All Technical articles – Page 15
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Premium ❘ FeatureAll Set up and Ready to Go
In the first of two articles looking at instrument set-up, Joseph Curtin examines the acoustic roles played by the tailpiece and fingerboard in affecting vibration, frequency and resonance
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GalleryGallery: asymmetric instruments
These instruments are featured in The Strad’s September 2019 issue focus on experiments with asymmetry in instrument design
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Asymmetric neck shaping
A method that allows for deviation from the standard neck outline, for the comfort of the individual player
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Premium ❘ FeatureLife out of balance
While many luthiers are happy making stringed instruments to the standard form, others are keen to explore the possibilities of alternative patterns. Peter Somerford discovers how asymmetric designs can affect tone quality, projection, acoustics and player comfort
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Premium ❘ FeatureShould violin makers embrace cutting edge computer analysis?
Violin maker Sam Zygmuntowicz explores how high-tech ways of analysing violins and their sound could help makers and even influence the future forms of instruments
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Making a Tourte-style eye
How to use gold, tortoiseshell and abalone in copies of works by the ‘father of the modern bow’
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Keep the wolf from the door
Joseph Curtin describes a quick and simple method for violinists to eliminate a wolf tone on their instrument, along with the science behind it
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FeatureFirst principles of violin making: Music of the Spheres
In an age of little numeracy or literacy, how did luthiers settle on the proportions of stringed instruments, with hardly any variation in their basic design? François Denis shows how the principles of the classical Greeks – notably Pythagoras – informed their thinking
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VideoAn afternoon with Carlos Arcieri
Luthier Carlos Arcieri is seen in his workshop in this short film by Emilio Seri made in 2018. Arcieri worked Wurlitzer’s in New York under Simone Sacconi and alongside René Morel, John Roskoski, Dario D’Attili, Luiz Bellini, William Salchow, Mario D’Alessandro and Vahakn Nigogosian until the shop closed in 1974. ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureAsk the Experts: how to guarantee a violin's resaleability
Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to a panel of experts
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VideoCloser to Nature – a documentary about violin maker Dmitry Badiarov
The Russian violin-maker Dmitry Badiarov (based in the Netherlands) developed his love for carving wood after deciding to build his first sailing ship, aged 5. Since then his love for making violins has co-existed with his passion for sailing and the sea. In this film, which was presented at a ...
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BlogsViola Rush: a 3-day collaborative instrument project
Earlier this year, Antoine Gourdon put together a team of four luthiers to make a small viola in three days during the Viola 2019 conference in Paris. Here he introduces the project, shares photos and more
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Regluing split corner-blocks
A reliable method for rejoining blocks split for a restoration, particularly useful for cello repairs
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Baroque to the future
Luthier Mathijs Heyligers has recently completed a project to give the same Baroque set-up to a chamber orchestra’s entire string section. What happened – and how did it change the sound?
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Premium ❘ FeatureA measured approach
Although the many varied methods of stringed instrument making have been analysed countless times, the actual production process has hardly been questioned in its 450-year history. Luan Amorim and Amanda Schwegler use techniques taken from engineering to survey the time and cost factors – and come up with some unusual ...
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Focus9 views on antiquing a modern violin
Tips and opinions from The Strad's archive on capturing a classic look in new instruments – or not
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VideoPBS NewsHour segment on Italian spruce tonewood forests
Severe storms last year tore down vast swathes of spruce forest in the Italian Alps, including in the Fiemme valley where conditions favour growth suitable for tonewood. As The Strad has reported, efforts have been ongoing to process trees suitable for tonewood before they begin to deteriorate.
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: The fine-tuned universe
The harmonic properties of a string’s afterlength have been examined in the past – but what about the ‘before-length’, from the peg to the top nut? André Theunis and Gunnar Gidion find some surprising results in their investigations.
