Improvements in the Manufacture of Violin and other similar Strings.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Aug., 1892
(omplete Specification Left, 18th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 8th Oct., 1892
.PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Violin and other similar Strings.
We, GUSTAV PIRAZZI and THEODOR STROBEL, trading in copartnership as
Gustav Pirazzi and Co., of Offenbach-on-Main, in the Empire of Germany, Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the production of strings for violins and other similar
musical instruments.
The strings which have acquired such a world-wide reputation, viz., those manu-
factured by Pietro Berti at Rome, surpass all others in regard to quality of tone
and consequently attract much observation from other manufacturers. Their
superiority, as compared with strings of other manufacture, resides in the readiness
with which they respond to the bow and the greater resonance and fulness of
tone almost crystalline in purity, which they emit.
After studying the subject for a considerable period with a view to ascertain to
what this superiority is due and after innumerable experiments, we have succeeded
in solving the problem.
The origin of the mysterious ringing and brilliant quality of tone and the
readiness to speak possessed by the Roman Berti strings is to be found in the
nature of the soil which produces the vegetation whereon graze the sheep the gut
of which only are employed by Berti for the manufacture of his strings. The soil
of the country where these sheep, are reared, consists of volcanic rock and conse-
quently the herbage growing thereon becomes impregnated with minute particles
of disintegrated volcanic rock, the vegetation forming the vehicle for conveying
the same into the intestines of the animals by which they become absorbed or
assimilated as. is evinced by the fact that the stomach and intestines of every
animal contain traces or residues indicative of the particular_nature of its food.
Hence the ready response and beautiful crystalline tone of the Berti strings, for it
is entirely to the traces of rock which abound in the gut and which have become
absorbed or encysted therein that the ready response and energetic vibration of the
strings when struck by the bow are due, the vibratory quality pre-eminently
determining the power, clearness, duration, and uniformity of the tone..
It may therefore be taken as an axiom that it is easier to produce sound from a
flesh substance containing particles of rock than from a pure flesh substance. Now
as this rocky matter pervades the gut employed by Berti, the finished strings
❝ bite " or " tooth that
always contain traces of it which gives the string a
increases the friction when the bow is applied to the strings whether they be
polished or left rough.
"
As Berti depends entirely on the Campagna for the supply of his raw material,
it is evident he only manufactures his strings from the intestines of the sheep
indigenous to that district, hence the production is limited in quantity and unequal
to the demand these strings being bespoke from all parts of the globe. These facts
offer strong evidence in support of the accuracy of our conclusion, for if Berti could
use any other gut the demand could be satisfied.
Profiting by this discovery we have succeeded in attaining by artificial_means
the results produced by the operations of nature in the intestines of the Roman
sheep, and this invention consists essentially in the process for producing that
result.
The gut is
The mode of preparing gut strings is pretty generally the same.
cleansed and purified by steeping in potash ley, it is then split or not according to
its thickness and twisted, sulphured and dried, the dried string being either left.
lightlo naliched and oiled

page_text: The process of our invention comprises the following operations-After having
completed the purification of the gut it is impregnated with very fine particles
uniformly suspended by stirring in water or potash ley wherein the moist gut or
even the twisted moist strings are immersed and energetically moved about therein.
The moist gut possesses the property of absorbing the minute particles into its
pores in large quantity, owing to the gelatine contained in the gut combining with
the particles to form a solid compound. In the course of a few minutes the gut is
withdrawn from the liquid and made into finished strings in the usual way.
The particles thus incorporated with the strings may consist of any kind of rock,
glass, lava, and the like, capable of being pulverized. Powdered pumice has been
found to be very suitable.
By the above described method of treatment the strings are found to possess the
characteristic resonance and fulness of tone and responsiveness of Roman strings
under the slightest friction of the bow, this result being wholly due to the rough
surface of the strings produced by the impregnation therewith of the finely
powdered substance. Finished dried strings may be coated with a mixture of
dust stirred up in an adhesive matter such as size, gelatine, gum, and the like, in
the above manner to produce the same effect, which will not however be so lasting
as when each separate gut is impregnated whilst moist. Strings of silk or of spun
fibre such as flax, hemp, etc., may be similarly impregnated or coated.
It being necessary to employ more than one gut for the production of even the
thinnest string, viz. the E string of the violin in order to make it of the required
diameter and as the permeation of the particles in the pores of the gut somewhat
impairs its natural tenacity, the strings are slightly weakened which is however
only appreciable in the case of the first string of the violin which is subjected to the
greatest tension..
In order to remedy this we take the unsplit gut after being purified and cleansed
from mucus and impregnate it with dust in the manner-above described and then
pass through it a thread of silk, flax, or hemp, as a strengthening core, the tubular
gut thus cored being twisted either alone or with other similar cored guts in the
usual way to form a string possessing the fine playing surface above described and
forming a durable string capable of emitting a brilliant bell-like tone. By the
combination of the gut with a core of silk, flax, hemp, or the like, the tension is
mainly borne by the core thus relieving the gut of the strain and enabling the portion
of the string by which the tone is generated to be heavily impregnated without
detracting from the durability of the string.
Dated this 19th dose of A1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Violin and other similar Strings.
We, GUSTAV PIRAZZI and THEODOR STROBEL, trading in copartnership as
Gustav Pirazzi and Co., of Offenbach-on-Main, in the Empire of Germany, Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :--
This invention relates to the production of strings for violins and other similar
musical instruments.
The strings which have acquired such a world-wide reputation, viz. those manu-
factured by Pietro Berti at Rome, surpass all others in regard to quality of tone
and consequently attract much observation from other manufacturers. Their
superiority, as compared with strings of other manufacture, resides in the readiness

page_text: with which they respond to the bow and the greater resonance and fulness of tone,
almost crystalline in purity, which they emit.
After studying the subject for a considerable period with a view to ascertain to
what this superiority is due and after innumerable experiments, we have succeeded
in solving the problem.
The origin of the mysterious ringing and brilliant quality of tone and the
readiness to speak possessed by the Roman Berti strings is to be found in the
nature of the soil which produces the vegetation whereon graze the sheep the gut
of which only are employed by Berti for the manufacture of his strings. The soil
of the country where these sheep are reared, consists of volcanic rock and conse-
quently the herbage growing thereon becomes impregnated with minute particles
of disintegrated volcanic rock, the vegetation forming the vehicle for conveying
the same into the intestines of the animals by which they become absorbed or
assimilated as is evinced by the fact that the stomach and intestines of every
animal contain traces or residues indicative of the particular nature of its food.
Hence the ready response and beautiful crystalline tone of the Berti strings, for it
is entirely to the traces of rock which abound in the gut and which have become
absorbed or encysted therein that the ready response and energetic vibration of the
strings when struck by the bow are due, the vibratory quality pre-eminently
determining the power, clearness, duration, and uniformity of the tone.
It may therefore be taken as an axiom that it is easier to produce sound from a
flesh substance containing particles of rock than from a pure flesh substance. Now
as this rocky matter pervades the gut employed by Berti, the finished strings
"bite" or " tooth that
always contain traces of it which gives the string a
increases the friction when the bow is applied to the strings whether they bo
polished or left rough.
"
As Berti depends entirely on the Campagna for the supply of his raw material,
it is evident he only manufactures his strings from the intestines of the sheep
indigenous to that district, hence the production is limited in quantity and unequal
to the demand these strings being bespoke from all parts of the globe. These facts
offer strong evidence in support of the accuracy of our conclusion, for if Berti could
use any other gut the demand could be satisfied.
Profiting by this discovery we have succeeded in attaining by artificial means
the results produced by the operations of nature in the intestines of the Roman
sheep, and this invention consists essentially in the process for producing that
result.
The mode of preparing gut strings is pretty generally the same. The gut is
cleansed and purified by steeping in potash ley, it is then split or not according to
its thickness and twisted, sulphured and dried, the dried string "being either left
rough or slightly polished and oiled.
The process of our invention comprises the following operations-After having
completed the purification of the gut it is impregnated with very fine particles
uniformly suspended by stirring in water or potash ley wherein the moist gut or
even the twisted moist strings are immersed and energetically moved about therein.
The moist gut possesses the property of absorbing the minute particles into its
pores in large quantity, owing to the gelatine contained in the gut combining with
the particles to form a solid compound. In the course of a few minutes the gut is
withdrawn from the liquid and made into finished strings in the usual way.
The particles thus incorporated with the strings may consist of any kind of rock,
glass, lava, and the like, capable of being pulverized. Powdered pumice has been
found to be very suitable.
By the above described method of treatment the strings are found to possess the
characteristic resonance and fulness of tone and responsiveness of Roman strings
under the slightest friction of the bow, this result being wholly due to the rough
surface of the strings produced by the impregnation therewith of the finely
powdered substance. Finished dried strings may be coated with a mixture of
dust stirred up in an adhesive matter such as size, gelatine, gum, and the like, in

page_text: the above manner to produce the same effect, which will not however be so lasting
as when each separate gut is impregnated whilst moist. Strings of silk or of spun
fibre such as flax, hemp, etc., may be similarly impregnated or coated.
It being necessary to employ more than one gut for the production of even the
thinnest string, viz. the E string of the violin in order to make it of the required
diameter and as the permeation of the particles in the pores of the gut somewhat
impairs its natural tenacity, the strings are slightly weakened which is however
only appreciable in the case of the first string of the violin which is subjected to the
greatest tension.
In order to remedy this we take the unsplit gut after being purified and cleansed
from mucus and impregnate it with dust in the manner above described and then
pass through it a thread of silk, flax, or hemp, or other spun fibres as a strengthening
core, the tubular gut thus.cored being twisted either alone or with other similarly
cored guts in the usual way to form a string possessing the fine playing surface
above described and forming a durable string capable of emitting a brilliant bell-
like tone. By the combination of the gut with a core of silk, flax, hemp, or the
like, the tension is mainly borne by the core thus: relieving the gut of strain and
enabling the portion of the string by which the tone is generated to be heavily
impregnated without detracting from.the durability of the string.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. In the manufacture of violin and other similar strings, the process consisting in
impregnating the gut, silk, or spun fibres of which the string is made with finely
powdered gritty particles or the application thereof to the strings after manufacture
whereby to impart to the surface of the strings a "bite or " tooth and thereby
to produce in the strings the qualities of responsiveness, resonance, brilliance,
durability, and uniform intensity of tone, as described.
"
"
2
2. In the manufacture of gut strings the combination, with the unsplit gut which
has been impregnated with fine particles as herein specified, of a core of silk, hemp,
or flax, or other thread whereby to strengthen the gut when twisted into the form
of a string and so obtain increased durability with diminished thickness and
compensate for any diminution of binding quality of the gut due to its impregnation,
as described.
Пагост TOG
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
G. PIRAZZI,
T. STROBEL,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.