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Raising the bar: Bass-bar experiments

2024-06-19T09:14:00

Oberlin bassbar 4

Joseph Curtin reports on a series of experiments at the 2023 Oberlin Acoustics Workshop, which attempted to ascertain the acoustic effects of altering the height and scoop of the violin’s bass-bar

The bass-bar is a gracefully scooped beam of spruce running along the inside of the violin top, extending almost end to end and passing directly beneath the bass foot of the bridge. One of its functions is to prevent the top from collapsing under the sustained downward force of the strings…

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