Violin construction and mechanics
Encyclopedia
A violin
consists of a body or corpus, a neck, a bridge
, a soundpost, four strings
, and various fittings. The fittings are the tuning peg
s, tailpiece
and tailgut
, endpin, possibly one or more fine tuners on the tailpiece, and perhaps a chinrest
, either attached directly over the tailpiece or to the left of it.
The body of the violin is made of two arched plates
fastened to a "garland" of ribs with animal hide glue
. The rib garland includes a top block, four corner blocks (sometimes omitted in cheap mass-produced instruments,) a bottom block, and narrow strips called linings, which help solidify the curves of the ribs, and provide extra gluing surface for the plates. The ribs are what is commonly seen as the "sides" of the box. From the top or back, the body shows an "hourglass" shape formed by an upper bout and a lower bout. Two concave C-bouts between each side's corners form the waist of this figure, providing clearance for the bow
.
The best woods, especially for the plates, have been seasoned for many years in large wedges, and the seasoning process continues indefinitely after the violin has been made. Glue joints of the instrument are held with hide glue, since other adhesives can be difficult or impossible to reverse when future repairs are in order. Parts attached with hide glue can be separated when needed by using heat and moisture, or by careful prying with a thin knife blade. A well-tended violin can outlive many generations of players, so it is wise to take a curatorial
view when caring for a violin.
, bookmatched
at a strongly glued joint down the center, with two sound-holes (or "f-holes", from their resemblance to a stylized letter "f") precisely placed between the C-bouts and lower corners. The sound-holes affect the flex patterns of the top, or table, and allow the box to breathe as it vibrates. A decorative inlaid set of three narrow wooden strips, usually a light-colored strip surrounded by two dark strips, called purfling
, runs around the edge of the top, and is said to give some resistance to cracks originating at the edge. It is also claimed to allow the top to flex more independently of the rib structure. Some instruments have two lines of purfling, or have knot-work
type ornaments inlaid in the back. Painted-on faux
purfling on the top is usually a sign of an inferior instrument. A slab-sawn bass bar fitted inside the top, running lengthwise under the bass foot of the bridge, gives added mass and rigidity to the top plate. Some cheaper mass-produced violins have an integral bass bar, carved from the same piece as the top. Ideally the top is glued to the ribs and linings with slightly diluted hide glue, to allow future removal with minimal damage.
, most often with a matching striped figure
, called "flame." Backs may be one-piece slab-cut or quarter-sawn, or bookmatched two-piece quarter-sawn. Backs are also purfled, but in their case the purfling is less structurally important than for the top. Some fine old violins have scribed or painted rather than inlaid purfling on the back. The small semicircular extension of the back known as the "button" provides extra gluing surface for the crucial neck joint, and is neglected when measuring the length of the back. Occasionally a half-circle of ebony
surrounds the button, either to restore material lost in resetting the neck of an old instrument, or to imitate that effect.
The ribs, having been bent to shape by heat, have their curved shape somewhat reinforced by lining strips of other wood at the top and bottom edges. The linings also provide additional gluing surface for the seams between the plates (top and bottom) and the rib edges.
, typically made of ebony
, but often some other wood stained or painted black. Ebony is considered the preferred material because of its hardness, beauty, and superior resistance to wear. Some very old violins were made with maple fingerboards, carrying a veneer of ebony. At the peg end of the fingerboard sits a small ebony or ivory nut
, infrequently called the upper saddle, with grooves to position the strings as they lead into the pegbox. The scroll
at the end of the pegbox provides essential mass to tune
the fundamental body resonance
of the instrument, and provides a convenient grip for spare fingers to brace against when tuning one-handed, with the violin on the shoulder. Some "scrolls" are carved representations of animal or human heads, instead of the classical spiral
volute
most normally seen.
The maple neck alone is not strong enough to support the tension of the strings without distorting, relying for that strength on its lamination
with the fingerboard. For this reason, if a fingerboard comes loose (it happens) it is vital to slacken the strings immediately. The shape of the neck and fingerboard affect how easily the violin may be played. Fingerboards are dressed to a particular transverse curve, and have a small lengthwise "scoop", or concavity, slightly more pronounced on the lower strings, especially when meant for gut or synthetic strings. The neck itself is not varnished, but is polished and perhaps lightly sealed, to allow ease and rapidity of shifting between positions.
Some old violins (and some made to appear old) have a grafted scroll, or a seam between the pegbox and neck itself. Many authentic old instruments have had their necks reset to a slightly increased angle, and lengthened by about a centimeter. The neck graft allows the original scroll to be kept with a Baroque
violin when bringing its neck to conformance with modern standard.
is a precisely cut piece of maple, preferably with prominent medullary ray
s, showing a flecked figure. The bridge forms the lower anchor point of the vibrating length of the strings, and transmits the vibration of the strings to the body of the instrument. Its top curve holds the strings at the proper height from the fingerboard, permitting each to be played separately by the bow. The mass distribution and flex of the bridge, acting as a mechanical acoustic filter, have a prominent effect on the sound.
Tuning the violin can cause the bridge to lean, usually toward the fingerboard as the tightening of the strings pulls it. If left that way, it may warp. Experienced violinists know how to straighten and center a bridge.
The sound post
, or "soul post", fits precisely between the back and top, just to the tailward side of the treble bridge foot. It helps support the top under string pressure, and has a variable effect the instrument's tone, depending on its position and the tension of its fit. Part of adjusting the tone of the instrument is moving the sound post by small amounts, both laterally and along the long axis of the instrument, using a tool called a sound post setter. Since the sound post is not glued and is held in place by string tension and by being gently wedged between the top and back, it may fall over if all the strings are slackened at once.
Running under the opposite side of the bridge is the bass bar. While the shape and mass of the bass bar affect tone, it is fixed in position, and not so adjustable as the sound post. It is fitted perfectly to the inside of the instrument at a slight angle to the centre joint. On many German trade instruments it used to be common fashion not to fit a bass bar but to leave a section of the front uncarved and shape that to resemble one. During the baroque era bass bars were much much shorter and thinner. Often modern players have asked luthiers to change a baroque bar to a modern one in an old instrument. Occasionally the luthier will refuse to change this feature feeling that it may compromise the instrument.
may be wood, metal, or plastic, and anchors the strings to the lower bout of the violin by means of the tailgut, nowadays most often a loop of stout nylon monofilament which rides over the lower saddle, a block of ebony set into the edge of the top, and goes around the endpin. The endpin fits into a tapered hole in the bottom block. Most often the material of the endpin is chosen to match the other fittings, for example, ebony, rosewood or boxwood.
Very often the E string will have a fine tuning lever worked by a small screw turned by the fingers. Fine tuners may also be applied to the other strings, and are sometimes built in to the tailpiece. Fine tuners are usually used with solid metal or composite strings that may be difficult to tune with pegs alone; they are not used with gut strings, which have greater flexibility and don't respond adequately to the very small changes in tension of fine tuners. Some violinists, particularly beginners or those who favor metal strings, use fine tuners on all four strings. Using a single fine tuner on the E string, or using built-in-tuners, limits the extent to which the tuners' added mass affects the sound of the instrument.
s. Strings usually have a colored "silk" wrapping at both ends, for identification and to provide friction against the pegs. The peg shafts are shaved to a standard taper, their pegbox holes being reamed to the same taper, allowing the friction to be increased or decreased by the player applying appropriate pressure along the axis of the peg while turning it. Various brands of peg compound or peg dope
help keep the pegs from sticking or slipping. Peg drops are marketed for slipping pegs. Pegs may be made of ebony, rosewood, boxwood, or other woods, either for reasons of economy or to minimize wear on the peg holes by using a softer wood for the pegs. Attempts have been made to market violins with machine tuners but they have not been generally adopted.
consists of a stick with a ribbon of horsehair
strung between the tip and frog (or nut, or heel) at opposite ends. At the frog end, a screw adjuster tightens or loosens the hair. The frog may be decorated with two eyes made of shell, with or without surrounding metal rings. A flat slide usually made of ebony and shell covers the mortise
where the hair is held by its wedge. A metal ferrule
holds the hair-spreading wedge and the shell slide in place. Just forward of the frog, a leather grip or thumb cushion protects the stick and provides grip for the player's hand. Forward of the leather, a winding serves a similar purpose, as well as affecting the balance of the bow. The winding may be wire, silk, or whalebone (now imitated by alternating strips of yellow and black plastic.) Some student bows (particularly the ones made of solid fiberglass) substitute a plastic sleeve for grip and winding.
The stick is traditionally made of pernambuco
or the less expensive brazilwood
, although some student bows are made of fiberglass
. Recent innovations have allowed carbon-fiber to be used as a material for the stick at all levels of craftsmanship. The hair of the bow traditionally comes from the tail of a white male horse
, although some cheaper bows use synthetic fiber. The hair must be rubbed with rosin
occasionally so that it will grip the strings and cause them to vibrate. Bow hair is regularly replaced when the ribbon becomes skimpy or unbalanced from hair breakage, or when the player feels the hair has "lost its grip."
Violins have four open strings: G, D, A, and E. The four strings run from a tailpiece attached to the base, cross a wooden bridge, continue towards the neck of the instrument running parallel to the fingerboard, and connect to the pegbox located at the very top of the violin. The strings are wound around four tuning pegs that are mounted sideways through holes in the pegbox. The bridge of the violin helps to hold the strings in place, while the pegs maintain the tension necessary to produce vibration.
Strings
were first made of sheep's intestines (called "catgut
"), stretched, dried and twisted. Contrary to popular belief, violin strings were never made of actual cat's intestines. Plain gut strings are used in both modern and "period" music though in recent years the "baroque" historically accurate performances players seem to use them more often than those musicians who play later period music or play baroque music in a "modern" style. Gut strings are made by a number of specialty string makers as well as some large stringmaking companies.
In the 19th century (and even earlier though not yet prevalent) metal windings were developed for the lower-pitched
gut strings. Wound strings avoid the flabby sound of a light-gauge string at low tension. Heavier plain-gut strings at a suitable tension are inconvenient to play and difficult to fit into the pegbox.
There are many claims made that gut strings are difficult to keep in tune. In fact for those who actually have experience with them, plain gut strings are quite stable from a tuning standpoint. Wound gut do have more instability of tuning due to the different response to moisture and heat between the winding and the core, and from string to string. Some players use olive oil on gut strings to extend their playing life, and improve tuning stability by reducing the strings' sensitivity to humidity. Gut strings tend to hold their sound quality nicely right up until they fail, or become excessively worn.
Modern strings are most commonly either a stranded
synthetic core wound with various metals, or a steel core, which may be solid or stranded, often wound with various other metals. With low-density cores such as gut or synthetic fiber, the winding allows a string to be thin enough to play, while sounding the desired pitch at an appropriate tension. The winding of steel strings affects their flexibility and surface properties, as well as mass. Strings may be wound with several layers, in part to control the damping of vibrations, and influence the "warmth" or "brightness" of the string by manipulating the strength of its overtones.
The core may be synthetic filaments, solid metal, or braided or twisted steel filaments. The uppermost E string is usually solid steel, either plain or wound with aluminium in an effort to prevent "whistling." Gold plating delays corrosion of the steel and may also reduce whistling. Stainless steel
gives a slightly different tone. Synthetic-core strings, the most popular of which is Perlon
(a trade name for stranded nylon
) combine some of the tonal qualities of gut strings with greater longevity and tuning stability. They are also much less sensitive to changes in humidity
than gut strings, and less sensitive to changes in temperature
than all-metal strings. Solid-core metal strings are stiff when newly replaced, and tend to go out of tune quickly.
While some gut strings still use a knot to secure the tail end in the slot of the tailpiece, most modern strings use a "ball", a small bead often made of bronze, for that purpose. A frequent exception is the E string, which may be had with either a ball or loop end, since the smallest E-string fine tuners hold the tail of the string on a single small hook.
The price of different string types varies dramatically; gut and gut-core strings are typically the most expensive, followed by leading synthetic core brands, and student steel strings at the lowest price range. Natural gut strings (without the metal windings) are quite inexpensive, especially for the e and a strings. The longevity of strings (all types) is highly variable and is influenced by style of play, chemistry of perspiration and its interaction with the string material, presence of fingernails, frequency of play etc. Some players have trouble with certain brands of strings, or one particular string (say an "a" string of brand xyz) but not with others.
The character of the sound produced by the strings can be adjusted quite markedly through the selection of different types of strings. The most noticeable divisions of sound quality for violins is steel, artificial gut ("perlon" core etc.), wound gut, and plain gut. The wound gut tend to have a mellow sound, as do many of the artificial strings, though other artificial core strings are specifically designed to be "bright". Steel and plain gut are both rather bright (full of overtones) but in distinctly different ways: you can tell the difference and yet each is more lively or bright typically than the wound soft-core and wound-gut strings. Certain styles of music have come to be played with certain types of strings, yet there is no hard and fast rule in this respect as each musician is looking for his or her sound. (Country fiddling is often on steel or all-metal; orchestral is often wound (gut or artificial) with a steel e; soloists are often like the orchestra; baroque or early music may be played rather more than romantic pieces, on plain gut.)
, according to modes or schemes of movement determined by German physicist Ernst Chladni
. Patterns of the nodes (places of no movement) made by sand or glitter sprinkled on the plates with the plate vibrated at certain frequencies are called "Chladni patterns", and are occasionally used by luthier
s to verify their work before assembling the instrument. A scientific explanation includes a discussion of how the properties of the wood determines where the nodes occur, whether the plates move with end or diagonally opposite points rising together or in various mixed modes.
The body length (not including the neck) of a 'full-size' or 4/4 violin is about 14 inches (or smaller in some models of the 17th century). A 3/4 violin is 13 inches, and a 1/2 size is 12 inches. Rarely, one finds a size referred to as 7/8 which is approximately 13.5 inches, sometimes called a "ladies' fiddle." Viola
size is specified as body length in inches rather than fractional sizes. A 'full-size' viola averages 16 inches, but may range as long as 18 or 20 inches. Such extremely long instruments may be humorously referred to as "chin cellos."
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
consists of a body or corpus, a neck, a bridge
Bridge (instrument)
A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.- Explanation :...
, a soundpost, four strings
Strings (music)
A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain"...
, and various fittings. The fittings are the tuning peg
Tuning peg
A tuning peg is used to hold a string in the pegbox of a stringed instrument. It may be made of ebony, rosewood, boxwood or other material. Some tuning pegs are ornamented with shell, metal, or plastic inlays, beads or rings....
s, tailpiece
Tailpiece
A tailpiece is a component on many stringed musical instruments that anchors one end of the strings, usually the end opposite the end with the tuning mechanism the scroll, headstock, peghead, etc.-Function and construction:...
and tailgut
Tailpiece
A tailpiece is a component on many stringed musical instruments that anchors one end of the strings, usually the end opposite the end with the tuning mechanism the scroll, headstock, peghead, etc.-Function and construction:...
, endpin, possibly one or more fine tuners on the tailpiece, and perhaps a chinrest
Chinrest
A chinrest is a shaped piece of wood attached to the body of a violin or a viola to aid in the positioning of the player's jaw or chin on the instrument. The chinrest may be made of ebony, rosewood, boxwood, or plastic...
, either attached directly over the tailpiece or to the left of it.
Body
Sounding board
A sound board, or soundboard, is the surface of a string instrument that the strings vibrate against, usually via some sort of bridge. The resonant properties of the sound board and the interior of the instrument greatly increase loudness over the string alone.The sound board operates by the...
fastened to a "garland" of ribs with animal hide glue
Animal glue
An animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue.These protein colloid glues are formed through hydrolysis of the collagen from skins, bones, tendons, and other tissues, similar to gelatin. The word "collagen" itself derives from Greek κόλλα kolla, glue...
. The rib garland includes a top block, four corner blocks (sometimes omitted in cheap mass-produced instruments,) a bottom block, and narrow strips called linings, which help solidify the curves of the ribs, and provide extra gluing surface for the plates. The ribs are what is commonly seen as the "sides" of the box. From the top or back, the body shows an "hourglass" shape formed by an upper bout and a lower bout. Two concave C-bouts between each side's corners form the waist of this figure, providing clearance for the bow
Bow (music)
In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
.
The best woods, especially for the plates, have been seasoned for many years in large wedges, and the seasoning process continues indefinitely after the violin has been made. Glue joints of the instrument are held with hide glue, since other adhesives can be difficult or impossible to reverse when future repairs are in order. Parts attached with hide glue can be separated when needed by using heat and moisture, or by careful prying with a thin knife blade. A well-tended violin can outlive many generations of players, so it is wise to take a curatorial
Art conservation and restoration
Conservation-restoration, also referred to as conservation, is a profession devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage for the future. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care...
view when caring for a violin.
Top
Typically the top (the instrument's soundboard) is made of quarter-sawn spruceSpruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
, bookmatched
Bookmatched
Bookmatching is the practice of matching two wood surfaces, so that two adjoining surfaces mirror each other in appearance, thus giving the impression of an opened book...
at a strongly glued joint down the center, with two sound-holes (or "f-holes", from their resemblance to a stylized letter "f") precisely placed between the C-bouts and lower corners. The sound-holes affect the flex patterns of the top, or table, and allow the box to breathe as it vibrates. A decorative inlaid set of three narrow wooden strips, usually a light-colored strip surrounded by two dark strips, called purfling
Purfling
Purfling is a narrow binding inlaid into the edges of the top and often bottom plates of stringed instruments. Purfling serves to reinforce the plates and prevent cracking along their edges....
, runs around the edge of the top, and is said to give some resistance to cracks originating at the edge. It is also claimed to allow the top to flex more independently of the rib structure. Some instruments have two lines of purfling, or have knot-work
Celtic knot
Celtic knots are a variety of knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in the Celtic style of Insular art. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts, such as the 8th-century...
type ornaments inlaid in the back. Painted-on faux
Fake
Fake means not real.Fake may also refer to:In music:* Fake , a Swedish synthpop band active in the 1980s*Fake?, a Japanese rock band* Fake , 2010 song by Ai featuring Namie Amuro...
purfling on the top is usually a sign of an inferior instrument. A slab-sawn bass bar fitted inside the top, running lengthwise under the bass foot of the bridge, gives added mass and rigidity to the top plate. Some cheaper mass-produced violins have an integral bass bar, carved from the same piece as the top. Ideally the top is glued to the ribs and linings with slightly diluted hide glue, to allow future removal with minimal damage.
Back and ribs
The back and ribs are typically made of mapleMaple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
, most often with a matching striped figure
Figure (wood)
In wood, figure refers to the appearance of wood, as seen on a longitudinal surface : a "figured wood" is not plain.The figure of a particular piece of wood is, in part, due to its grain and, in part, due to the cut, or to innate properties of the wood...
, called "flame." Backs may be one-piece slab-cut or quarter-sawn, or bookmatched two-piece quarter-sawn. Backs are also purfled, but in their case the purfling is less structurally important than for the top. Some fine old violins have scribed or painted rather than inlaid purfling on the back. The small semicircular extension of the back known as the "button" provides extra gluing surface for the crucial neck joint, and is neglected when measuring the length of the back. Occasionally a half-circle of ebony
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...
surrounds the button, either to restore material lost in resetting the neck of an old instrument, or to imitate that effect.
The ribs, having been bent to shape by heat, have their curved shape somewhat reinforced by lining strips of other wood at the top and bottom edges. The linings also provide additional gluing surface for the seams between the plates (top and bottom) and the rib edges.
Neck
The neck is usually maple with a flamed figure compatible with that of the ribs and back. It carries the fingerboardFingerboard
The fingerboard is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run...
, typically made of ebony
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...
, but often some other wood stained or painted black. Ebony is considered the preferred material because of its hardness, beauty, and superior resistance to wear. Some very old violins were made with maple fingerboards, carrying a veneer of ebony. At the peg end of the fingerboard sits a small ebony or ivory nut
Nut (instrumental)
The nut of a string instrument is a small piece of hard material which supports the strings at the end closest to the headstock or scroll. The nut marks one end of the speaking length of each open string, sets the spacing of the strings across the neck, and usually holds the strings at the proper...
, infrequently called the upper saddle, with grooves to position the strings as they lead into the pegbox. The scroll
Scroll (music)
A scroll is the decoratively carved end of the neck of certain stringed instruments, mainly members of the violin family. The scroll is typically carved in the shape of a volute according to a canonical pattern, although some violins are adorned with carved heads, human and animal. The quality of...
at the end of the pegbox provides essential mass to tune
Musical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
the fundamental body resonance
Resonance
In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies...
of the instrument, and provides a convenient grip for spare fingers to brace against when tuning one-handed, with the violin on the shoulder. Some "scrolls" are carved representations of animal or human heads, instead of the classical spiral
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a central point, getting progressively farther away as it revolves around the point.-Spiral or helix:...
volute
Volute
A volute is a spiral scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals...
most normally seen.
The maple neck alone is not strong enough to support the tension of the strings without distorting, relying for that strength on its lamination
Laminate
A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common parlance refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an...
with the fingerboard. For this reason, if a fingerboard comes loose (it happens) it is vital to slacken the strings immediately. The shape of the neck and fingerboard affect how easily the violin may be played. Fingerboards are dressed to a particular transverse curve, and have a small lengthwise "scoop", or concavity, slightly more pronounced on the lower strings, especially when meant for gut or synthetic strings. The neck itself is not varnished, but is polished and perhaps lightly sealed, to allow ease and rapidity of shifting between positions.
Some old violins (and some made to appear old) have a grafted scroll, or a seam between the pegbox and neck itself. Many authentic old instruments have had their necks reset to a slightly increased angle, and lengthened by about a centimeter. The neck graft allows the original scroll to be kept with a Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
violin when bringing its neck to conformance with modern standard.
Bridge
The bridgeBridge (instrument)
A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.- Explanation :...
is a precisely cut piece of maple, preferably with prominent medullary ray
Medullary ray (botany)
In botany, Medullary rays refer to a characteristic found in woods. In this context the term refers to radial sheets or ribbons extending vertically through the tree across and perpendicular to the growth rings. Also called pith rays or wood rays, these formations of primarily parenchyma cells...
s, showing a flecked figure. The bridge forms the lower anchor point of the vibrating length of the strings, and transmits the vibration of the strings to the body of the instrument. Its top curve holds the strings at the proper height from the fingerboard, permitting each to be played separately by the bow. The mass distribution and flex of the bridge, acting as a mechanical acoustic filter, have a prominent effect on the sound.
Tuning the violin can cause the bridge to lean, usually toward the fingerboard as the tightening of the strings pulls it. If left that way, it may warp. Experienced violinists know how to straighten and center a bridge.
Sound post and bass bar
Sound post
In a string instrument, the sound post is a small dowel 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...
, or "soul post", fits precisely between the back and top, just to the tailward side of the treble bridge foot. It helps support the top under string pressure, and has a variable effect the instrument's tone, depending on its position and the tension of its fit. Part of adjusting the tone of the instrument is moving the sound post by small amounts, both laterally and along the long axis of the instrument, using a tool called a sound post setter. Since the sound post is not glued and is held in place by string tension and by being gently wedged between the top and back, it may fall over if all the strings are slackened at once.
Running under the opposite side of the bridge is the bass bar. While the shape and mass of the bass bar affect tone, it is fixed in position, and not so adjustable as the sound post. It is fitted perfectly to the inside of the instrument at a slight angle to the centre joint. On many German trade instruments it used to be common fashion not to fit a bass bar but to leave a section of the front uncarved and shape that to resemble one. During the baroque era bass bars were much much shorter and thinner. Often modern players have asked luthiers to change a baroque bar to a modern one in an old instrument. Occasionally the luthier will refuse to change this feature feeling that it may compromise the instrument.
Tailpiece
The tailpieceTailpiece
A tailpiece is a component on many stringed musical instruments that anchors one end of the strings, usually the end opposite the end with the tuning mechanism the scroll, headstock, peghead, etc.-Function and construction:...
may be wood, metal, or plastic, and anchors the strings to the lower bout of the violin by means of the tailgut, nowadays most often a loop of stout nylon monofilament which rides over the lower saddle, a block of ebony set into the edge of the top, and goes around the endpin. The endpin fits into a tapered hole in the bottom block. Most often the material of the endpin is chosen to match the other fittings, for example, ebony, rosewood or boxwood.
Very often the E string will have a fine tuning lever worked by a small screw turned by the fingers. Fine tuners may also be applied to the other strings, and are sometimes built in to the tailpiece. Fine tuners are usually used with solid metal or composite strings that may be difficult to tune with pegs alone; they are not used with gut strings, which have greater flexibility and don't respond adequately to the very small changes in tension of fine tuners. Some violinists, particularly beginners or those who favor metal strings, use fine tuners on all four strings. Using a single fine tuner on the E string, or using built-in-tuners, limits the extent to which the tuners' added mass affects the sound of the instrument.
Pegs
At the scroll end, the strings ride over the nut into the pegbox, where they wind around the tuning pegTuning peg
A tuning peg is used to hold a string in the pegbox of a stringed instrument. It may be made of ebony, rosewood, boxwood or other material. Some tuning pegs are ornamented with shell, metal, or plastic inlays, beads or rings....
s. Strings usually have a colored "silk" wrapping at both ends, for identification and to provide friction against the pegs. The peg shafts are shaved to a standard taper, their pegbox holes being reamed to the same taper, allowing the friction to be increased or decreased by the player applying appropriate pressure along the axis of the peg while turning it. Various brands of peg compound or peg dope
Peg dope
"Peg dope" is a substance used to coat the bearing surfaces of the tuning pegs of string instruments . Manufactured varieties are generally sold in either a small stick , a block, or as a liquid in a bottle...
help keep the pegs from sticking or slipping. Peg drops are marketed for slipping pegs. Pegs may be made of ebony, rosewood, boxwood, or other woods, either for reasons of economy or to minimize wear on the peg holes by using a softer wood for the pegs. Attempts have been made to market violins with machine tuners but they have not been generally adopted.
Bow
The bowBow (music)
In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
consists of a stick with a ribbon of horsehair
Horsehair
Horsehair is the long, coarse hair growing on the manes and tails of horses. It is used for various purposes, including upholstery, brushes, the bows of musical instruments, a hard-wearing fabric called haircloth, and for horsehair plaster, a wallcovering material formerly used in the construction...
strung between the tip and frog (or nut, or heel) at opposite ends. At the frog end, a screw adjuster tightens or loosens the hair. The frog may be decorated with two eyes made of shell, with or without surrounding metal rings. A flat slide usually made of ebony and shell covers the mortise
Mortise
Mortise or mortice may refer to:* Mortise and tenon, a woodworking joint* Ankle mortise, part of the distal tibia joining the talus bone to form an ankle joint* Mortise chisel, a type of chisel* Mortice lock - a deadlocking lock....
where the hair is held by its wedge. A metal ferrule
Ferrule
A ferrule is a name for types of metal objects, generally used for fastening, joining, or reinforcement...
holds the hair-spreading wedge and the shell slide in place. Just forward of the frog, a leather grip or thumb cushion protects the stick and provides grip for the player's hand. Forward of the leather, a winding serves a similar purpose, as well as affecting the balance of the bow. The winding may be wire, silk, or whalebone (now imitated by alternating strips of yellow and black plastic.) Some student bows (particularly the ones made of solid fiberglass) substitute a plastic sleeve for grip and winding.
The stick is traditionally made of pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
or the less expensive brazilwood
Brazilwood
Caesalpinia echinata is a species of Brazilian timber tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include Brazilwood, Pau-Brasil, Pau de Pernambuco and Ibirapitanga . This plant has a dense, orange-red heartwood that takes a high shine, and it is the premier wood used for making bows for...
, although some student bows are made of fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
. Recent innovations have allowed carbon-fiber to be used as a material for the stick at all levels of craftsmanship. The hair of the bow traditionally comes from the tail of a white male horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, although some cheaper bows use synthetic fiber. The hair must be rubbed with rosin
Rosin
.Rosin, also called colophony or Greek pitch , is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vaporize the volatile liquid terpene components. It is semi-transparent and varies in color from yellow to black...
occasionally so that it will grip the strings and cause them to vibrate. Bow hair is regularly replaced when the ribbon becomes skimpy or unbalanced from hair breakage, or when the player feels the hair has "lost its grip."
Strings
Strings
Strings (music)
A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain"...
were first made of sheep's intestines (called "catgut
Catgut
Catgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fibre found in the walls of animal intestines. Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, but it is occasionally made from the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys.-Etymology:...
"), stretched, dried and twisted. Contrary to popular belief, violin strings were never made of actual cat's intestines. Plain gut strings are used in both modern and "period" music though in recent years the "baroque" historically accurate performances players seem to use them more often than those musicians who play later period music or play baroque music in a "modern" style. Gut strings are made by a number of specialty string makers as well as some large stringmaking companies.
In the 19th century (and even earlier though not yet prevalent) metal windings were developed for the lower-pitched
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
gut strings. Wound strings avoid the flabby sound of a light-gauge string at low tension. Heavier plain-gut strings at a suitable tension are inconvenient to play and difficult to fit into the pegbox.
There are many claims made that gut strings are difficult to keep in tune. In fact for those who actually have experience with them, plain gut strings are quite stable from a tuning standpoint. Wound gut do have more instability of tuning due to the different response to moisture and heat between the winding and the core, and from string to string. Some players use olive oil on gut strings to extend their playing life, and improve tuning stability by reducing the strings' sensitivity to humidity. Gut strings tend to hold their sound quality nicely right up until they fail, or become excessively worn.
Modern strings are most commonly either a stranded
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
synthetic core wound with various metals, or a steel core, which may be solid or stranded, often wound with various other metals. With low-density cores such as gut or synthetic fiber, the winding allows a string to be thin enough to play, while sounding the desired pitch at an appropriate tension. The winding of steel strings affects their flexibility and surface properties, as well as mass. Strings may be wound with several layers, in part to control the damping of vibrations, and influence the "warmth" or "brightness" of the string by manipulating the strength of its overtones.
The core may be synthetic filaments, solid metal, or braided or twisted steel filaments. The uppermost E string is usually solid steel, either plain or wound with aluminium in an effort to prevent "whistling." Gold plating delays corrosion of the steel and may also reduce whistling. Stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
gives a slightly different tone. Synthetic-core strings, the most popular of which is Perlon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
(a trade name for stranded nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
) combine some of the tonal qualities of gut strings with greater longevity and tuning stability. They are also much less sensitive to changes in humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
than gut strings, and less sensitive to changes in temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
than all-metal strings. Solid-core metal strings are stiff when newly replaced, and tend to go out of tune quickly.
While some gut strings still use a knot to secure the tail end in the slot of the tailpiece, most modern strings use a "ball", a small bead often made of bronze, for that purpose. A frequent exception is the E string, which may be had with either a ball or loop end, since the smallest E-string fine tuners hold the tail of the string on a single small hook.
The price of different string types varies dramatically; gut and gut-core strings are typically the most expensive, followed by leading synthetic core brands, and student steel strings at the lowest price range. Natural gut strings (without the metal windings) are quite inexpensive, especially for the e and a strings. The longevity of strings (all types) is highly variable and is influenced by style of play, chemistry of perspiration and its interaction with the string material, presence of fingernails, frequency of play etc. Some players have trouble with certain brands of strings, or one particular string (say an "a" string of brand xyz) but not with others.
The character of the sound produced by the strings can be adjusted quite markedly through the selection of different types of strings. The most noticeable divisions of sound quality for violins is steel, artificial gut ("perlon" core etc.), wound gut, and plain gut. The wound gut tend to have a mellow sound, as do many of the artificial strings, though other artificial core strings are specifically designed to be "bright". Steel and plain gut are both rather bright (full of overtones) but in distinctly different ways: you can tell the difference and yet each is more lively or bright typically than the wound soft-core and wound-gut strings. Certain styles of music have come to be played with certain types of strings, yet there is no hard and fast rule in this respect as each musician is looking for his or her sound. (Country fiddling is often on steel or all-metal; orchestral is often wound (gut or artificial) with a steel e; soloists are often like the orchestra; baroque or early music may be played rather more than romantic pieces, on plain gut.)
Acoustics
It has been known for a long time that the shape, or arching, as well as the thickness of the wood and its physical qualities govern the sound of a violin. The sound and tone of the violin is determined by how the belly and back plates of the violin behave acousticallyAcoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
, according to modes or schemes of movement determined by German physicist Ernst Chladni
Ernst Chladni
Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni was a German physicist and musician. His important works include research on vibrating plates and the calculation of the speed of sound for different gases. For this some call him the "Father of Acoustics"...
. Patterns of the nodes (places of no movement) made by sand or glitter sprinkled on the plates with the plate vibrated at certain frequencies are called "Chladni patterns", and are occasionally used by luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
s to verify their work before assembling the instrument. A scientific explanation includes a discussion of how the properties of the wood determines where the nodes occur, whether the plates move with end or diagonally opposite points rising together or in various mixed modes.
Sizes
Children learning the violin often use "fractional-sized" violins: 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/10, 1/16, and sometimes even 1/32 sized instruments are used. These numbers do not represent numerically accurate size relationships, i.e., a "1/2 size" violin is not actually half the length of a full-sized violin.The body length (not including the neck) of a 'full-size' or 4/4 violin is about 14 inches (or smaller in some models of the 17th century). A 3/4 violin is 13 inches, and a 1/2 size is 12 inches. Rarely, one finds a size referred to as 7/8 which is approximately 13.5 inches, sometimes called a "ladies' fiddle." Viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
size is specified as body length in inches rather than fractional sizes. A 'full-size' viola averages 16 inches, but may range as long as 18 or 20 inches. Such extremely long instruments may be humorously referred to as "chin cellos."
External links
- Anatomy of a violin
- Violinbridges - Online archive of bridges of the violin family
- Violin Making - virtual tour of a violin shop
- Wire-frame vibration mode animation (Click the "animation" button on Martin Schleske's home page.)
- The Luthier Helper - Specialized search engine looking only in violin and stringed instrument making, repair and restoration resources
