" (Wigley 1987).
Has anyone done or thought of using state of the art CT scan equipment to scan some of the great fiddles and get their topologies. With this technology one can get complete dimensions of these violins down to the bacterial level (50-100 microns). This is completely non-invasive and was done on the Antikythera Mechanism in 2005. I wish this could happen. We would see what they did on the inside surfaces of the two plates. Stradivari carved in three different regions on the top plate to improve frequency response and flatness of the sound.
My gawd people, no one talks about the fact that Gaurnari and Stradivarious made Baroque violins with shorter necks, lower neck angles and had lower tuning than modern violins. The ones being played now, aside from being aged for 300 years are not the same violins because their necks are longer and there's much more force being applied to the top plate. Were Stads tap tuned for Baroque fiddles and the graduation was done differently than modern violins? Are the original Baroque fiddles revoiced? Also keeping in mind that acoustic instruments improve over time along with the blind testing that shows there are modern instruments that match these old Italian instruments, I believe that there is way too much dogma surrounding this whole subject.
I have two aspen trees that were planted on the same day in my backyard 30 years ago … those were literally a few month old trees. Now one of them is twice as thick … tree rings are a fake science ..
Good wood, superb crafting techniques, and acoustic knowledge are what Stradivarius used. Also a thin protective varnish. I learned all this after 60 years of instrument making myself. One has to do it, not just read about it.
During the occupation by French (Austrian-French war) the city of Cremona was hermetically closed, so they used for the back maple wood from older stocks out of Bosnia, with less nacre-like bending by nature.
This is really interesting, but I was hoping to hear some details about what they actually concluded from their studies.
I learned that the violin maker loves and is inspired by old violins and their makers - great, but hardly a scientific discovery.
Being a physicist, I often thought about the presented procedures and methods as well. This would induce making sound replica of the great old instruments rather than mere morphological replica. True also that it also gives a chance to improve the quality of new instruments.
Measuring rules.
Has anyone ever realized that the right F-hole of "Recamier" Stradivarius 1729 (Sayaka Shoji-played) is slightly longer at the upper curve (so as the upper leading hole) than those of the left F-hole, so the two sound holes are asymmetrical in front view of the violin?
I was trying to figure out what I was sering. I don't know enough about their construction to be certain. I am sure that you could have something there.
After listening to what was being said in the video, I heard nothing about his own insights or craftsmanship passion behind the making of a violin. All I heard was the hero worship of past great works! I’m glad he thinks highly of those past craftsmen, I feel the same way; but my interest is beyond the cheerleader stage, show me what you got!
Thanks for the English subtitles.
Really very nice.
what was the soundtrack used in the background music
The piece of music in the background is readily identifiable as the second movement "Fuga" from the J.S. Bach Sonata #2 in a- , BWV 1003, for "solo violin without bass" (as Bach himself labelled it). Regrettably, i am not sufficiently persnickety as to be able to identify the violinist performing it, but perhaps Henryk Szeryng or Nathan Milstein are reasonable guesses (it does NOT seem to be played in the currently-fashionable H.I.P. style, so a period-instrument player like Stanley Ritchie or Rachel Podger seems ruled out^^). More people today would just say refer to the piece as "solo Bach" or for "unaccompanied violin", but it seems wise to use J.S.'s own phraseology.
I actually played that entire sonata complete as part of my 4th-year undergrad recital back on March 22nd (day after Bach's birthday) in 1989, but concentrating somewhat more on viola the past 9 years, it is unlikely i could duplicate that feat any time soon.^^ Scott Slapin was the first to record it in viola transcription, but the triple and quadruple stops are much more taxing on the larger instrument, and those with absolute pitch may find the effect of playing a full perfect-fifth lower to be somewhat jarring on the ears.
Famous Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti actually proposed that violinists before tackling the monumental sonatas and partitas should first learn the Bach solo 'cello suites in transcription (up an octave and a fifth from the original, presumably), since the 'cello suites contain far fewer multiple stops; Szigeti's idea was that violinists should first master the musical principles common to both sets of works (foremost, conveying the sense of polyphony on a melodic instrument) before dealing with the enhanced technical demands of the s + p. Seems reaonable to me.
Excuse this rather protracted answer; sometimes i cannot help using 10 words when two would suffice, but i like to be both accurate and encyclopedic in detail.
I love old violins also. I read the book of the man who repaired a lot of Stradivari. It is my belief that since he hung the violins out to dry that the air was filled with ash from volcanoes and this is actually glass or the stone peridot.
Volcanic material (pumice) acted as a drying agent (siccative) in 16-18th century varnish.
Tree ring dating (dendrochronology) of instruments against each other is solid because it rests on realistic assumptions (namely that the master used wood from the same tree or same forest repeatedly and that masters from the same city would have sourced from the same location or merchant). Tree ring dating against reference forests is much more tenuous and more often than not a fool's errand because the results from analyzing chronologies derived from forests as close as 50 km to one another can be "alarmingly poor" (Wigley 1987).
Has anyone done or thought of using state of the art CT scan equipment to scan some of the great fiddles and get their topologies. With this technology one can get complete dimensions of these violins down to the bacterial level (50-100 microns). This is completely non-invasive and was done on the Antikythera Mechanism in 2005. I wish this could happen. We would see what they did on the inside surfaces of the two plates. Stradivari carved in three different regions on the top plate to improve frequency response and flatness of the sound.
We do have CT scans of the strads. The problem is, they didn't really find anything they didn't know already
All Stradivari violins, are rather elegant and bewildering, you could say that they are extraordinary.
My gawd people, no one talks about the fact that Gaurnari and Stradivarious made Baroque violins with shorter necks, lower neck angles and had lower tuning than modern violins. The ones being played now, aside from being aged for 300 years are not the same violins because their necks are longer and there's much more force being applied to the top plate. Were Stads tap tuned for Baroque fiddles and the graduation was done differently than modern violins? Are the original Baroque fiddles revoiced? Also keeping in mind that acoustic instruments improve over time along with the blind testing that shows there are modern instruments that match these old Italian instruments, I believe that there is way too much dogma surrounding this whole subject.
Bonjour j'ai un violon à vendre. Plus de 200 ans antonius stradivarius
J’achète
I have two aspen trees that were planted on the same day in my backyard 30 years ago … those were literally a few month old trees.
Now one of them is twice as thick … tree rings are a fake science ..
Lol I made a violin sound as good as a stradivarius if not better. I did not need 3d scans or BS magic wood to make her sound beautiful.
A modest claim
Good wood, superb crafting techniques, and acoustic knowledge are what Stradivarius used. Also a thin protective varnish. I learned all this after 60 years of instrument making myself. One has to do it, not just read about it.
wonderful!
antonius stradivarius
I heard that he only used Bosnian maple for all his masterpieces.
During the occupation by French (Austrian-French war) the city of Cremona was hermetically closed, so they used for the back maple wood from older stocks out of Bosnia, with less nacre-like bending by nature.
No content... Cool....
Please takedown this pointless stuff or change the label so folks don't waste their time on such drivel.