Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-19
Making of ViolinS
By Frederic j. Haskin

are practically none. As for the habit
itself, it is said to have been begun by
a strange Italian, Luigi Tarisio, who,
in the beginning of the sos, secured
the towns and villages of Italy and
succeeded in obtaining large number
of instruments of the best makes,
which he brought to England. These
gradually found their way into the
hands of other collectors.
One of the last remaining strong
holds of the handmade violin is to be
found in the little village of Markneu-
kirchen in Saxony. Here generations
of violin makers have been at work,
and those of today use the sama
benches and live the same lives in the
same houses as did their ancestors.
Here is to be found the modern "Stradi-
Varius." the best maker there. who has
received a decoration from the king of
SaXony. inaccessible and quaint as it
is, Markneukirchen is in some respects
modern A large business is done with
the outside world, and many dealers
partly supply their market from this
source. Other marks of progress
Which are manifested are the reading
of American technical journals and the
rendition of Sousa's compositions by
the sundry bands which the town
affords.
"a l4OiluOl SCtGllllSI anu ilhtIlIOI HIS
made what he calls scientific vio-
lin." Instead of the usual sounding
board there is substituted metal
trumpet or resonator and a dia-
phragm of aluminium. The idea in
doing away with the wooden sounding
board and using one of metal was to
construct an instrument which would
be equal to those of Amati and Stradi-
varius. This means of attempting that
end has, to all reports, never been tried
before, as the sounding board was the
one feature which received the greatest
attention, especially from the Italian
makers.
Not having improved for over hun
dred years the violin at the present
time is composed of the same number
of parts as in the time of Stradivarius.
There are seventy in all, only two of
which, the strings and loop, are of any
other material than wood. The great
est boW-maker used to select his ma
terial from billets of dye wood shipped
from Brazil. Sometimes it was neces-
sary to go through eight or ten tons
of this wood before a few suitable
pieces were found. The hair used in
bow is another point of interest. The
present number used in a French bow
ranges from 175 to 250S
There are performers who enjoy do
ing stunts" on the violin. Two COM
positions which lend themselves to this
are Paganini's "Moto Perpetuo" and
Mozart's overture from his "Figaro."
In the former the player is called upon
to read considerably over 5000 notes, q
feat which has been done in about
three minutes and half. AT a per-
formance of the Scots Guard, under
the leadership of F. w. Wood, the
latter piece, equally difficult as the
first was played in a second or two
under three minutes and a half and
reported to have been beautifully ex-
ecuted.
A recent invention brings the violin
within the class of the piano, inasmuch
as that instrument lends itself to me-
chanical playing. This mechanical de-
vice was put on exhibition in England,
and is reputed to have given wonder
full results, the playing being equal to
that of master musician. The in
vention is an arrangement whereby the
fingers of the player are supplanted
by mechanical agency, which in turn
is run by electric motors driven by
batteries. The result not only is equal
to human ability, but beyond 1t, as
both duets and quartets can be rem
dered, all four of the strings being in
use at one time. This mechanism is
the result of several years experience
and scientific research.
A curious instrument was Completed
not long ago. 1t was made entlrely
of white brentwood toothpicks, or
which there were 1874 used. Thomas
Atkinson of Greenfork, Ind, is it's
maker and he has spent over year
in the operation. Violinists have ex-
perimented on the instrument and they
say it is not only a curiosity but an
exceptionally good violin.
A Canadian recently invented new
head for the violin, the idea being to
arrange it so that the player can string
his instrument without loss of time.
The pegs on which the strings are
frightened are removable and can be
removed without detaching the string.
1t is the inventors plan to furnish ad-
ditional pegs with the strings at
tached. 1t is claimed that removing
the old string, putting in a new one,
and tuning consumes but tfteen sec
onds, and can be accomplished in the
dark.
Tomorrow--Laws of tho Sea.