Technical – Page 10
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: New angles on an old problem
David Burgess explains how he made a simple device for raising and lowering the tailpiece, to compare the differences in sound when adjusting the string angle and downforce on the bridge
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Video3 ways we can damage our instruments without even knowing it
As part of her ‘Students Stuck at Home’ series of videos, American luthier Anna Huthmaker reveals three ways in which we can damage our instruments without even knowing about it. For more in the series, click here. Watch: The oddities of a luthier’s workshop
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Organic scroll carving
A method for shaping the scroll and pegbox that can give more flowing results, in line with what is seen on old instruments
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Why varnish matters
Ulrike Dederer reviews and summarises new research on how multilayered varnishes influence the moisture protection and vibrational properties of tonewood
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe Lost Art of Cremonese Violin Archings
The old Cremonese luthiers’ method of designing violin archings has been lost in the mists of time. Andrew Dipper uses evidence from 18th-century manuals to propose how they might have done it, through a system encompassing string lengths, internal forms… and a lot of mathematics
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VideoThree cellists test out a newly-made cello
In this video, Ian McWilliams, an instrument maker working just outside Berlin, asks three cellists (Rolando Fernandez, Martina Biondi, Mon-Puo Lee) to play a cello that he finished making in early 2020 to get a sense of its potential. They play three different pieces of music with three different bows. ...
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FocusThe secrets of Giuseppe Ceruti’s making style
The Cremonese luthier Giuseppe Ceruti is often overlooked in favour of his more famous son, Enrico. Duane Rosengard examines two matching double basses by Giuseppe to discover the secrets of his making style
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Premium ❘ ArticleSoundpost: Letters to the Editor September 2020
A selection of letters The Strad receives each month from its readers around the world: September 2020 issue
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Premium ❘ NewsAnalysis September 2020: Weathering the storm
What is the future for violin making schools in the era of Covid-19? Tutors from around the world explain the form their courses are likely to take during the autumn term. By Harry White.
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Making and using a simple collar for self-centring
A useful tool for bow makers, enabling octagonal sections to be accurately centred in a three-jaw lathe chuck
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Thinking outside the soundbox
What effect do elements such as the bass-bar and neck heel have on an instrument’s sound quality? Jan Špidlen made an experimental violin, with a number of adjustable features, to find out
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NewsGuarneri ‘filius Andreae’ cello goes on display in Cremona
The 1692 instrument is owned by the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan
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Premium ❘ ArticleSoundpost: Letters to the Editor August 2020
A selection of letters The Strad receives each month from its readers around the world: August 2020 issue
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Small tools, big help
A number of labour-saving devices designed to make life easier at the workbench
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Beauty and the bridge
The acoustic role of the violin bridge is well known, but what about the aesthetic choices that luthiers make when carving them? John Beames gives a detailed analysis of a favourite bridge to elucidate the process
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Premium ❘ FeatureLutherie Collectives: The Wisdom of Crowds
Violin making is traditionally a solitary career, so why are so many luthiers and bow makers choosing to join collectives? Peter Somerford talks to the founders and members of such groups around the world to discover the benefits of pooling resources, knowledge and time