Violin making and maintenance

Making an instrument of the violin family may be done in different ways, many of which have changed very little in nearly 500 years since the first violins were made. Some violins, called "bench-made" instruments, are made by a single individual, either a master maker, or an amateur working alone. Several people may participate in the making of a "shop-made" instrument, working under the supervision of a master. Various levels of "trade violin" exist, often mass-produced by workers who each focus on a small part of the overall job, with or without the aid of machinery.

"Setting up" a violin is generally considered to be a separate activity, and may be done many times over the lengthy service life of the instrument. Setup includes fitting and trimming tuning pegs, surfacing the fingerboard, carving the soundpost and bridge, adjusting the string spacing and action height, and other tasks related to putting the finished instrument into playing condition and optimizing its voice and response.

Violin maintenance goes on as long as the instrument is to be kept in playing condition, and includes tasks such as replacing strings, positioning the soundpost and bridge, lubricating pegs and fine tuners, resurfacing the fingerboard, attending to the instrument's finish, and restoring or replacing parts of the violin or its accessories which have suffered wear or damage.

Making violins

The outer contour of a new violin, one of the more important aspects of the instrument, is designed by the violin maker, and today the outlines of the old masters' violins are usually used.

The traditional approach starts with a set of plans, which include a drawing of the outer shape of the instrument. From these plans a template is constructed, which can be made from thin metal or other materials, and is a flat "half-violin" shape. The template is used to construct a mould, which is a thick violin-shaped piece of wood.

Around the mould are built the sides (or ribs), which are flat pieces of wood curved by means of careful heating. The completed "garland" of ribs, blocks, and linings is removed from the mould to allow attachment of the separately carved top and back. When the body is complete, the neck, which is carved out of a separate piece of wood (usually maple), is set in its mortise to complete the basic structure of the instrument, after which it is varnished.

Vital to the sound and playability of the instrument is "setup," which includes adjusting the neck angle if needed, fitting the pegs so they turn smoothly and hold firmly, dressing the fingerboard to the proper scooped shape, fitting the soundpost and bridge, adjusting the tailgut and installing the tailpiece, and stringing up. A removable chinrest may be put on at this time.

Then the instrument begins the "playing-in" process, as its parts adjust to the string tension. The sound of a violin is said to "open up" in the first weeks and months of use, a process which continues more gradually over the years.

Maintenance

With careful maintenance, a violin can last and improve for many years. A well-tended violin can outlive many generations of players, so it is wise to take a curatorial view when caring for a violin. Most importantly, if the collected rosin dust is not wiped from the varnish, and left for long enough, it will fuse with the varnish, and become impossible to remove without damage.

Cleaning the rosin off strings can make a striking difference to the sound. A common wine cork serves admirably, quietly scrubbing off the crust of rosin without damaging the winding of the string. A dry microfiber cloth is often recommended; it retains the dust well, but makes a penetrating squeaking noise. A cloth with a little rubbing alcohol is effective, if care is taken to protect the top from the slightest chance of stray droplets of alcohol touching the varnish. The use of alcohol is generally avoided, as it easily damages violin varnish in ways which may be difficult or impossible to restore.

The tuning pegs may occasionally be treated with "peg dope" when they either slip too freely, causing the string to go flat or slack, or when they stick, making tuning difficult. "Peg drops" (a solution of rosin in alcohol) may occasionally be used to treat slipping pegs, but that is a temporary solution at best; quite often slipping pegs have shafts which are no longer smoothly conical, and should be refitted or replaced.

The violin will benefit from occasional checks by a technician, who will know if repairs need to be made.

Violinists generally carry replacement sets of strings with their instruments to have a spare available in case one breaks. Even before breaking, worn strings may begin to sound tired and to become "false" over time, producing an unreliable pitch. Another common problem with strings is unravelling of the metal winding. Strings may need replacement every two or three months with frequent use. The higher strings require replacement more frequently than the lower strings – fortunately higher strings cost less. The price of strings varies, and the quality of the strings strongly influences the timbre of the sound produced. A teacher can advise students how often to change strings, as it depends on how much and how seriously one plays.

For the bow, the only real maintenance is regular cleaning of the stick with a cloth, and re-hairing. In the course of playing the violin, hairs are often lost from the bow, making it necessary to have it rehaired periodically, which is done by professionals at roughly the cost of a new set of strings. The old horse hair is replaced with new hair. Other maintenance may include replacing the wire lapping and leather grip, or lubricating the screw. Large cracks and breakages in the bow are usually fatal; they cannot be repaired like the body of the instrument can. A bow which has warped and is no longer straight can sometimes be bent back to true or re-cambered, but this must be done with heat by a craftsman, and it is not always successful or worthwhile.

Loosening the hair when the bow is not being used helps keep the bow from becoming "sprung," or losing its camber, and the hair from becoming stretched. There are now bows available made from fiberglass or carbon composite which are less fragile.

ound post adjustment

The position of the sound post inside the violin is critical, and moving it by very small amounts can make a substantial difference in the sound quality and loudness of an instrument. Soundpost adjustment is as much art as science, depending on the ears, experience, structural sense, and sensitive touch of the luthier. Moving the sound post has very complex consequences on the sound; in the end, it is the ear of the person doing the adjusting that determines the desired location of the post.

As a rough guide of how the sound post influences the sound output of the violin there are a few positions that can help find the right spot:

sound thin and shrill: post too near the f hole or too tight or possibly the post is too thin.sound weak and loss of power (especially on the lower register): post too near the center of the instrument. sound chocked: post to near the bridge foot or under it.loss of overall power and tone: post too far behind the bridge or possibly the post is too thick.

ee also

* Dimitri Musafia
* Vernice bianca

External links

* [http://www.violinbridges.co.uk Violinbridges - Online bridge Archive]
* [http://www.dick.biz/cgi-bin/dick.storefront/43bd30cc00226156274050f3360905ff/Catalog/1162 Dick GmbH tools and materials]
* [http://www.anticaliuteria.com Antica Liuteria Cremonese] - master violinmaker shop
* [http://www.theviolinsite.com/violin_making Violin Making] - virtual tour of a violin shop
* [http://www.violins.demon.co.uk/making Making a Violin] - watch a violin maker construct a violin by hand
* [http://www.darntonviolins.com/viola1.php Photo essay on making a viola]
* [http://www.rocheviolins.com/html/violin_wood_types.html Violin Wood Types] - properties and applications of each type
* [http://www.mimf.com Musical Instrument Makers Forum]
* [http://www.fiddleforum.com/fiddleforum/index.php?board=31.0/ Violin Discussion Forum] - section on building and maintaining violins
* [http://www.violins.on.ca/luthier/soundpost.html Sound post setting article]
* [http://www.bormanviolins.com/Articles/Strad%20Article.pdf Path Through the Woods: The Use of Medical Imaging in Examining Historical Instruments] (PDF)