The Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1882-1883, 1883-10-11
viol!na

Louis Blumenbcrg, tho vol0nceloj
virtuoso. has Leen spending his between
seasons Le Q at his homo. Whom the
Ssn correspondent dropped in he w1
contemplating his instrument with .
4 s-a isiied air. Tho amber vnrnish on
viol. ncel!o shons with its wonted
mellow lustcr. its long neck wds firmly
erect. 20 carved heal thrown back In
true Stra,livarius poee, and the sirin -,
as they were :rettei by the virtuoso'p
fngcr<, emitted sonorous no,es
"What Il the matterP" was ,sked.
"I can't tell exactly" was the rcply.
at 10 tired and needs rest II Ilay u
aside ior . week or %. II will regain its
perfe, ton o; tone. without anything
else be NC done to Il. It's hard thing
70 explain. and IL Is . fact familiar to
every artist. IL you use an instrument
too much It loses its tone not enough.
pcrna,s. for the Average auditor to per.
ceive. but the artist knows It."
MAY be the trouble 10 then With the
artist himself-losing the precision oi
his touch from, over-practicc." said the
caller.
"That Is the explanation which mos:
naturally occurs 10 one. but It is not
good. 1hc trouble is with the instru-
mem. Every artist meets with II. and
has to keep moro than ono In use.
" iihclunI has 70 lay yhisSeraiivnxi!fs v:o-
lin aside occasionally. and use his
t.emunder uniil the Stradivarius u rest.
oil. Every man who uses . razor
knows that Il gets tired from too much
use. and rugs;ns It's temper from being
iaid as dc :or while. and II Is the same
with musical instruments. Tone Is .
puzzle anyhow. A track IN the belly
OF . violin or cello YOU might think
woult be fatal to tone from It's interccp-
ton Of sound vibrations. but semct mes
cracks seem to cause an improve.
mont In .,rurnents that arc veil treat.
ed improve by age. IL may be that
the ron tones OF q find S,radivarius or
Guarnerus are due lnry ysly to the ago.
and the exquisite ma low qsality which
We tnd In thBm Is tho xcqaisit.od
OF years. Gu'llaumc. who, was, In
his time. q celebrated Paris maker.
10 now in disrepute bcoatfse the hns
tone he impaired 10 his instruments
was not last ng. He had some process
for medicating the wood Of his ins,rd.
ments thin gave them strength and
90 tncss o tune, but age. instead 0f
improving them. impaired their quality.
Then. a,,ain. tho tune OF instruments
seems to result from hal py chance ad.
jus,ments of their parts which cann.t
DO repeated with any certainty. Tho
masterpieces OF the Cremona school
now In existence may be- strokes OF good
fortune tha the old makers themselves
coud not always certainly oiisct Yon
see that the bridge OF my cello hero Is
no, part'cu arlv fne.,ooking bit OF
wood. Some tine ago whom | hap
pcned To- drop into an instrument
maScrs shop. he said: 81 have got .
spend d piece Of maple one hundred
and iilty years oil. .ud the thing U
mako you new lr;,lgc.'' Well. no
niaLs tho bri,lgo ami Il looked right
and scoihc,l toi't right. but when tric,l
{ the striiys dldr't und rgut. ]
worked! with II sonic time. Int finally
,ad to give Z up. Thcn tpe bow has Il
mt deal TO do " e. tho tune. Its
S'Nyl must DO str0n.. and at the san.
limo slanllar- aud iiylit. II Must bc iirM
:ithotit boinx rigid. n,ul nitisth hNvc ! "r.
feet evenncss of 90 turu, 10 - TO give
the Same Quality OF percussion from
whatc er DO mt Il may DO applied to the
str ngs. There are celebrated makers
OF bows as well ~ o! instruments. Tho
Lupst bow Il famous. Tho makor 70 q
fwnchmsn who h0ur:shed IN the trst
quarter II this century. He got hold Of
\ Ilnc lot Of Pernambuco wood. and oil
his bows. were made Of selected pieces.
A rood Lupot how isworth one hundred
dollars. An ordinary bow, viii b would
look a. II Il were just as good. can 10
bought for five dollars. 'ya
"lt Il . hard th:hg 70 get hold Of . fnc
old instru nent." the viftuoes went on,
the 'cello strings now sounding IN mel.
xncholy ch0ris under hts straylns
dnecrs III bclleye I told you that VII.
helm plays . Stra ilvarius kemenvi
hn, duite . collections. butsgcnerally
plsys an Auiati. t.lc Bull bad , large
!. y DIN by one Of the earliest makers o'
tbo rcmond scliool. 6asrard dc Sulo.
Somc ne instruments aro In the hands
of amateurs. Assistants Secro sry-o..
S.ats hun or hss violonoello OF Str.di'
yarius tone. if not Of that make. Ey.
Mayor Haycneyer. OF New YORK: a
though not h;ffiBe' a'rclio'piayer DO
lie 9, paid about -, 100 for y Gusr-
ner;us. Il IL the ch umnourswho run,
ND tho price Of such Instruments until
they are cut Of reach Of the poor artist.
There is manufacturer of garden tools
|. a Hart or who has . splendiu colIec'
q ofv.ol m. and yet. s0 &C ~ h'sowu
p.syiuQ Is concerned. an ordhAr fiddle
would do him inst q we'll ~ . Sirsdl.
ynriua In his collection 10 the famous
| V,rs in.erh (,uhxnritu vi61lu. If u