Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-08-10

ana Remcnyi.
Thirteen miles from New York, OF
the line of the Northern Railroad c
D New Jersey, in little hamlet con
sisting of not more than 20 house.
\ lives man who has found somethin
which has been sought after for owe
BOO years. His treasure is merely
sound, or more properly speaking, al
appliance the use of which will prc
duce a certain quality of sound, tn
secret of which the makers of violin
from the days of Gaspard di Salo l.
/ the present time have been searching
His name is William Henry Brady.
The best authorities unite in stat
ing that the violin reached its presen
form about 1916. Since that time j
is acknowledged to hold the first ranl
among musical instruments not onl,
on account OF the beauty and equalit,
of its tone, its variety of expression o
light and shade, but alas on accoun
of its ability beneath the touch Of 6
master hand to express the deepes
and tenderest emotions. Gaspard d
Salo, who from 1850 to 1912 worked
with unceasing enthusiasm to bring
the instrument to its highest state o
perfection, may be called the pioneer
in the history OF violin making. Ir
his work may be traced the gradual
development upon which his followers
built their regulations.
After him came Andrea Amati, the
founder of the Cremonese school, his
brother Niccolo, and his sons Antonio
and Hieronymus. The name OF Guar
neri is probably familiar to every pos
SCISSOR of q violin throughout the
world. Contemporary with Guarneri
was the great Antonio Stradivarius
whose fame has been sung alike by
poet, artist and musician. OF an ex
ample of this greater masters skill
Longfellow wrote:
A marvel Of the lutist's art.
Perfect in each minutest part,
And in its hollow chamber thus
The maker from whose hands 1t came
Had written his unrivaled name
"Antonius Stradivarius."
These are some of the names re-
vered by violin lovers, and whose pro-
ductions are priced not only by musi.
clans for their musical qualities, but
by these connoisseurs who love violins
for their beauty of form only.
There is something almost super.
natural about a violin. At least that
is what violin makers have held from
the days OF its early development to
the present time. 1t is we'll known
that in comparison to the great num-
Der Of violins turned out by the old
mastere only q few were considered
worthy of being known as products Of
their skill. It was all on account of a
lack OF that peculiarly elusive quality
Of tone which was 90 necessary to dis.
tinguish the violin from the "fiddle."
The old makers found the same diff
Guilty to contend with which frets the
modern violin builder.
Two violins may be made from the
same materials and by the same hand,
and one will possess all the qnalifica-
tions OF a first-clsss instrument, while
the other will be 80 inferior as to be
worthy only of place in the category
of "fiddles." To still further illus
trate: A slab Of perfectly seasoned
Swiss sycamore may be split in half
and one-half taken for the back OF
one violin and the other half used for
the back OF another instrument.
The bellies of the two instruments
may be fashioned from opposite halves
OF q slab Of seasoned Swiss pine. This
rule may be followed throughout in
the construction of all of the So sepa-
rate parts of the violin. The com.
pleted instruments may have been
calipered to within . hairbreadth of
each other and be identical as to form
and dimensions, and yet upon the ap-
plication of the bow one will be found
to be worth $500 and the other S..
One has the tone; the other has not.
Why this should be is q secret too
profound for scientists or philosophers
to fathom.
found Mr.. Brady in his little work.
shop at Palisades Park, Bergen county.
N. j., among his beloved violins.
He was surrounded by instruments
Of all sorts and conditions, from the
common shop fiddle to a delicately
modelled and highly priced Cremona.
The old Cremona was there to be
used Is standard of excellence which
would be reached by the cheap violins
before they passed from under his
magic manipulations.
Sometimes" he said, AZ can hard.
ly realize that it has been left for me
to invent the simple device which,
had it been known 300 wears ago
would have spared the old makers
many bitter disappointments. Here
it is. 1t lent much to look at, is itp
and the old gentleman took up little
piece OF metal OF peculiar form and
weighing less than an ounce troy.
1t appeared to be made of bell
metal, and as he balanced it upon thu
tips of his fingers and struck it light
ly with pencil it gave out sound
rather like toy cymbal.
"The principle is we'll known" con
tinued the inventor. at is that o
the sounding board OF piano. That
was not difficult to think out; bu,
bless you, there was a great deal be
sides the principle to discover beior
it could he applied to the violin.