Lutherie – Page 25
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Focus
The Strad Podcast Episode #11: Jesus Rodolfo’s 1696 ‘Spanish Court’ Stradivari viola copy
Jesus Rodolfo speaks about his very special instrument made for him based on a decorated Stradivari
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Various viola variables: weight, shape and sound
In the September 2021 issue, William Castle examines how weight, shape and sound is affected in violas of various sizes
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News
Inaugural Brandenburg Violin Making Workshop 2021
Watch exclusive footage of the week-long workshop in August, the first of its kind in Europe
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Gut reaction: the worst job in history?
How to make gut strings the 18th-century way. From February 2011
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Viola sizes: Size does matter
Viola players everywhere know the difficulty in finding the perfect instrument – but how many realise the differences that size, shape and weight can make to playability and tone? William Castle gives a step-by-step guide to finding the one that’s right for you
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Review
Book review: Feine und bedeutende Streichinstrumente
Benjamin Hebbert reviews an anthology of instruments by German violin dealer Rudolf Eckstein, witht text in German and English
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A weighty argument: wood density in violins
John Waddle, Steve Rossow and Steve Sirr discuss how wood density can vastly affect the acoustic properties of violins
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CT scanning and the ‘Betts’ Stradivari
John Waddle shows how CT scanning technology is used to examine the structure and wood density of the ‘Betts’ Stradivari
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The geometry of violin outlines: Proportional representation
In this article from March 1990, Leslie Wyatt offers a rational and coherent geometrical method for the construction of an inner form outline and for sizing and positioning the f-holes, to break free from the traditional slavish reproduction of classical instruments
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Climate conundrum: Does wood from the ‘Little Ice Age’ account for the brilliance of Stradivari’s violins?
Did Stradivari have superior wood because of exceptionally low temperatures during his lifetime? In this article from April 2014, John Waddle, Steve Rossow and Steve Sirr investigate the idea using CT scans of Cremonese instruments
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The ‘Betts’ Stradivari: The progress of progress
A century after The Strad published its first article on the Stradivari ‘Betts’ violin, maker John Waddle asks what the magazine’s descriptions of the instrument reveal about lutherie expertise, and explains his latest high-tech analyses of the instrument. Taken from the May 2010 issue
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Freehand carving: identifying historical violins from Markneukirchen
In this extract, Enrico Weller and William Wisehart analyse trademark features of violins from the southern Saxony instrument-making town
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Cutting corner blocks: inside the Markneukirchen violin factory
Our August 2021 issue features the bow making legacy of the Herrmann family in Markneukirchen. In this extract from April 2011, Arian Sheets describes the rise and fall of factory violin making in the 20th century in the same city
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Markneukirchen: The rise and fall of Germany’s first violin factory
A small German town was the setting for an early experiment in violin mass-production. But outside economic forces threatened it from the very start. Arian Sheets traces its history, in this article from the April 2011 issue of The Strad
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Markneukirchen merging: linking the Herrmann and Knopf bow making families
In this extract from the August 2021 issue, Gennady Filimonov introduces the Herrmann family of bow makers and their close connections with their contemporaries the Knopfs
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The ‘Amici Bernardi’ Stradivari sitting at the heart of West Sussex’s cultural life
With a price seemingly out of reach at £1.2 million, Andrew Bernardi shares how he convinced a group of investors to help acquire the violin to bring cultural enrichment to audiences in West Sussex, the UK and abroad
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Stick your neck out: the pros and cons of adjustable necks
In this extract from the August 2021 issue, Joseph Curtin discusses how he experimented with adjustable necks, progressing from the various changes made in connecting an instrument’s neck to its body since the Baroque era
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‘Makers should pay attention to these three modes’ - Joseph Curtin on violin acoustics
In the August 2021 issue, Joseph Curtin examines the evolution of neck setting. Twelve years ago he looked into a violin’s acoustic behaviours, and how its signature ‘modes’ indicate its sound and response
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Violin modal analysis – part two: Good vibrations
In the second of a two-part article from July 2009, Joseph Curtin continues his investigation of the low-frequency resonances that influence a violin’s acoustic behaviour
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Trade Secrets: Making a martelé button
A simple method for adding this small detail to your bows