Violin Forum/Message Board

John Cadd · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 3:31 pm Post subject:

I used to think the area towards the edges had to be automatically thinner than the centre. Now I think there are about three ways to adjust thickness. Just taking a circular shape of wood--Make three pieces .Get them all to an even thickness and tap tone. Then reduce one evenly to a lower note. Take number two and reduce the edges tapering outwards . Number three should be thinned from the centre with thicker edges. It`s an idea to see why the Golden period violins were so uneven in thickness. My idea is that the thinner centre one will have a better ring to it. (Just a guess at present ) It might also sound better ( more complex?) than the even thickness piece which will have just one simple tone. I still need to try that out to test the idea. All will have the same final note .

In the tap testing for a belly it seems vital to hold the plate in just one place (left of the neck join position, looking at the outer side of the plate. ) If held anywhere else the notes change even though I tap in the same spot. This part of the chat may help complete starters a lot.

John Cadd · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:45 am Post subject:

There is a site showing how to make Steel Drums from Discarded Barrels. The drum surface is divided by hammering small areas into circles and then tuning them harmonically. The dividing ridges separate the notes from each other . How does that compare with the divisions in a violin belly? The parts of a violin belly plate are divided by a bass bar. The largest clear ( undivided ) section must sound lower than the smallest.The top bouts are going to sound and vibrate different to the parts below the soundholes and soundpost. Even the wings on the outer violin surface have their own frequencies . How does that fairly obvious ( because it`s all visible ) steel drum idea fit in with violin making? As with the steel drum the different parts will resonate when they are tuned in certain ways. The steel drum playing a single note will have a richer tone caused by the other notes resonating sympathetically in other parts of the drum surface.

John Cadd · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:01 pm Post subject:

The official way to tap a violin plate is thumb and finger at the node position just inside the upper bout G string side. That gives a clear ring when tapping near the bridge area. That does not give much if you tap anywhere else though. If you hold it at the edge near the neck join all the notes come out different. I tried suspending a plate once with string looped onto the two upper corners which left the plate clear of damping.