All Technical articles
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Premium ❘ Feature‘Timbre and brilliance are not static, but dynamic’ - Making Matters: Sound ideas
Violinists and brothers Arne and Jens Rossbach share their experiments in sound and timbre
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Trade Secrets: Fitting a bridge to a violin belly
A detailed account of a process that revisits a fundamental skill for luthiers
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In Focus: A 1756 baroque cello by Robert Duncan
David Rattray on the Scottish maker’s mid-18th-century baroque cello
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Video
Future of pernambuco under discussion at CITES convention
The two-week conference on endangered species is currently under way in Panama City
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News
Violin and bow makers honoured at 2022 VSA Violin Making Competition
Almost 30 gold medals went to the violin, viola, cello and double bass makers at the awards dinner on 17 November
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‘The great artistry of history’s most important bow maker’ - François Xavier Tourte
Paul Childs compares and contrasts two very late violin bows by François Xavier Tourte
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Antonio Stradivari ‘Harrison’ violin 1693: The start of something big
Andrew Dipper shows how the 1693 ‘Harrison’ violin signifies the start of a critical phase in the master luthier’s career
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In Focus: A c.1750 violin by Santo Serafin
Jonathan Marolle investigates the mid-18th-century Italian instrument
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News
Tartini tones: new research shows differences in old and new instruments
An Italian team has recorded the mysterious ‘third tone’, created when playing a two-note chord, as part of its research
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21st-century technology in lutherie - Making Matters: Augmented reality
Paul Noulet and Benoit Dupeux on how 21st-century technology can add to the luthier’s arsenal of violin making tools
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Trade Secrets: Making a scroll cast using foam
An efficient method of casting a scroll that eliminates the need for silicone rubber
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Trade Secrets: Using Baker-style mechanics on a double bass
How to fit these brass pegs, gears and tuners, as used by English bass makers in times gone by
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Trade Secrets: A ‘plug and plate’ repair for a double bass neck
A detailed alternative method for a difficult neck and pegbox repair
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Trade Secrets: Making a cello and bass mould
A lightweight design for an adaptable method of working
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In Focus: A c.1900 violin by Raffo Cipriani
Ernst Fuchs looks at the Italian maker’s late-period instrument
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Trade Secrets: Gluing the C-bouts using a Cremonese mould
An alternative method for this part of the process, which may be more authentic than the standard procedure
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Straight lines within the arches of Stradivaris and Guarneris - Making Matters: Straight talking
Andrew Ryan investigates the presence of regular straight lines within the arches of the top and back in the instruments of Stradivari and Guarneri ‘del Gesù’
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International lutherie schools: All round learning
Peter Somerford speaks to teachers from seven violin making schools to find out the options for young aspiring luthiers
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In Focus: A 1932 tenor viola by Jacint Pinto
Jordi Pinto examines an unusual tenor viola made by his own great-uncle, Jacint Pinto
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Trade Secrets: Making a Baroque cello bridge
A method that allows the luthier to create their own design rather than rely on a pre-cut template
