Technical – Page 5
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How did Cremonese luthiers use consistent measurements?
Simone Zopf argues that there was in fact a single unit of measurement from which most of the rest can be derived
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Focus
Cremonese measurements: the use of the Roman oncia
Video showing how an instrument outline can be created using just one measurement and a set of concentric circles
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Article
Making Matters: Off-Beat Violins
Luthier Andrew Carruthers demonstrates the sound quality of his ’X’ and ‘O’ violins, the ‘Tabolin’ and the ‘Ripple cello’
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Making Matters: A new take on an old classic
To combat the tedium of the Covid-19 lockdowns, Andrea Schudtz embarked on a project to copy a decorated Andrea Amati violin – but with a modern twist
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Trade Secrets: Cleaning and repairing surfaces before closing an instrument top
An essential procedure for repair work on older instruments
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The art of Computer Numerical Control arching
Yann Poulain reveals his method for roughing out the arching of the front and back plates using the technology
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Micro-CT scanning the 1727 ‘Benvenuti’ Stradivari violin
Rudolf Hopfner, director of the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments in Vienna, explains the process of scanning an instrument, and what the scans of the ‘Benvenuti’ tell us about its construction in this article from December 2016
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‘An appearance of delicacy’ - Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ 1736 violin: Beauty from the Beast
Although Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ is best known for his wild, unruly later masterpieces, the 1736 ‘Cessole’, ‘Teja–Ferni’ violin reveals his softer side, as Carlo Chiesa explains
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‘Makers have been working blind’ - Cremonese archings
Gareth Ballard presents a detailed method for analysing the various curves of archings
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Analysing the 'Titian' Stradivari violin, 1715
In our February 2009 issue, Sam Zygmuntowicz examines one of Stradivari's finest golden period instruments, using both traditional and high-tech methods
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Copying the ‘Titian’: A study in scarlet
Jesús Alejandro Torres reports on a study by the Violin Making School of Mexico, in which three copies of Stradivari’s ‘Titian’ violin were made using wood of varying densities
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Making copies: Sounds like a match?
If someone makes an exact copy of a Stradivari, will it sound like a Stradivari? Sam Zygmuntowicz attempts to answer the question by making duplicates of the ‘Titian’ and ‘Willemotte’ Strads, as well as the ‘Plowden’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’
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‘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