August Riechers

“ Hard resin hinders the vibration of the wood, and consequently the quality of tone suffers.
In my opinion shellac is quite useless for varnishing, it being much too hard, but nevertheless it has been employed from 1770 until the present day, in spite of the fact that the best Italian instrument might be completely ruined by being varnished with it. In all Italian instruments the old varnish is always very porous and soft, and can easily be dissolved by the application of spirit, while, on the contrary, it requires great labour to effect the same with turpentine-oil. ”

“ If, for instance, the tail-piece is so constructed that the portion of the A-string behind the bridge gives F, the other strings must also be correspondingly slackened, for the tension of a string reaches not only from the bridge to the nut as many suppose, but from the tail-piece to the peg. In consequence of this, the pressure of the strings on the instrument can be increased or lessened by means of a longer or shorter tail-piece, whereby the tone is correspondingly modified. ”

“ A well-formed and proportioned F has a great deal to do with enhancing the appearance of a violin. The F represented in Fig. 7 is a most perfect specimen of what it should be. Anyone wishing to cut the F-holes in the belly, should take Fig. 7 and place it in such a way that the line a/a be exactly 195 m/m. from the outer and upper edge, and b b almost upon the point of the belly. This will give the right position of the F-holes and at the same time the measurement of the body. The greatest width of the opening of the F-holes must be 6 m/m. ”

“ For one of these practical experiments I took a violin which I had made myself and the tone of which, through years of constant use, was therefore quite familiar to me, and gave it a coating of melted resin on the inside. ”

“ A bass-bar under strong tension gives a sharp and clear tone, while one of less tension gives a fuller and softer one. With bass-bars of the height of 12 and even 15 m/m. (so-called acoustic bass-bars) , it is not [Pg 18] possible to achieve any success. The fixing of the bass-bar completes the interior construction of the violin, and consequently the glueing-on of the belly can now be proceeded with.
XI. THE HEAD OR NECK.
In Fig. 8 we have a very beautiful model, representing as it does a perfect specimen of Stradivarius. ”

“ There can be no doubt whatever that a correct knowledge and choice of the wood for the construction of violins is of the utmost importance. Both these qualifications, however, can only be gained by experience, since that alone can prove which kind of wood is the most suitable and produces the best results. ”

“ In the work of Stradivarius, one finds continually on the back, both above and below, a peg of maple-wood, by means of which he fastened the back to the block, and the half of this peg is inserted in the purfling. In violins having a divided back, one finds another purfling on [Pg 15] the bottom block, along the joint of the ribs, but with backs made in one piece it scarcely ever occurs, because then the under ribs, as far as the middle rib, are prepared in one piece. The purfling is not to be regarded as an embellishment, as many suppose it is. ”

“ The height of the strings is, however, very often adjusted to the wish of the performer. Herr Joachim, the great violinist, always adopts the above measurements on his violins.
A highly arched violin does not require so high a bridge as a flatter one, whilst an instrument with a thin belly needs a thicker bridge than one of stronger make. ”

“ Should a violin have a longer or shorter body measure than that given above, the neck must still be in proportion with it of two to three, that is to say, if the whole measure be divided into five parts, two of such parts will give the length of the neck. ”

“ The resin which accumulates on the finger-board and strings can in case of necessity be removed by the application of a little spirit, or better still, by that of Eau de Cologne, but great care must be taken in the application, so that the spirit does not touch the varnish of the belly. Spirit will also clean the strings and remove from them the effect of perspiration; the bridge may also be cleaned with it from time to time, but as stated before, it must be done cautiously, especially in the case of old and valuable instruments of the time of Stradivarius. ”

“ The natural colour of the strings is dark, those of a lighter shade having been sulphured to render them so. The Italian strings are at present unrivalled, but care should be taken that they do not feel too hard. The choice of strings according to their thickness really depends on personal preference, but as a rule those only of medium size should be chosen, which according to the French measurement of strings would be 14 degrees for the G-string, 23 for the D-string, 14 for the A-string and 12 for the E-string.
The larger the violin is, the weaker should be the strings. ”

“ The interior of a violin should also sometimes be cleaned; this can be done by putting through the F-holes two or three handsfull of coarse kitchen salt; these should then be covered with a cloth and the salt well shaken about, as it will thus collect all the dust, resin and other dirt which may be in the violin, and when shaken out will carry all these impurities with it. The strings need not be taken off in order to effect this.
XXII. THE BOW.
The rank of François Tourte among violin-bow makers is as prominent a one as that of Stradivarius among violin [Pg 33] makers. ”

“ The colouring of the varnish I obtain from turmeric and bright red sandal-wood by means of spirit, using more or less of it, according as to the lighter or darker tone required; if a brown varnish is required, some soot from turpentine-oil must be added to the spirit.
I have made innumerable experiments with other resins and colouring matters, but in the end I always return to those mentioned above as the best to be used. Dragon’s-blood must not be employed, the colour not being fast. ”

“ In order that the bass-bar may obtain the right tension, the side of it lying next the belly must be slightly curved, sufficiently so for both ends, before they are glued, to stand away about 2 m/m. In the process of glueing, the ends must be firmly pressed down. The height of the bass-bar under the bridge should be 8 m/m., while at the ends the measurement should amount to 4 m/m. It is scarcely necessary to remark that the proportions of the bass-bar vary in different violins, according as they are smaller or larger, high or flat, strong or weak. ”

“ In a violin of the ordinary type, no matter whether it be large or small, the proportions will be found to coincide with the above statement, while a highly arched violin has a less slanting and less tightened beam than the latter. In the case of wood of a thickness less than 11⁄2 m/m., the beam should be 1 to 2 m/m. ”

“ By these means, correct dimensions will be obtained, and a performer will easily accustom himself to the proportionate position of the neck, and forthwith obtain certainty of execution. If only the proportion of the neck to the body be correct, a performer will scarcely notice, whether the whole measure from the bridge to the upper nut is 5 to 10 m/m. ”

“ It considerably strengthens the back and the belly towards the edges, and at the same time offers a protection, especially for the belly, against cracks, if the instrument, for example, should be opened for repairs by an inexperienced workman. I will even go so far as to assert that if the purfling were not employed, old violins could not exist without numberless cracks, for any violent blow would cause cracks, without the additional strength given by the purfling, and the greater number of old and costly violins would come down to us spoilt, or at least damaged. ”

“ The notion that a half-sized violin should be thin-stringed, is quite erroneous, it should, on the contrary, have [Pg 28] strings as strong as a full-sized violin, for owing to the shorter length, the strings, if they be a weak set, become too loose and do not give a true sound, and offer insufficient resistance under the pressure of the bow. ”