Re: Stradivarius

At 11:02 PM -0700 5/27/07, Howard Posner wrote:

When you say "the same time that the instruments were being modified to
give more projection" you seem to mean that there was one discreet time
that instruments were modified to make them louder. In fact, this
process has been going on continually for a couple of centuries.

The modifications I'm referring to are the gross modifications, replacing the necks with longer ones set at a higher angle, replacing the bass bar rib with a stronger one, and probably adopting a bridge with more solid wood than 18th century bridges (although I'm not 100% sure that was a simultaneous adoption). I do not mean the gradual experiments in body design like Strad adopting a slightly different pattern than the one he learned in the Amati atelier. And yes, although I don't have beginning and ending points to hand, I believe that those modifications were all done during the 19th century, well before the 20th century increase in brass instrument volume.

There was also, of course, a finite transition period during which the baroque bow gave way to the Tourte model bow, which I would assign to the early 19th century just on general principles.

I'm sure David Boyden has more detail, but unfortunately my copy is buried in a packing box somewhere.

The point is that when players go to string material with greater
density, it's typically because they want increased loudness or sustain.

Having been monitoring the ViolaList for some time now, I would venture to say that while these factors may have face validity to someone not involved as a player, they are not a major concern for players. Most of the strings discussions involve not loudness or sustain (sustain? not sure how that applies! Do you mean resonance?), but tone quality, balancing the high and low strings in sound and feel, and so forth. Some players like to use matched sets, some find their instruments require sets combining different brands and even different core materials. And while I'm not at all sure about the physics of it, neither am I sure that thinner strings with a heavier core are in fact denser than thicker strings with a lighter core. I do understand that all string tuning is a balancing act among length, mass, and tension.

John


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