Talk:Violin/Archive 1

message: Does anyone else think this article is too long and too "wordy"?  Maybe some sections could be summarized and made into sub-articles (such as the section on "playing the violin" and the one on "history of the violin").
J Lorraine 08:26, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I too think it could use a lot of tightening and copyediting.  Having watched it for more than a year now, but never attempting a full rewrite myself, I'll attest that it has just grown by accretion, rather than according to any plan.  Definitely feel free to edit and spin off subarticles if it feels too long.  Antandrus  (talk) 15:05, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes I agree that "playing the violin" should be seperated into a sub-article, and so should "Fiddle" so long as it keeps its prominent reference up top. I've just checked and it hasn't yet. "Playing the violin" could get more of a chance to grow on its own into a method with its own structure. I don't think this article is too long or wordy though, quite to the contrary. It has to be focussed on introduction as it's the most general heading, so accessible but valuable knowledge. There's so much of that for the violin. I think this would make a great reception area. For me that means knowledge that's useful to beginners or parents, which is why I fleshed out the maintenance section (which I've seen done so wrong by kids!). How does everybody feel about all the artist promotion at the end? Is it neutral and does it help people understand or play the violin?
Last night I found an article entitled "how to play the violin" and took a look at the discussion about it -- there's a debate as to whether an encyclopedia should be an instruction manual (I don't think it should, but I do think there's a place in it for a description of what techniques are used to play the violin).  I'm thinking about summarizing the section "Playing the Violin" and moving most of it's contents to the article "how to play the violin".  Re: the list of artists, I think it's  valuble for people to know who a few of the more prominent professionals are. Mark O'Connor is the only one I've heard of before, but that doesn't mean that the others aren't worthy of mention.  I would take a closer look at their articles and who added each name before I'd be comfortable pointing any one out as self-promotion.  BTW, Alan, thanks for getting involved with the article!  You can sign your name and the date by using four tildes at the end of your posts.
J Lorraine 01:57, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

text: OK, the parent article is down to 40K. After I adjust the subpages a bit, I plan to unleash it upon the wiki world. Comment? Just plain Bill 02:26, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

text: Did it. Let the fun begin! Just plain Bill 15:19, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

text: Merge accomplished. For the moment I'm going to ponder some more... see what makes sense to keep on the main page, what redundancies can stay. I think there's a sense that the main page should keep a lot of stuff that will be useful to the casual reader such as a new student or their parent, without making them burrow too far in for it. I'm going to let it sit for a while; you may expect another flurry of edits from me midweek, about Jan 11 or so. Cheers, Just plain Bill 05:36, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: general tone of the article

message: kiss me babes
I took out the reference to the obscure 2002 song by They Might Be Giants, which happens to be called "Violin" and has the word "violin" in the lyrics (repeatedly), but otherwise has nothing to do with the article.  I'm a big They Might Be Giants fan, but this is silly.  I was also a fan of the Kate Bush song "Violin" before They Might Be Giants existed.  A quick trip to allmusic.com shows that there are quite many different songs called "Violin".  "Violin" is also the name of an Anne Rice book, and there's a movie called "The Violin".  Maybe all this stuff belongs in the article, but I doubt it.
:You're right--keep this stuff out.  The article is about the musical instrument called the violin.  Thanks, Antandrus  (talk) 20:22, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Every song in the world, and more

message: Ok, so we've got a list of Related Instruments as part of this article, plus the separate article String instruments, plus the category for string instruments in the new Wikipedia category system.  Is this perhaps a bit much? Would it be all right if I just turn the section ==Related Instruments== into a link to String instruments, making sure that all the instruments it mentions get included there?   Opus33
:"Fine idea!" says violinist Peter Ellis 03:30, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: "Done!" says Opus33 16:12, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Lists, lists, lists

message: I have added a section on the physics of acoustics as it relates to the violin. This was demonstrated by Ernst Chladni. There is a link to a good article from the University of New South Wales that talks about this at considerable depth. Peter Ellis 01:51, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Ernst Chladni]]

message: Copyright Violation?  Please compare.   --Forschung
:This material originates, as far as I can tell, in the Wikipedia article.  I've sent a polite note to the staff of the Violin Site, and hopefully they will soon be adding a citation of the Wikipedia to their page.   149.142.141.174 16:24, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Material from this article on the "The Violin Site"

message: This is for anybody--
I'm hoping to take up violin and I am a leftie.  I'd like to know some thoughts on what a violin leftie should do. 
Zeke
: Ask Google.  A valid piece of information for the article would be a tidbit about why violins, guitars, and other like instruments are usually fingered with the left hand instead of the right.  It seems that the hand on the fingerboard usually does more "finesse" work that would be better suited to the more dominant right hand – my left pinkie is a lazy son-of-a-gun (though switching now would be excruciating). -- Kbh3rd 20:59, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Lefties

message: *Contrast the excellent information in this article compared to the sparse Strings (music) article.
*Consider, also, that very little of the information about strings here is specific to violins but, rather, applies to the strings on most if not all stringed musical instruments, or at least the bowed ones.
*Consider further that this article is getting too long.
→ I think that most of the string details needs to be moved to that article and only touched on here.  
:Strings used to be made of gut.  Most today are metal or metal-wound synthetic (nylon).  They sound different.  See Strings (music) for the full treatment.
Well, maybe not quite so terse.  ;-)  However, I don't feel qualified to do the work; some broader knowlege of stringed instruments than what I posess is probably required to make the strings article correct.  --  Kbh3rd 21:00, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Strings 

message: What purpose does the picture of a Stroh violin serve in the "making" section? I mean it's a neat picture and all, especially with the cute little monitor horn pointed at the player's ear, but it doesn't seem hugely relevant right there...  Just plain Bill 08:28, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi Bill, welcome.  Thanks for taking an interest in the violin article :)     I have no idea what the picture of the stroh is doing, other than that it's interesting to look at, esp. when most people have a pretty good idea of what a "regular" violin looks like.  Re: splitting the article -- it is rather long and unwieldy at the moment (there's been some discussion of summarizing and moving a lot of the section on Playing the Violin, see 'Tone of the Article' at the top of this page).  This is certainly an article that can spawn lots of "children" -- it does have siblings and cousins in articles on strings, bows, viola, cello, guitar, bass, etc.  No reason why we can't summarize MOST of the sections in this article and move the detailed content to "children" of this article, or, in some cases, merge it with the articles' appropriate siblings or cousins.  
J Lorraine 15:04, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Stroh violin? 

message: Thanks for tidying up after me. I have the following nit to pick: The button on a violin is the half-moon extension of the back, where the neck root sits. The end pin is the pin which fits into the lower block, and anchors the tailgut. see http://www.internationalluthiers.com/violinparts.php just below the bridges. Just plain Bill 16:30, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I went ahead and changed the erroneous "end button" to "endpin" throughout. Also added more explanation about why hide glue should be used (the ability to separate glued parts when needed). Hope you like it. --ILike2BeAnonymous 21:24, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  endpin / end button