May 1,1966NEWSLETTER' NO. 5

THE CATGUT ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY

An important event is planned for June 3,1966. A concert in memoryof our founder, Dr. Frederick Saunders, will be presented in PaineAuditorium of the Harvard Music. Building, Cambridge, Mass. On thisoccasion the new violin family of eight instruments will be heard inperformances of special music composed and arranged by Quincy Porterand by Mcl Powell and students.

It is a pleasure to announce that a grant in the amount of $1125.has just been received from the Alice M.Ditson Fund towards expensesof this concert. Of this amount, $125. has been specified for costs ofrecording.,; the remaining ..1000. for general expenses.

The eight instruments are currently at Yale University for a year-longworkout by faculty and students and will be demonstrated in variousconcerts. One is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, May 8,. 1966 at theRiverdale School of Music (25 3rd St. and Post Road, Bronx 10071). On thisoccasion, eight graduate students from the Yale School of Music willperform music v/ritten especially for the new instruments by the composingdepartments of both Riverdale and Yale. Robert Rudie, Director of theRiverdale School of Music, is in charge of arrangements.

The memorial concert on June 3 is part of the national meeting ofthe Acoustical Society of America. Also to be presented at this meetingwill be a paper by John Schelleng entitled "Power Relations in theViolin Family" . An abstract of this paper is given later in thisNewsletter.

Carleen Hutchins presented a lecture-demonstration April 8,1966 atCornell University, Department of Music. Also newsworthy is a recentrequest from the Gale- Research Company,, publishers of the Encyclopediaof American Associations. Our Society will be included in the nextedition.;

Recent publications include:(1) "Frederick A.Saunders - Musician,Physicist", Carleen Hutchins,American String Teacher, Spring, l966. This is a long overdue tributeto the founder of our Society, written by one who knew him well, notonly through his research but as a warm friend. (Copy enclosed).(2) "New Designs for Old Instruments", Jay Nelson Tuck, BRAVO, VoI. S,N0. 3,1965, pages 23-24. This article includes comments by LeopoldStokowski a,bout the work of Carleen Hutchins.(3) "Die Temperierung nach G. Silbermann", W. Lottermoser, published inDas Musikinstrument, V01.11, N0v. 1965. Although this article relatesto the tuning of organs, it represents a careful study of tempered scalesby one of our members which should be of interest to many of us.(4) "The Physics of Violins", (Carleen Hutchins: Scientific American, l962,scheduled for republication in Amsterdam).

In addition to these, John Schelleng and Carleen Hutchins have beenvery industrious in recent' months and have completed long manuscripts onthe subjects of wood( JS) , strings( JS) , and acoustical criteria for thenew members of the violin family(CH). These will be made available atsome future date in published form, hopefully as chapters in a book asprognosticated in the last Newsletter.

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:he Martha Baird Rockefeller fSnd for MusifIno forKLTs< 1"^1" *°woe to purchase much needed electronic equi£eAt?or?Se tes^ faSSISt"

M^ Xr|oSll^^of ' °n April 8 1966 D°^ Sl?'»SSotJr of theOur trustees have approved a grant-in-aid for you of $6000 00test

yeaui?MeSntet^IT- UBe in M^"ing some of your IveTektsailed 7ir^'tPtll?c ft^ 109 of a violin or otherskilled person to assist with some of the rough work with"'t^*!! £f f°* other Purposes which will in your opinion?n _ Ctlyely aid your research and development projectsm the acoustics of string instruments. °vmß" projects

such belief and support in the work that we are all trvin^ to ■__ _,,„_vay or another is deeply rewarding _mrt .Z^rtxl drying to advance one-"ocus for nnv „«„„*", "2' ana provides encouragement and renewed3aird Rockefeller Fund

noef? thanlcs ** gratitude to the iiartha.oney.^dlt^ill^-.e^trd1'" r6 °eiVe " hunting of the use of this

"tt_rdSar°1 Holla!!d tCphi;iS me*h°d graduating plates. I^rsefof8

f0\hioppatesLates"lbs and aftS thffT^d„y r lndloat j°ns about the wood thickness of IheLittle t- ""^f I ye used a varnish which hampers the vibrations asLi.tie as possible. J am enchanted- with the re ..it '..,_ .Ii " f

2SS thlnaai:^/°vd ?,eSOnan°cI2 & "om?h'^st LSr£."£tVBrth'sysS.^or^s^i^i^f^'be^aeW?Uld 1U" t0 **"" that W"h *our

>irst6of Si S

th_ra

lo i?m8°S to"be reported to" the membership■esulterf ?i ;*,» ? n

electl °n of Society officers which was recently concludedesulted in the following slate of officer. _..»..+_.,.

-f^v,

„

+u_

<-oncxuaea>eginning in May, 1966. oincers, elected for a three year term

President-: Robert E.FryxellVice-president: Arthur H.BenadeSecretary: Carleen M.Hutchinsireasurer: Virginia ApgarEditor: Robert E.Pryxell

lcc

crti^?rS 11^1"3 o<^*^ "STLffi.YdJSK'o?^' t0

Alice BakerY/illiam ScottMary Hinckley, chairman

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The group of candidates listed in the last Newsletter are declaredelected. to membership. These are: Miss Harriett Bartlett, tor David"//alter. Miss Marjorie Bram., Mr. and Mrs.Quincy Porter, Mr. David SchwartzMr.Randolph N.Dyer 11, Dr. Bernard Dickstein, and Mr. Harry S.WakeAddresses for these and all duly elected members are given in a completeMembership Directory attached to this Newsletter. Your editor is embarr-assed that Dr.Arnold Walter's name was misspelled in both NewslettersN0. 3 and N0. 4.The following new candidates are proposed for membership:(1) Dr. John Backus, Professor of Physics, University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity Park,Los Angeles,Calif. , 90007. '(2) Dr.H.T.E.Hertzberg, Anthropologist, 120 Kurt Street, Yellow Springs,0hi0, 45387. Interested in developing a center for violin research atAntioch College.

(3) Mr. Alex J.Szecsody, 8130 Albert Court, Denver, Colorado, Bo22l, Acousticvibration specialist.(4) Mr.Broadus Erie, School of Music,.Yale University, New Haven, Conn. , 06520Violinist, working with the new violin family.(5) Mr. Carl Williams, 2951 South Parkway, Chicago, lllinois,6o6l6, Violistinterested in the Society research. 7

(6) Mr. Frank Fielding, 10 Rockledge Road, Montclair, New Jersey, o7o42,Electronics engineer, working on violin, testing and equipment.(7) Mr. Dennis Flanagan, 415 Madison Avenue, New Y0rk, N.Y. , 10017. Editorof SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.(8) Mr. John Castronovo, 280 Claremont Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 07042Musician ond Dulcimer maker. '(9) Mrs. C.S.Elliott, 108 Essex Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey,o7o42 Secretarialassistant for the Society.(10)Miss Belle Magram, 16 Dorchester Street, Portchester, N.Y. 10573Secretarial assistant for the Society.(ll)Dr. Henry Guerlac, 3 Fountain Place, Ithaca, N.Y. , l46so, Professor ofHistory, Cornell University, violinist whose Steiner was tested by

F.A.Saunders in 1937.(12)Dr.Howard Van Sickle,Mankato State College, Mankato,Minn. , s6oo2, EditorAmerican String Teacher. '(13)Mr.Carl N.Helmick, Jr. ,l3lo East Miles Street, Tucson, Arizona, 85719,Physicist, cellist.( 14 )Mr Engle, 425 Hawthorne Place,Ridgewood, New Jersey,o74soFormerly Manager of the Philadelphia Symphony, now with the MarthaBaird Rockefeller Fund for Music.( 15 )Dr.H. Justin Ross, Lebanon, New Jersey, oBB33, Friend and patron of thework of the Society.(16)Mr .David Montagu,. Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. ,14850, ViolinistAsst.Prof.of Music. Made possible tests on plates of a 1713 Strad.U7)Dr.Rustin Mcintosh, Tyringham, Mass. ,01264. Violinist, pianist,

interested in work of the Society.(lB)Mrs. Catherine Drinker Bo.wen, 260 Booth Lane, Haverford, Pa. ,19041.Author, violinist, interested in work of the Society.(19)Mr.0tto Reder, Am.Meisenacker

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2s, 282 Bremen-Lesum, West Germany.Engineer, musician, working with W.Lottermoser on violin research.(20)Dr.Max Mathews, Bl Oakwood Drive,Murray Hill, New Jersey 07971Acoustician,Bell Telephone Laboratories, violinist.(21)Mr.John A, Abbott, 151 mimosa Way, Menlo Park, Calif. , 94o2s. Amateurviola maker and experimenter.(22)Dr.JDan Steffanoff, 227 Medical-Dental Building, Portland, Oregon, 97 205Lecturer, amateur violin maker and experimenter.(23)Dr. Louis L.Grand, New. Pal tz Road, Highland R.D. ,N.Y. ,12528. Amateur

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violin maker working with Carleen Hutchins.(24)Misa Eunice Wheeler, 6 Old Colony Road, Worcester, Mass. Violiat, sharing intests of F.A.Saunders since 1937. Interested in work of the 5-odetv.

4

TREASURERS REPORT:

Memorial CoAcert for Dr Frederick a' s£"J =toward the expenses of the

Mass. The costs of the concert naSK «? "" 3,19 56 in Cambr i%e,

Kh?* X^SS^Sra?"8 S '°lioited" «** *SSS"retax-lre0e

rtsStaSs?nder TOy t0 moorPorate the Society and to obtain a

Respectfully submitted,Virginia Apgar, Treasurer

contrLuti^s^d^'ahstrfcfo? slf«r c 0 ists of two originalSchelleng at the S SS =^3^^^&££.THAT ELUSIVE "CLEAR PULL RING" -_ Oarleen Hutchinstionfirt^'dJusSt^ra v?olindi

rSCUr- 0nVf the most opera-and Mr.Hoppw, thrlSjorta^cl of ohtaLinlo^* P+P6r With Prof - Saunderstap tones of tie free to «__ _!_v i * "* an. optimum relation of theI would like to emphLize toother o £fi% was emphasized. In this paper,the character of the to to !. fond_.t_.on of equal importance, namely 'in tEe-^p-5ra?e. PWS °f the plates °efore assembly, especially

a glo'd1wSnthil%fe£Tolta?eVn? f «»*"*<»■ necessaxy to '

called the "cletr fSll ?in?when tan-d^*?d^t£aYe what has °eencondition is most draaatiffiy ohs^ed £ rtf traditional manner. ThisThe bass bar, you will rec.__l ?« l\Z £___?* ,*? aa Jua

'

ttentaent of the bass bar.longitudinally Wath the^oot of theS.^ reinforcement which runsopposite the soundpost. The plate is a. . Jff °Vhe sf, de of the instrumentroadway — and the insertion of +L I ar

nched' ~ has a "crown" like anot merely by decreas in SoS__t of Lter^i "^ st

niffne^ in this area,transverse strength and "Z^? *A3 fi' but by elimination of

thus is in soml^e«rSTto f «« .»?« lv the eff2et of arching. The effectwhich is emphasized by the nairowi^n^1" fr°? the lower bout - ah effectpresence oAhe C bouL^d^so^iSfed*blocks"^611* Pr°dU°ed by the

-Balance reported in Newsletteras of 9/20/65 No. 4 $90.88Income: Alice M.Ditson Fund34 ContributionsTotal:

$1125.00443.00

$1658.88Expenses: Newsletter No. 4Mimeographing

Bank charges, 6 monthsTotal:

5 3.0095.636.23

5 3-0095.636.23

$154.86Balance, 4/18/66 $1504.

5

The chief purpose of the bass bar, in addition to acting as support forthe egg shell-.like top, is thus to establish a controllable path for thevibrations which originate at the bridge and spread to remote surface s.Obviously its stiffness and to some extent its mass become factors whichaffect the frequencies of the tap tones. Since the bass bar is a beam, itsstiffness is especially sensitive to its height, so that any adjustment inwhich height varies is apt to be critical.

When, instead of tapping in the traditional manner, the plate is excitedelectromagnetically (the method which I have used for many years), theanatomy of the "clear full ring" becomes apparent. Consider for example aviola which several competent musicians judged to be "muffled and unclear".Upon removing the top plate,. I found that it showed peaks at 265c0s (55decibels), 365cps (52db), and 375cps (50db). Notice that the last two areonly 10 cycles per seqond apart. The plate at this stage weighed 118.5 grams

With the removal of o.2mm from the thickness of the upper bout, givinga weight of 117.0 gm, the peaks were 260cps (5 2db) and 370cps (55db). Thetwo peaks at 365 and 375 had disappeared and were replaced by a single pea]-:at 370cps, which was relatively stronger. In tapping the plate with theknuckles before removal of the 1.5 grams of wood, there was a beating attheN difference frequency (lOcps), and the violin maker would not describethe ring as "clear". In the second stage, on the other hand, the ring couldbe described as "clearer, but still weak".

The third stage was to plane down the bass bar a little at a time,testing the resonances after every two or three shaves. I have learned fromexperience that with a few shaves off the bass bar, these main resonancesmay increase in amplitude quite rapidly. With the next few shaves, theamplitude begins to level off; and with a few more shaves will drop rapidly.Thus, v/hen the two resonant peaks I was watching reached 246cps (60db)and 372cps (54db) and began to level off, I stopped. The lower of the tworesonances had moved from 265 to 246cps, but had increased in loudness by5 decibels, which is nearly double

■

the loudness in this range. A few moreshaves and this desirable condition could have been lost.

These two operations at once explain the "clearness" and "fullness"of the ring of the plate, so precious to the violin maker. In the first,two peaks disappeared and were rex^laced by a single peak. In the second,the peak of lowest frequency increased in loudness by 5 decibels.

It is clear that something unique is happening at the tuning point.Whatever the theory which is used to explain it, the essential feature isthat a simplification in the nature of the vibration has occurred such thatthe plate is vibrating as a whole, rather than at cross purposes.

It does not follow as a logical necessity that this simplicity is main-tained when the instrument is assembled, since the constraints of the platewith a free boundary are entirely different from those of the semi-clampedcondition in the coupled instrument. Here we are up against a problem socomplicated that we must rely on experiment rather than theory.

The evolution of these ideas about the tap tones of the separate plateshas occurred in the course of experience with a series of 100 or moreinstruments, and appears to have led us close to the best adjustment in theassembled instrument. The necessity for establishing one of a few preferredfrequency relations between the resonances of the two plates became clearat first; later in the series, the requirements which the tap tones of theseparate plates must meet became clarified.

In the example 6f the viola previously mentioned, the same musicianswho had discarded it in its earlier condition judged it to be a "magnificentinstrument" when all of the foregoing adjustments had been made.

6

r.__ Rotors for discussion: — Out of the complex factors which enter- .., +..cussion

6"^^.11 ?f-^ *?*^°*« I should like to consider two lor dis-cussion. The first is the longitudinal factor. The best violin makers Lpon?? ?r^fcV+need

+£0I . balailcinS the UPP« b°^ against ?he l?wer nofonly in shape, but m thicknesses of the wood. One expert maker h» = ?.,,.?„.. _■ove"^ i°Wei' *£* Sh°Tad be ** enlargement of the Sper X 10ated

rlt.f ah&lt' The f^161" dimensions of the upper bout imply that to beSSI isewhat

hisS^J^qrn?t. a %^e loWer^ " "at be somewhat thinner

t,,rtS

r, =S vf implied in the statement that there must be a dynamic longi-tudinal balance m each plate. There is probably room for armme_^Li°^ftoo rigid an equating of frequencies, siioe it is generally brieve^thafresponses which split into many adjacent peaks makf for a moreresponse in the- finished- instrument than do single hieh .eak_ t_" ,"„t ,rather academic, however,, in the absence of me2_s for thfSp^rate de?infttoand measurement of the two bouts under different conditions

definitionThe second factor might be thought of as a balancing of longitudinal stiffViolin!""j ClSlef P

sti"ness - *£ an unpublished Alport oS°"w^od Srti»i nS ' _■ ;? vg emphasizes the fact, rather neglected in violin lore

across the Ltf t^' 3 m

°^3 me asured the grtin is many times that'"££?= ,1 x-f?allYln spruce for example, the ratio is of the order of 15 to 1This condition fits neatly into the fact that the length of the instr____„ratToln t£ to^Jte the presence of Sfe^ass bar^^Ttherea "hl. t.! P P t effectively even greater than this. Thus it seemseual .n t__t i" S ltV °f Wood £aVing the violin's length and velocity c7^l t+J J. ng tTe grain' should nave a tuning about the same as a crossIhe ?ule tL^thei?o^l^ *? J*8 Width ' " " StriP s of «H constraints follow

_T " *that their resonant frequencies are proportional to c/L 2 ( c i ..soia?e Sf8?!.^8.^1*!. Thus

+£°r example, I velocity ratio%f 6} ( thet^i" in btth^irect^^10? IT* tl8nf th ratio o£ 2*> would S^e the same

izing.?hrffvr garwhiiae

d

°^ r^f o^r^x1! d^^e^iMs6^31-

-ofep^sion°bvi0

th_ lack6 J^ bee" fa -d w?th thf^po sib l^yprecision by the lack of definition and means of measurement

oo»SnS^defSn& "relK^ionf the 2late s can apparently bewood quality of the h.?_Z P^ioning of the sound post and the shaping andments

qwill so^d well "?e?fn?* long known that some in^tru-others present a most adif^aLad^ tments of post and bridge .whileexperience it appears that S£« ?S!S. Problem, for optimum tone. Froi

best plafe to^ec^ &L^E^^^SEfVS^St*^.Asimp?i?^aiioSn°ofW

itsaLfSue^v SS^?3

*"^ °-f a PlatS leadS t0 aresponse, and that the desirel^ea/fSlf"^ T* T 'I'2nS with «*«*«a rather complicated frequency n7t?P Ji hi =

S i" caused by replacement ofthe necessity for optlSTSl&"reL? ve^lreqSenc^ofthf?" I*^ *'-the tap tone relationships - which we have preSslyVscussed"? Sngih.

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FACTORS AFFECTING PLATE VIBRATIONS - Robert H. Scanlan

The questions of the effect on violin plates of humidity, varnish and, as aseparate item of interest, added stiff eners such as a bass bar, may be dealt withqualitatively through some simple considerations. My present remarks may be takenas a commentaiy on those of Schelleng, Hutchins, and Fryxell as published in CASNewsletter No. U.

If we for simplicity consider a beam the argument will qualitatively be theSams as for the plate. The natural- frequency is , for a thin beam, proportional toy__ vhere E is Young's modulus, I the area moment of inertia and m the mass perunit length.

Let us first examine the stiffness effect of a thin added layer (varnish or invadingmoisture) the surface.

Th

iFor the "substrate" (beam itself)

< EI) s "Es ll3

For the layer (thickness c)

The total stiffness is (as for "parallel" springs)

Nov Schelleng points out that E for varnish- may be of the order of —— of theE for spr;uce. The varnish layer may be 0.005" out of, say 0.125" for the°thicknessorder hof a violin plate. Thus c sJL h and if k = E/E "125 t s'

Clearly then the stiffness effect of such a varnish or moisture layer cannotappreciably upset the tuning, of a plate.

If a moisture layer reduces the modulus E of a wood appreciably, and ife/h becomes fairly great for this- layer, then the effect of moisture uponstiffness may be worthy of reconsideration.

The more obvious effect of moisture is the mass effect, as mentioned byFryxell, though if this effect were isolated from other effects one would expectV"A/-*feCt UP°n the fre(luency of Fryxell' s beam samples. With a maximum shiftof W in weight due to moisture is it clear that about a k% shift in frequencycould occur. The added mass, then, would seem to be the critical factor for bothmoisture and varnish, as Schelleng confirms.

We have not here been concerned with the important damping changes due to varnishand moisture nor with the slight effect of damping upon frequency in the rangeimportant to this discussion.

<EI £ = E £(bc) " 2(|)2

(El)t = (El) s + (EI)£

<n>. ♦ (ED, =es §3. c. *f . (EI , (1 ,M, . (EI) (1 + _J_)

25000

8

We next make a brief remark about the added mass and stiffness effects of anaddition like a bass bar to a plate. As general statement, it can be said thatshear effects increase rapidly with increasing depth of a beam or thickness ofa plate, as is well known to the structures engineer. What is meant here istnat as compared to shear stresses (or strains) calculated by simple (Bernouilli)beam theory, the actual shear stresses (or strains) are much more important,hence it is clear that important "shear effects" are undoubtedly present when astressed beam or plate is thickened.: in any manner as by the addition of astiffener like the bass bar.

As a matter of fact, the techniques of photoelasticity would be very appropriatehere for exsmining the exact stress changes caused by whittling away portions ofthe bass bar, for example. Since this action removes both mass and stress-carrying material, the latter being also very important in bending at the "outerlibers , then it is not surprising that plate response is affected. An importantfirst question relative to the bass bar would seem to be which plate modes it isentering into and thus affecting. It is conceivable that an added mass or stiffnesscould be ineffective if not entering into important modes.

POWER RELATIONS IN THE VIOLIN FAMILY (ABSTRACT) - John Schelleng

The aim of this paper will be to present an overall view of the power relationsin the family of bowed-string instruments, including the conventional members ofthe family as well as the new ones to be heard in the memorial concert to ProfessorSaunders.

It is pointed out that for the conventional instruments, sizes and tap-toneplacements are such that stiffness is substantially the same for the large as forthe small instruments (equal forces produce equal deflections.) This conditionimplies an increase in sound level of 3 decibels per octave in going from oneinstrument to the larger sizes. If the instruments had been uniformly scaled in alldimensions the power would have increased at 6 db per octave, but this would havebeen undesirable not only because of the impractical sizes at the extremes butbecause in respect to audibility the small instruments would have been far too weak

It has moreover been our experience with the new instruments that the con-ventional violin is not in balance with the larger instruments of the series butthat a somewhat larger violin can be. This is the one originally called theHe-Man violin and which now has been given the more polite name of "Mezzo".In the new series stiffness is not constant but actually falls off somewhat ingoing to the larger instruments, and power capabilities increase at a rate of twodb per octave rather than three, thus favoring the instruments of higher pitch.

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si^ific^pfrlfl^f^L^1 Pleasure to attach to this Newsletter abuii_.Ldmi portion oi tne wntm_7<=! n-f ppi . v c3„,rr_-^4- j.. __. uu,~j- q-

English, translation by Donald Fiefcher This ?"3w- °f Mdiscussed in Newsletter No 2- the __.?;„___._ ?_ 3atlon project wasas originally publish S'l'lStiet^^S^^fiS'S^ ±S C°mplete >

valuablecoTtrib"-" to'the^lltlra^ Pai»Sta*in? i°* "»*<* i- a mostbefore, the journalVwMch the* e^fti^s'app^^d^is extrlmeNT f^Xd^a^iS&^oSS.1?1 ShoUld %S - --d-- n re ITIT'refe^ncf fs m^eTo £IS:^a^rll^?irrtion abrot SaVa^>

&._.__. au__.t,,. ana will be furnished as lory? as they inc+ +rt .„__.«,___.express interest. y ast to readers who

has^eeTp^S ull'n/11l £.%__.'sW & b°°kplate WhiChon our Society letter^ J^^^tf^"Sf "S^^Ti"?can be supplied at the rate of Si. 00 per huXed, "£%£%*' fr" yo^edTt^r

Robert E.Fryxell

1

From the writings of Felix Savart, taken from L* INSTITUT, Volume 8. February 20,1840.Footnote by A.Masson,under whose signature this report appears: UWe repeat here' what hasalready been said in the first article on the violin, that all which concerns thisinstrument has been taken from a wholly unpublished memoir of Mr. Savart 1!

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Let us examine now what role is played by the air enclosed within the box of theinstrument. We take a box made of two rectangular plates of the same wood, of equalthickness,and giving the same sound for a given manner of division; we join these byrectangular blocks, pierced by two slots analogous to the F holes of stringed instru- .ments. The plates are pierced,at their center of figure (?),with two round openings,to let pass the horsehair used to set them in vibration. To cause the column of airin this apparatus to sound,we use a pipe made of a slightly conical brass tube,flattened at the larger extremity in such a way as to present an edge cut obliquely,which offers,for the exit of the air,but a simple slot. This apparatus is very handyfor setting in vibration any sort of air column. In the present case we put itflat on the box, the end placed exactly on the edge of one of the lateral slots,and we blow upon the other edge in order to produce a sound which we obtain easily'after a few tries. We notice then,which is highly important, that the sound of the massof air is exactly the same as that given by the instrument when we set in vibrationeither one of its two plates. If we plane one of the plates,making it thinner, the soundof the air is changed, as well as that of the plates,but the two sounds given by the airvibrating alone or by the plates are still identical". So the air and the plates forma system,and produce exactly the same number of vibration*; they react one on the otherWe should not,however, to obtain' this result, diminish by too much the thickness of oneof the plates, for if it happened that one was twice as thick as the other,it wouldthen produce sounds at the octave,and the box would no longer give the same sound asthe air vibrating alone. If we stop up one of the openings in the box with paper, thesound given by the air is lowered,as we might expect,and likewise for that of thetables; the two sounds remain alike. It is a very strange phenomenon, this reaction ofthe air upon the plates - action which determines the number of vibrations they areto have..

The tables of a violin give the same re suits, that is to say, the sound they give isexactly' that of the . mass of air enclosed by the instrument, as can be verified withthe blower . To observe this phenomenon and to agitate the tables directly,with sealingwax we stick glass rods vertically and cause them to vibrate longitudinally; the tablesstart to vibrate immediately and give the. same sound we obtain afterward when settingthe air of the violin in motion by means of the blower applied to the edge of one ofthe F holes. Whatever the form and nature of a violin may be, the result is alwaysthe same. Tests have been made with violins having plane tables and the form of atrapezoid, with excellent Stradivarius and Guarnerius; the results obtained have alwaysconfirmed this important principle: that the air and the tables of a violin alwaysvibrate at the unison and as a system of which all the parts react upon each other.There is,as we have seen, a great difference between an instrument that has a soundpost and one from which it has been removed. In the first case the sound of the air ishigher than in the second; it is the same with the sound that can be given by thetables; the two sounds are always identical. Take a violin,cause the air to vibrateand the tables,you will have a certain sound; take out the sound post, the sound willbe lower for the tables and for the air. One fact to note heire is that in theStradivariuses tested, the sound given by the air is always the same. We will give theimport of this later.The intensity of the sounds given by a violin depend on the mass of the contained air,which ought always to have a certain relationship to the other elements; it is easy toZf6u

mu

ne thlS ' T° PPOVe thls relationshiP *c took a flat rectangular violin belowwhich had been adapted a rectangular box provided with a piston, which enabled us toaugment or diminish at will the volume of air. If the strings of the instrument areset in vibration while the piston is lowered or raised,we .find that for a certainposition of the piston the sound has the greatest intensity,and the greatest mellowness.If the volume is too large, the low tones are weak,with little sonority,and the high

anT^f %.>"" " » iS *" -U.the.S tones are thin and the high _.renp S^tX"^^1^t* ** '* *** —«- soundUnits which depend «'«_, fo" and on °Sf .

flnd that " lies ""bin certainin this way some violins of StradilrLs 1 1 1 elements of the instrument, restinggave the C natural of the pCcL^c"^^^ 2f fS* °f the bOX alwa-^C flat corresponding to the present standard of nitVI "Nations per seconder thethe beginning of the 18th century when^t"_t °f . Pltch - But « should be noted that at'dia^son' was a half step loweT.^ IT.^t^"6 hiS thewere thus in C. Several musicians have noticed t'_f. *? Vi°linS °f this Sreat ">ssterthe sounds were better, m examining »! . ♦ ! " tunlng their viol in in C flatbeen found that this conditi^f^ys*^enTll«f/lollns °f Stradivariusjt Lfor the industry and for science- without tM=fUlfllled

;

" is thus a fact acquireddesired. If the air gives

without this condition a violin leaves much to be(ed:the text says above,but he surely mean,T? *? bad; lf " Sives the Bor the Abadly,and the low I7oT_Tds re sembl "those of a^a^r^ ° DatUral '^ high sounds speak

li: : the box ln;

'

vibrati °n bT— - ssrs^-^sr- ls

have JustXmlnet SSCV^rf" * "**» *' «" one wegoing to point out.persuaded that in workingno , lnto aCCOUnt and uhl=h we are»U1 always and without any doubt ge? good ifstr^ents"8 **" COndltl°- Seated one

«"|£X S-ffS^TtS Sn "~* ""*"«» the *«-" before they«hich the two plates were of pine^nd S_rfeo7=Ctave'etc ■?- A violin was constructed of(literal translation): the sou£d of the^nftr,"s 1° Whe" H S_l vibrated aloneof pine was substituted a back of mapS « S_T"* U" Wak ' verybad, the sounds very weak. Thus we see already tE «"T the belly: che i"«rume„t wasunison. On the other hand, if these o^f! * that the plates sh°uld not be at thethey would differ a little and w wo£d tavTS T *£ t0 with, soona violin. We must then avoid the S a„T v 7^^ Pr°duce a yer> bad effectone will infallibly get. To detente ?he distari.fZ I"" *"" "' to avoid «* beatswhich we cannot rigorously estabUsh the arao^f we h

SOUnds of the Plates, ofto a direct test; we must study the best v?°7/? '?, V* °Dly °"c means: t0 have recourseparts. Several high priced Stradivarius aid G^rne h' **" apart,and "amine all of ?hesounds of the tables were determined directS^N^f £*? t"ken t0 Pieoes,and theWillaum distinguished instrument maker of s tw„*1S *° the kind*es s of Mr.on which we have worked. He has Jut at !. eve the Sreat °"ber of violinsl?yT\ Sh°" a Z6al «*^SS« for scie

Snc°eS "hichseVeral St"divarius,Guarneriu ,here.) To obtain these sounds the t_,M__lor so-e"ca which we are pleased to recomizeof two nodal lines,one tSi^l^^' £" f*» T^ pincers ** the crossingdirections of elasticity of the pine or of the SfflD^ic °rresP°"ding to the twolines are produced, in order that the £o elasti^Sf" and transversalproduced being the same on each plate w° ?7 _ I be cnSa8e<i " The nodal systemunison there would be beat'l/th^^dWerelc^ :ere

fferen<ie _ t0 bS °n£ *«"- "el? thevibrate with difficulty al' uni.son. (ife IttlZ thS" °"c tone,they wouldThus we should alreadv",7~77 unison,or in unison, together) .

two conditions: have pLt^^HZt'Zl ITfV f- Violln °Ught t0 sa"^y thesewhen blown upon,C flat, or Cof the fourth « . _f y a tone,and a mass of air givinXand exact numbers, the other dLneion belnftn8 ' %l Vib"U°" V" second in ro^l *'>«nner of division that we have indicated if is fl °f Stradiv"i^ violins . For the/iolins between C sharp 3 and D. for the wf, T" that the solmd varies in good3 sharp 3 , so that th^ a£ the belly a„d for the back between D 3and-one. . always a difference between them of a half tone or a whole

3

Why is pine preferred for the construction of all instruments of music? -- The natureof pine,its slight density and above all its elasticity cause it to be preferred to everyother substance: nothing could replace it. Its resistance to bending is not onlygreater thanthat of any other wood,but even more than that of many other materials evenmetals: it is equal to that of glass,of steel, so that with slight mass we have in pinea substance having an elasticity as great as that of glass and steel. Sound travelsin pine with the same speed as in these substances. If we take three strips, of glasssteel,and pine, cut in the direction of the fibers,all of the same dimensions,and if we'cause them to vibrate lengthwise or crosswise so as to produce the same kind of divisionwe will see that the sound given by the three strips is practically the same. Thus the'speed of sound in pine and in the direction of the fibers is just as great as in solidbodies, as in glass and steel,where it is the greatest; so pine offers the greatincontestable advantage of presenting a large surface with a light mass, and greatelasticity. A violin with plates of glass or steel would be worthless because of the massof the plates and the difficulty of setting them in vibration. Violins have been madeof glass, of brass,and of silver; the sound is weak and poor. In maple the speed ofproduction is much less than in pine; it varies between 10 and 12 in the direction ofthe fibers, the speed in air being one; perpendicular to the fibers it lies between kand 5. In pine the speed of sound parallel to the fibers is about 15 to 16-1/2 timesthat in air; crosswise it is much less, about 2 or k, according as the filets are wide ornarrow; it never rises to 5. This difference in flexibility in the two rectangulardirections is still another advantage that is not found in homogeneous substances likeglass and the metals. This small speed perpendicular to the fibers results in strongercrosswise contractions and deflections, whose energy brings very intense blows to bearon the sound post, which would not exist without this circumstance and the fibrouscondition of the substance. Pine owes to its disposition in fibers other advantagesimportant to point out. We have already said that the tables of violins vibrate asplates, and give rise to nodal lines just as surfaces set in vibration, so that the fibersdo not seem to play any immediate role; however, it cannot be doubted that these fibersgreatly facilitate setting plates of pine in vibration. The conception would be thatplaced _ so as to vibrate in unison with given sounds, they start moving immediately andcommunicate the motion to the tables exactly as the strings of a guitar, in unisonwith the sounds produced in a room, start to vibrate and communicate their motion to theentire mass of the instrument. The fibrous state of pine thus seems to play a largerole in violins,and becomes also a strong reason for preferring it to any othersubstance.

We might find in these facts the explanation of some phenomena that result from theconstitution of the organ of hearing.The arrangement of the cochlea, its fibrous nature, which has already given rise toseveral theories of audition, might in the ear play the same role that we haveattributed to the fibers in pine, and favor the setting in vibration of the differentparts of our organ. Here is an experiment, from among several that might be cited tojustify this assertion. To a surface formed by several strips of unequal length ,parchmentwas glued. When sounds were produced over this vibrating body,it was noticed that thesetting in vibration, the movement, always began with the strip at the unison, then spreadto the system, and that the nodal lines were traced on the parchment vibrating likea sheet.And so the violin is an instrument that functions by means of strings, tables,and air-all these elements vibrate in unison (at the unison), and the mass of air shouldgive the sound of C equals 512 vibrations for the generally accepted constructions. Theposition of the bridge, the location of the sound post, its pressure on the tables, have agreat influence on the sounds produced by violins and their quality. The playershould pay great attention to the relative position of these different parts- thefundamental sound of the air may be influenced by poor placing of the sound post,rendering more or less poor an instrument having in fact all the qualities which wouldcause it to be sought after. The pressure brought to bear on the tables by the soundpost can modify the sound of the air and of the tables, making it lower or higher;it tne post is too short, the sound is too low,and the low sounds of the violin areiavoredjif the post is too long, the pressure becomes too great,the sound becomes

COtLenia

owds^dshlLh Tw^'ifo3^' prLL3^"6'^6 °° a brllllanCa *> «» «"**«« of

tables were diminished- the effect £££"*? tTi" 1S+

aS lf *»» thickness of thelong a sound post and .00 great pres^S. L thlokanlne the tables is produced by toosound post, the position of tL bridge !nd e^ciall te_f"""w , *" diraenad°"s °f thegiven by the air of the box correspond!

*« ?! ily test each time whether the soundas base,suPPosing all the o^eTc^SnsVTilleTrS ZT^TSince the builders of instruments ought necessarllv +„ +v„

._

■ v,them, it is useful to _o i_t_ _ .„, J^T necessarily to try their tables before gluingsounds they Unlive S lnto a few details concerning the way of determining the

&

make'lt^r^ llZt^lTel'tfll^^f """ Parallel *» «" fibers, and if wethe fibers^wi^vf ?££ n

? o^d. 1 \°-^ *i'~tl« °fget two lines perpendicular to the f.w_ T! _ ' fon maklnS it vibrate wemanner of division will be the s^e Tn n ' SOU"Q VUI be different,and yet thethe fibers; in the other perp^icu?*. +?♦k I „?"' Sheet bends in the direction ofbeing diff.rent in the tE Srec.^ns the t V'T^T' The resistance to the defectionproduce two lines perrendWar -.n 'k !k"d should change . But we can cause it tograsp it^ecessarily^nheo^ e^ c ion^r S^ I^l°^. **. *"* ■""get one longitudinal line parallel t„ .h_ c! two lines. In a violin table ye canshould produce these lines Satelv by S" flb6f„ aDd tW° transversal lines. If welines we would get diS^a^^^bSaSEIhf Sble^f'./* P°lntS °f ">«*one direction or in another naraliel * ! oUld make its deflections intable at the crossing poinds) of lltt Z f. rpendicular to the fibers. Grasping thevibrating parts whic^vfbrati at the same tL.1"63 (tra*sversal), we divide it into six

dete^ined. T*e instrument vho^JTo Ss/his^blel "SE? \° *and, between two conical corks or tun «.«,__■_. 2 tables will take a wooden clampgrasp the Plate and with a bow will Lkf Jt'^ratlTr^T^ ""* Skl"'he "U1surface a bit of sand used in off1.7777,. "vibrate,after having scattered on theform and by trial he will be fble to * t he Uill See «"* rodal "«*"two perpendicular lines^and^ wilf^.Ln take^L" '7I *** P°lnt "here theFurthermore, the wood to be used „1 i_ h

ke the sound that is produced,must be exactly Mallei to .he axis of it*" £*" PB"'*^ " very dry; the fibersand we can be assured of a con-tru"^^.'*6 ""Wnt Ptt"B qUItS a*"*trical;should divide it into perfectly S___S££?£rE tor thftw_ £,"* "^ "■" "hiChtions we shall always be ahl. tr, ,„wi

c tuo halves. With these condi-science,in leading 2 tSs res^t Sll ?"* together " excelle"t instrw„ent,and' 8 result, will again have rendered great service to industrymanneT.fle^.Xng^holeX'oLrtr '" *" a simple and easyWe have said ttet pine and Sple^" 6^ %%"* °ff6r the «"»*" elasticity,two directioDs,and ttet the "2£d*!_ nrLfCf . d7"erences their elasticity in thespeeds. To tao^ if twt substance presenfth! .'" th6Se S" dlre°tl°ns with very differentrectangular strios of the ._t^+ ppresetnt the same resistance to deflection, we cutvibrate

6 l^giSaU^lo "w22^2? be^utln^ 10"3 '^ " —parallel to the fibers Care m„,t h! + v * , G directl°QS perpendicular anddivision. o*e ,^J^ ,""the sound for a strip, the greater will h^ S£ ,*2 thS SOUndS Produce d. The higherstrip. We can thus h«v 7=+? the Speed of Pr°Pogation of sound for theidentical wood by Zlnl one^ZTA" t^ °&n &1"yS be SUre of °^ini^ anDy taking one whose strips give the same sound as the one serving as model.

In another article, we will examine the role played in the violin,by the bridge theneck,and we will finish all that concerns that instrument.fridge , the

(signed) A.MASSON

5

BRIDGE. The bridge plays a much more important role than is generally thought Theparts cut away,its form, have a great influence on the quality of the instrument- it thereforemerits our attention. If we take a piece of wood cut like a bridge and glue d on to aviolin,the instrument will have almost no sound: it begins to be better if feet areformed on the bridge; if we make two lateral slots, the quality of sound takes on avalue that increases if we cut the bridge completely to the usual form. It is anastonishing thing that by feeling our way we have arrived at the shape currentlyused which seems to be the best of all that could be adopted. Many attempts havebeen made to perfect this important piece: the result of all has been that we cannotmodify it without taking away many qualities from the sounds and from the instrumentBridges have been made of pine with the -fibers perpendicular or parallel to the plate-'

the sound was altered. We have increased the dimensions of the slots,and at the sametime diminished the beauty, the mellowness of the violin.Let us examine the motion of the molecules of the bridge. If we take a solid bridgewith two feet and one string, the motion is tangential, parallel to the face of thebridge; if we make two slots the motion changes its nature, the sand moves in severaldirections at once, the bridge itself takes on oscillatory movements, and its moleculesappear to take on vibrations normal to the plate. It seems to have for effect toca?es S Tft nT^Qr nonnaVhe "°vements of the tables: the bar to which it communi-cates its oscillations produces..in the plate a movement of totality and prevents itssubdivision into vibrating parts by the transverse nodal lines . All mrts of theinstrument enter immediately into vibration.

m"

S

"fy functions of the bridge when obstructing somewhat itsmovements. Placing a mute, the sound is almost nothing, the bridge seems no longer tovibrate, and by the same token to stop the vibrations of the different parts of the

the o^t?VaSS °f *S haltS ltS oscill^ions; it no longer produces motion inthe plate If we grip the right foot with a little wooden or metal clip, the sound isweaker than usual but less diminished than with a mute . If we grip the left fooTwhichshould convey motion to the bar, the sound becomes incomparably weaker . It is evidentthat the bridge produces with its left foot shocks which cause the vibrations of therendered

C

nSerr L ****'' f °ot iS ' as w have already said,assured andrendered fixed by the sound post.

SfLn^ .n6Ck ' the kind °f Wood USed in its construction have greatnlltZ Z + K

n f^? °f a Vi°Un - T°° Stiff °r too soft a wood change notably the?hat ifthe .. "1 thelr character. Perrot brings out in his Treatise on singingthat if the strings of a lute are attached to a support that is not part of the_ho_IHTv. *?* Sounda mdcrS° a great weakening. We will point out firsfthat thisac .^on-^ntlv _nd

ln!.HT C! J? ** Violin 'where the actions which produce the soundact constantly and without discontinuity and not instantaneously as in lutes andof TIIoItTIT^I' lT

US

.lo°k St the kind °f Edification experienced by the soundof a violin if we make the neck independent. We take the box of a violin we clamo it in athr'br.dgelestsTH^b *U aS *" "*>"* the brings Le^L Ld;the bridge rests on the box,and the points where the strings are attached have norer_^s C

vervnst:_ th Te <T °f ** inst—t: we set the apparatus in vlbraUon,.te soundIeZT Z y f"ng: if then,we put the neck in contact with the box,by means of awedge of wood,the sound is more nervous , there is a great difference7

, n . IS . easy^rora the foregoing,to conceive the role the neck plays in a stringedfrom \T."I P_ ay6d W"h a b°W - faCt 1S ' that ln stating the snaring a short distanceSkes is nof. "c =ausa "to be deflected at the point of attacked the curve it« the ooint s^yywlth "BP«t to the two halves of the length,but is greaterat the point of agitation in one of the halves. This curvature proceeds .he length ofstrikes^r. l^ theyhe: slde of the axis,and the result is a kind of 7_ve whfchother in fhe.H . ' WaVe SOeS ceaselessly from one end of the string to theimmrt to Tt , t7 °"c

Qs

"llati°n^ and when these waves come back to the bridge, they_sri£ lon. 1 transverse motion. One can easily assure oneself of this fact with afairly long monochord and a plate arranged as a bridge,sprinkled with sand.

6

There are then three movements in a violin: one in the direction of the lencth of thetring; another is perpendicular to the tables, and the other tangential; fnd thethree motions force the instrument to make the greatest possible oscillations„,*° experiment of Mr .Cagniard-latour confirms the explanation we have given of theof ZITt g " direotlon °f length of the string. In a rectangular stripthe Kin strips be? 1 CUtS '"c °Ut & litile band 'and we Pa

*s

°ne ofnear the L.f 8 .!? *" W &nd the Strip of P3^' If we Put this sort of bridgenear the bridge, it travels toward the bow; if we put it higher up,near the nut itflZl/yZ y- aiS Phe nomenon derives from the" diss^metry of the =_rye

bow forms . ""ns ' a"d in which there is,at the end,an angle opposed to the one thebow forms in setting the string in vibration.

eoJl . iTS* "e!dedi° tighten a violin string goes as high as twenty livres (one livreequals 1.1 lb.av.J ; the E string sometimes requires even 22 to give the E- for the A£i«'.»cUva^J»Jt_??. t?at dimlnlahas f°r the D and the G.V a sketched E tringi? _vi Jm t I S _* " gIVSn °" the Violin and ,nake it sound the Eby weightingit suitably. Let us see the parts of the weight which is supported by the belly of theP.om .M ." I S SW" °f the f°rCeS thaZ Stre tch the strings reaches almost &7 liv.esFrom this E string suspend a weight vertically at the precise distance where we pu. theaboufi,\ de

USment " the Strlng makeS t^ same angle as with the bridge which isabout 155 degrees; on sounding the string, we find that it gives exactly the E If weexamine the weight, we find it to be 6 'livres' 2 Wee' .After having established the conditions under which the best violins of Stradivariu-vibraSomr 1

fl

USd

U:rt

COI,StrU

°ted'haVinS Pr°Ven the sound C e q_al_ 12resets we ," ">u"cla«s should adopt this measure to get from it the best possibleresults, we will conclude by saying that one could always construct an excellent violin onanother note by making it just like that of Stradivarius and being a ul make .heTt. naS?u.alTon .he°nS Pr°P°rtl°nal 'and a-h that their relation be

Sthat of ttev bratLns01 C natural to the new note. For example,we should now construct violins of which thedimensions would be to those of Stradivarius as 512 is to the n^ber of vibrations ofC Hat,, and so put the air of the box at C flat.

elene"tr wfwf indict f! hViolinS °f «» °est masters,and determined the role of each

like the mosfperfect £J "*" £ cons t"cting with certainty excellent violins justHKe the most perfect Stradivarius. The principles which we have deduced from numerousoZTTLIZtIToIVT a.

X "S 6enerality the «"""<» wf naveTLL ed°olut.,nnt-^hl The construction of violins is a problem susceptible of severalfor the oihers to

abe "eve"l .unkno

"'«'° interlinked, that it suffices to take only onesize or „" th !k _°

nC

! dete"med. If,for example,we choose plates of any givent_*t tn ' T height of the ribs and the thickness of the plates must be suchthat the mass of air gives the sound Ceouals 512 vibrations

be such

of uZ masTof'air V£ *Y^ "S^" °" ** bell^Pla^ a role in the soundone ot the F holes Z J fT^."8" that if a thin sheet of paper is pasted overone or the F holes, the sound of the mass of air is lowered; in consequence if the

r^,i:_«_=r_r_.s:_ SL-r.- c - '— - """one rPL / vt0 construct of any shape and size,provided that~ri»nras we ,T COnditions th^ ye *"c set. The problem being indeterminateS?'^ ?ee ' an infinity of solutions. At the same time it must be noted that if wesubstitute flat plates for arched plates or even if the plates are more or less arched,the quality of the sound will be changed. We get purity of tone as the plate approachedilatness,but at the same time the tone loses its bite.

7

sav^bout'thJ^ detf lnt° VMCh VS haVe Gntered bearding violins leave but little tooay about these instruments. The basses constructed now are generally _,r.od '/l

..* ...«_.._ » _,», „rlv«j,by „,,„„ «_»,;ci.«e i.«„t,,trai",1"»";f __v_." __

indica.ern.he

totablersho^d Sbe°n .s

S

,railal" t0 thOSe °f 3 violi^a"d *» the relationsthe width'wo^d be 20 'pontes' ins^eadTf' . .^ *" ordinarily 26 to 2 7 'ponces';instead of L Tt T« x ?_ ! lnstead of 15 or l6,but the ribs would be J >pouces 'to give .o the mas o? 81?8 helght °f thlS that makers managedis an ocr^rf^trbe^wre^Tj^KL^ "" " "just an octave and a fifth tLI itTT ?u "aSS Vould be found l°"ered bymaking 170 66 v_bra.ions sec_nd° ""* "^ "^ be F°f the flrSt °ctave ' F

wid^h^fbe" g^te'r tZTth^l^".*0 salification the length andthickness would less

instrument as it exists, while on the contrary, its

solulirffVTue"^^^ **; r, 3^ 1^ at a -t^^torythat the sound of the mass of air 1 , .=. vi ?_. 8 " about (which is quite remarkable)diminished the &£ Zlf^JZlJ^^,?^^*" *"""**>' h^

the^i^g^o^i^g^'se^'i^foa\ro:°?rined/". a baSS ' "c "eed«* si"« ~« °ne of

among the tones produced .he.c if J??' llttlS son°"ty- We soon perceive thatit is the »1? Produced there is one that is much more reinforced than all the others-it is the tone of the mass ofl the air. We can arrive

_.

.>,_. _ VI _ otners.

--^^^^^have just said" that ?he __"d of the V" plained- »is evident,from what wedepends in the 'fact that the^d of the _t i *" ** IOWSSt F ' ttat this effectwith the sound of the air tw! " .T "S belnS sometimes not exactly in unisonother, and 2 & r6aCtl°nS °f ** Vibratl °nS °f °"c bod^ °n the

in fgiv.nl^ _f.l^y. grea^r^t^nlnThe^ss"'^ 1' T"" °<could correct this fault .„ !!„ . , , the bass. We do not see at the moment how westill give beats withlhe F IterlTlterV*? and^f £'" °f "*' S" thS F " COuldPitch, it would do so when tuned at Lother pitch. "^ tUMd at a giVea

con^uently'tS^c^vfIbove^^of & 80Und a *"?* belw the C of the violin,this note almost 1Hh! ,! f S baSS ' °r F e<luals instead of givingviolins! The^esllfJs tLftSe low '"*" gIV6 the SoUnd C e^ls V*. "*« thethe instrument d_es not the I wwea r' ra

»c°us,

and hard to produce and thatapproached much nearer thf t" .

Pro?f timbre. Formerly big altos were made thatmScers would make suitable e«Lt °ndl"°f <* theory. It is to be hoped that instrt_mentwith that of the b^s^nd the violin *** C°nS t"ction of altos more into harmony

8

>

tion until now has been entirely arbitrary 11^ to contrabasses, whose construc-and it seems that the admirable feeling* * * f! ,oonstructed in all sorts of dimensionsand proportions of the violinlas abandoned ♦£" bullders to discover the dimensionscontrabasses. However the inst^n+f"6d them completely in the construction oftance for orchestras.'lhere U^usic *„T l0" n°t6S are °f the hiehest impor-sounding instruments of all kinds ar j! ". baSS ' and ""fortunately the lowbuilders make a series of exneriLnts i^.H naslf eted- It is also desirable that capablecontrabass giving the octave^el" h. L " ? .. construction of contrabasses. Thebelow that of tto air of ?h_ vin! , vlo-oncello, the sound of the air should be the p

contrabass has three strings vntT_il°'' ♦"%*" **" C°meS a Acuity. In France "thelowest should be the Can octave below tC r^ "I?,

.tte A, whilst the

circumstance, the sound of .he mass of Tr Perhaps,because of thisexperiment alone can determine be hlgher - Thls i= a matter that

inSt«nt,!_i th. ease S obt "^ +°k ** qUality °f the SOUnds dra" from anviolin with ate bow or .o play a ba^f S°"d " °ne wouid try in vain to play a .not be considered as non-partfcipants in th! v. ? " The halr and tbe stick shouldthey themselves enter intfvibration

,th

Vlbra* 10n of the instrument. Far from that;when they serve to set in _ k .v

6 SOU"d they faake can be heard, especiallybells. Feeling alone has ununt^ 65

"^ instruments of music, like plates o*attempt has been made of lat Tto subst-t^V" t0 thS -"struct^ of bows. Theeven though it has been si P V" °f StSel for boys °f hard »°°d; butwooden bows, S^ir^t^t'o° de^le.tV^f liBht"good wooden bows, neverthele-s tt. 71. "" + , deilection has been equal to that ofexperiment shows 'that .heir resistance to^l* "0t Geen thelr Way b° using them;and might it not be that their k b „ " " greater tha" that °f ordlnary bows;entering in to vibration. g U°W '"ay Present greater difficulty in

diSntVroftho e^ Pv"lins n "if'T^ °f gUUarS iS baaed »« -"rely

bow is continuous; _n thlSr and othlr^",'^ dlst-bance from the roughness of theis instantaneous,^d everything mu"t be dw°""ts of the same kind, the disturbanceto put a sound post in a "ita " _„. H ? accordingly; then too, it is impossiblereinforcement tLs Place"only by LTn-o/y^U * "

SoUnd iS Mediately dampened,theand to the air enclosed in"he" box ?h. volume of "[rto! C<"Ca.ted to the tablestones can find their correspondences but tht alr , however,must be such that the lowpractically the same reS?TOe in^nsitv of %? dl«6"nt arrangements may givegreater if it could be orought about th!t th. d*T * gU"ar WOuld be incomparablywas perpendicular to the plane of the « , eCtl°" °f the vibrat ion of the stringsdetermined by the frets attached tlVt' XS Wan instrument of fixed sounds,of the string. It is to be hoped that tnlV ' f^ "* the length °f tbe vibrating'partbe given grefter intensity o?P_ou_^d it offers I^f "^ * Perfected, and that it'willconsequently is well suited fo^TT^ offers great resources for harmony, andadvantage of having a small n^ber of^"* ** " it presents theis superior to the h__rp ""^ eaSy to tune,and, from this point of view,

theXrs Pe^dic^ar'.o^^^gth1:/^^ ." f°"; "S table ia °f *" «"»with the table; and the disturbw2f °X ' The Strings "ake an angle of 55 degreesby the wavelik, movements of th strips-T S^ ?** enerSeticaily to the table"touched in the middle of i.s leLth Z' T^! be "°ted that the string not beinghalves, and consequently the de?Lo.ion ?," talteS is not s^"*trical in its twosends itself along

9"h^ spring Si it arrives ftlhe". T*"' **S*" P°lnt °f PlUCklng 'indicated. The attempt has bferT"^ +~ . _ table, as we have already previouslydirected in the lenath Tf th! hof *°.v ? terPS ln "hlch tbe fibers of the pine werewas taken of putting wf tl °f the instr^ent; but even though the nrecautionthat Sey hfve given o'SfL 1 .

bl" -1" different places, it has always happenedthe air LtainfHn toX^J^f^T^^^. Toack, and the sound,far from losing intensity, gains!' '"ay be ln the

9

in IVtrlTroZTs HXtolTs TTll a^thTb^ *° "T^* tta "»0h"1"» "bi^SVX?^SS¥ra £~*^d-- oTJ.s^result of these mlnlc^.^ " S

l«SfwD W^^rexL^d^i. irL^f cVcry anal°g°US ""* the fringed

cylinder; these give .he s_" _«Jt »_ fh ! v?f tW° merabranes stretched on a metalis pierced laterally with TZAI til !h . h h °f & V±olin ' The cylindrical tubeit can be closed without chaS +b» .« ° Sffeot 0n the sound Produced, sincethe membranes, which might bre^^dertT" l^ "Ut Cl°Slng the hole "^d compromiseof the drumstick. Air enters _^ Saves through .hL^it^^h , iP reSUltihg fr" the W"»placing the flame of a candle before it u» .! _ ttle b°le 'as can be certified byfollowing: if

„c

cover a glass _^nel «7h\ 11 \V" a phenomenon analogous to thegiving off a lot of smoke * viU 7 membrane,having put in the funnel a substancetap, a ring of smoke We wo^d not be ah-T^th "Ch """ W glV£ the membrane a sharPexplanation of this phenomenon in which th. V ra°ment ' t0 giVS a satisfactorytransforms into a ring .he smote it 1! 4 T" °Ut SS a llttle bal1 ' "bich thencords which can be tightened more _r^eL fj7 °° the SldeS °f the drum ' a« foundbelow are two parallel "t7t!tt!7 .. _^ Whi°h SSrVe t0 Stret=h the membranes;the intensity oTt^oS^p dS .d^.L^uT^ fT* °"with6ut them we gave only the so^d „. th! T strings must be very smooth;weak and dull. t7 tighten .hese _^rif, !hmembranes 'as ln the tenor drum; it is thenand the stroke of theto^stick u^der whic XlZT^ S S°Tt °f SOrev on the side,enough the moment at which .h.y h^^LY^ffteLT.e^ir01" WU

through theSctylSdetrcanT:ertfthewer

r" ?"h V"^ wave is produced which goesthe parts of a d£u£ react on one J^f ln vlbrati°n, and then the cord. Allsound of the ai7te Sways ?.,!?.,*■ ?h Vlbrate ln mUotl <at the unison?).. Thebe thinner th_n the ol^ .tteAseVX not

i"*"*"**' this latter Ymust alwaysof sound. We find here tta same^arti^llri . i°° S. *! Bme intensity nor same characterresearch to be done on the di^osiWon^ th !"! *? Vi °"a - Blew is still importantof air of the drum. It woSfb." " °f the "aSSat the middle. Mersenne,in his -STunive!seSe

_.

*1S 7°* S "odal SUrfaceon dr^s expressly constructed; he recoraized tlZl rll' / leVeral cxPeriments he madenumber of vibrations obtained .!/+_!< r drUJlls of sirailar dimensions, theresearch has remained ZZ^ toLy""" °f ** h°"ologous dimensions. This 'fine

(signed) A.MASSON

Translation by Donald Fletcher 1964j

THE CATGUT ACOUSTICAL SOCIETYMembership Directory, May, 1966

Dr. Mildred Allen, -Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass. 01075Dr' I.? T $TT ' 1° ESSIe Street > T^^ly-.New Jers.y 076T0Dr. Alice T. Baker, 903 Park Avenue, Nev York, N.Y. 10021_£"aST fartlet7' 989 Memor"l Drive, Cambridge, Mass. 02138TZL " C/° LaUristsen: Landlystvej F 6, Hvidovre, Copenhagen,Dr ' kktlT "' Benade> CaSe Institute °f Technology, Cleveland, OhioKr " N

UBe^en! SN°j.' PatterSOn Plank Rd " " »" B^gen Trailer Park,Mr. Donald L. 'Blatter, 3820 Iroquois Avenue, Erie, Pa. 16.11Miss Marjorie Bram, 332 Vose Avenue, South Orange, Nev Jersey 07079Mr Henry Brant, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont 05201Miss Joan Brockvay, Bennington, Vermont 05201Mr. William Carboni, 13 Arthur Court, Closter, Nev Jersey 0762.Mr. Louis Condax, 215 Hoffman Boad, Rochester, Nev York 1.622Dr Edith Corliss, 2955..Albemarle Street, Washington, D.C. 20008Dr B~

L/n y±Ch ' _* #1> B°X UlS'" "tchfield, C.nn. 06759E" Lou.si _..",. 6°5 Nati°nal Buildi«S, Flint, Michigan .8500Mr. Louis Dunham, 1. Warren Road, Maplevood, Nev Jersey 070U0Mr. .Randolph N. Dyer 11, The L.C.L. Corp., 230 Park Aye., Nev York, N.Y.Dr. Frieder Eggers, 3*. Gottingen, Schlozerveg 16, GermanyMr. George Finckel, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont 05201Mr. Donald Fletcher, ITB 3 Norm Place, Seaford, N*v York 11783Dr. Robert E. Fryxell, 7355 Drake Road, Cincinnati, Ohio £.2.3Miss Lillian Fuchs, Nev York, N.Y.Mr. Irving Geis, .700 Broadvay, Nev York, N.Y. 100U0to* C^Wn8/"- 00"111,', 5° Colonial Pa^ay, Manhasset, N.Y. 11030Dr. Qushman Haagensen, Woods Road, Palisades, N.Y. 1096UEngird HanC°Ck ' Hhite Croft ' Salisbur* R°a<*. Farnboroug^, Hants,Dr. Mary Harbold, 1605 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 191.6Mr. Stevart Hegeman, 176 Linden Avenue, Glen Ridge, Nev jersey 07028Dr. Mary W. Hinckley, 35 East 85th Street. Nev York, N.Y 10028Mr. Sterling Hunkms , 302-Bth Avenue, Nev York, N.Y. 10001Mr. and^Mrs. Morton Hutchina, 112 Essex Avenue, Montclair, Nev Jersey,Mr. Jorgen Isakaen, 29 Hillside Lane, Syosset, Nev York 11791Mrs. Irene Jacobi , 1155 Park Avenue, Nev York, N.Y. 10028_7 I ,

Svel^r* > 1055 Brierv°°d Boulevard, Schenectady, N.Y.Dr. Earle Kent, C.G. Conn Ltd., Elkhart, Indiana, .651S

Mr' u.t7 22 Marst°" Place, Gler. Ridge, Nev Jersey 07028n . .!"„ T

rl1 ' 5° "eSt 67th Street > Nev *>rk, N.Y. 10023Dr. Arnold K. Bvam, Douglas College, Nev Brunsvick, Nev Jersey 08900

fe

I

Mr. Julius Levine, 110 West 96 Street, New York, N.Y. 10025Mr. Frank Levin, 113 Magnolia Lane, Princeton, New Jersey OBSUODr. W. Lottermoser, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt , 33 Braunschweig,

Bundesallee 100, GermanyMr. David Mankovitz, 36 Hillside Avenue, Englewood, New Jersey 07631Mr. Gordon McDonald, 391^ Sassafras Street, Erie, Pa. 16500Mr. .and Mrs. Stephen McGhee, U6 Vest 65th Street, New York, N.Y. 10023Mr. Henry Allen Moe, IU9 Broadway/2 5th floor, New York, N.Y. 10006Miss Sonya Monosoff, 125 Hicks St., Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. 11201Mr. Harvey Mortimer, 109 Alexander Avenue, Upper Monticlair, N.J. 0701+2Mr. Ronald Naspo, 163 Claremont Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 070^2Mr. and Mrs. Quincy Porter, Holderness, New Hampshire (summer) 0321+5

Brook Road, Bethany

Conn,

(winter)Mr. Peter Pruyn, 210 East 39th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016Miss Helen Rice, 15 West 67th Street, New York, N.Y. 10023Dr. Bernard W. Robinson, 366 Goldhawk Road, London W. 6, EnglandMiss Patsy Rogers, 82 Willow Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201Mr. Peter Rosenfeld, 1+55 East 83rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10028Mrs. True Sackrison, Dept . of Music, Western Washington State College,

Bellingham, Washington 98225."Irs. Frederick Saunders, South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075Dr. Robert Scanlan, Case Institute of Technology., Cleveland, Ohio I+l+looMr. John C. Schelleng, 301 Bendermere Avenue, Asbury Park, New Jersey 07712Mr. David Schwartz, 26 Gurley Road, Stamford, Conn.Mr. Sanford Schwartz, I+l West 83rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10021+Mr. and Mrs. William Scott, I+l+ West 11th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011Dr. Eugen Skudrzyk, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.Mr. W.E. Slaby, 1322 North Vermont, Royal Oak, Michigan 1+8067Mr. J. Kellum Smith, 131 East 66th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021Dr. T.W.W. Stewart, University of Western Ontario, Dept. of Physics,

L6ndon, Ontario,„Dr. Leopold Stokowski , New York, N.Y.

Dr. Asher Treat, 51 Colonial Parkway, Dumont, New Jersey 07628Mr. Harry S. Wake, Luthier Lodge, l*+6l Rosecrans, San Diego, Calif. 92106Dr> Arnold M.' Walter, Director, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto,

Toronto, OntarioMr. David Walter, 670 West End Avenue, New York, N.Y 10025Dr. Arthur J. Watt, Beck Memorial Sanitarium, London, OntarioMr. Anthony Wollen,- 66 Buckingham Avenue, Whetstone, London N.20,

EnglandMr. Sam Zaslavski, I+s Fairview Avenue, New York, N.Y. 100*40Mr. and Mrs. Louis Zerbe, 52 Briarwood Terrace, Cedar

Grove,

N.J. 07009