Violins, Old and New; with some Observations on their Tonal Characteristics

Abstract

For upwards of a hundred years the violin has been the subject of more experiment, and probably more controversy, than any other musical instrument devised by the wit of man. Since the early part of the last century, when Savart, the French scientist, first gave to the Academy the results of his researches, and propounded his theories of violin making and acoustics, all sorts and conditions of men, from the humble village artizan to the highly-trained chemist and man of science, have experimented with practically every part of the fiddle's anatomy, in the hope of making some grand discovery either in relation to matters of construction or to the eternal and much misunderstood question of varnish.