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In a string instrument
String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones....
, the sound post is a small dowel
Dowel

A dowel is a solid cylindrical Rod , usually made of wood, plastic or metal. In its original manufactured form, dowel is called dowel rod....
 inside the instrument under the treble end of the bridge, spanning the space between the top and back plates and held in place by friction. It serves as a structural support for an archtop instrument, transfers sound from the top plate to the back plate and alters the tone of the instrument by changing the vibrational modes of the plates.

The sound post is sometimes referred to as the âme, a French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 word meaning "soul".






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In a string instrument
String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones....
, the sound post is a small dowel
Dowel

A dowel is a solid cylindrical Rod , usually made of wood, plastic or metal. In its original manufactured form, dowel is called dowel rod....
 inside the instrument under the treble end of the bridge, spanning the space between the top and back plates and held in place by friction. It serves as a structural support for an archtop instrument, transfers sound from the top plate to the back plate and alters the tone of the instrument by changing the vibrational modes of the plates.

The sound post is sometimes referred to as the âme, a French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 word meaning "soul". The bow has also been referred to as the soul of these instruments. The Italians use the same term, anima, for this.

Sound posts are used:
  • In all members of the violin
    Violin

    The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
     family;
  • In some members of the viol
    Viol

    The viol is any one of a family of bow , fretted, stringed instruments musical instruments developed in the 1400s and used primarily in the Renaissance music and Baroque music periods....
     family;
  • In some archtop guitar
    Archtop guitar

    An archtop guitar is a steel-stringed acoustic guitar or semi-acoustic guitar guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with blues and jazz players....
    s;
and in other string instruments.

Sound post adjustment

The position of the sound post inside a violin is critical, and moving it by very small amounts (as little as 0.5mm or 0.25mm, or less) can make a big difference in the sound quality and loudness of an instrument. Specialized tools for standing up or moving a sound post are commercially available. Often the pointed end of an S-shaped setter is sharpened with a file and left rough, to grip the post a bit better.

Soundpost adjustment is as much art as science, depending on the ears, experience, structural sense, and sensitive touch of the luthier. The rough guidelines in the following section outline the effects of various moves, but the interaction of all the factors involved keeps it from being a simple process. Moving the sound post has very complex consequences on the sound. In the end, it is the ear of the person doing the adjusting that determines the desired location of the post.

Effect of position on the instrument

Moving the sound post towards the fingerboard tends to increase brilliance and loudness. Moving the sound post towards the tail piece decreases the loudness and adds a richness or hollowness to the tonal quality of the instrument. Moving it towards the outside of the instrument increases brightness and moving in towards the middle of the instrument increases the lower frequencies. There is very little room to move the post from side to side without fitting a new post (or shortening the existing one) since tension (how firmly the post is wedged between top and back) plays an important role in tone adjustment. Perfect wood-to-wood fit at both ends of the post is critical to getting the desired sound.

See also

  • Bass bar
    Bass bar

    In a string instrument, the bass bar is a brace running from the foot of the neck to a position under the bridge , which bears much of the tension of the strings ....


External links

  • (contains introduction to and theory of the sound post)
  • Section on building and maintaining violins
  • on setups and sound post considerations