The eastern ancestors of the violin
Instruments like the violin that use a bow to produce a sound
are called bowed stringed instruments. The Arabian rabab and the rebec,
which came from the orient in the middle ages and was played widely in
Spain and France in the fifteenth century, are said to be the ancestors
of the violin. Near the end of the middle ages, a bowed stringed
instrument called a fiddle appeared in Europe. In the East, the Chinese erhu and morin khur evolved from the rabab, and so they are relatives of the violin.
Who made the first violin?
Compared to its ancestors, the violin is in a class by itself in terms
of completeness. In addition, it was not improved gradually over time,
but appeared in its current form suddenly around 1550. Yet, none of
these early violins exist today. This history of the violin is inferred
from paintings from this era that feature violins. The two earliest violin makers in recorded history are both from
northern Italy: Andre Amati from Cremona and Gasparo di Bertolotti from
Salon (Gasparo di Salon). With these two violin makers, the history of
the violin emerges from the fog of legend to hard fact. Violins produced
by these two still exist today. In fact, the oldest violin in existence
today is one built by Andre Amati around 1565.
The viol, a relative of the violin?
Though the violin was introduced to the world in the middle of
the sixteenth century, there was a similar looking instrument made in
about the fourteenth century called the viol.The viol thrived in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the violin and the viol
actually coexisted in the Baroque period. Instruments in the viol family did not have the f-shaped sound
hole of the violin but rather a C-shaped sound hole or even some more
decorative shape. The viol differs from the violin in that it has six,
seven, or more strings tuned in fourths (compared with the four strings
of the violin tuned in fifths), a fretted fingerboard, and a relatively
thick body because of the sloping shoulder shape at the joint where the
neck meets the body. There are various sizes, but the Viola da Gamba,
which has a lower register similar to that of the cello, was
particularly famous.
The development of the violin
The Mecca of the violin: Cremona
From the middle of the sixteenth century to the first half of
the eighteenth century, the small town of Cremona in the Lombardia
region of northern Italy was the center of violin production, and about
20,000 famous instruments were made there. Each of the families
producing violins developed their own unique production techniques,
which were passed on from generation to generation. The most famous of
these were the five makers of the Amati family, the three makers of the
Stradivari family, and the five makers of the Guarneri family. The
violins of Carlo Bergonzi are also famous instruments.
These famous violins from Cremona are still much sought after today and are played by top violinists.
Do violins reflect their makers?
Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu were master violin makers in
about the same period in Cremona, Italy. The two are revered as the
finest violin makers in history, and their instruments are highly prized
even today. However, the tonal qualities of their instruments are quite
different. Antonio Stradivari was born around 1644 and lived to a little
past the age of 90, and he is said to have continued making violins
until his final days. He created an estimated 1,100 instruments over the
course of his life. Of these, roughly 600 violins, violas, cellos,
mandolins, and guitars survive today. This is an incredible number of
instruments for one person to make. Stradivari's instruments are known
for the attention to detail in every aspect and their splendidly
lustrous tone.
In contrast, Guarneri del Gesu lived from 1698 to 1744 and led a
boisterous life. He drank a lot and is said to have spent some time in
jail. It is estimated that he made about 300 violins, of which about 140
survive today. His violins are rough and wild, and have a deep,
powerful tone.
What is the difference between Baroque and modern violins?
The violin was born essentially in its final form. Thus, there
have been very few improvements made since.One improvement was made in
the nineteenth century as a result of changes in musical fashions. The fingerboard, for instance, was lengthened to reach the middle
of the body. This was done to allow the players to play more of the
high end of the E string. To increase the volume and brightness of the
tone, the bridge was raised, along with the position of the fingerboard,
to increase string tension.Older instruments to which these
improvements have been made and new instruments modeled on these
instruments are referred to as modern violins, while older violins that
have kept their original form are referred to as baroque violins. Today,
almost all Stradivari and Guarneri violins have been modified into
modern violins.
The modern violin
Now everyone can easily experience these famous instruments
The Cremona violins are vastly superior in quality, but these
famous instruments are extremely expensive, and so very few people can
actually play one. However, through advances in technology, we can
easily obtain instruments that are very similar to these famous
instruments.
Yamaha used the latest technology to perform a painstaking
analysis of the violins of Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu, and
using this data, they have combined technology that reproduces the
hand-finished results of the past with an artisans skill to produce high
quality, reasonably priced violins. These are the Artida models S and
G. The S model has rigid shoulders, and the f-holes run just about
parallel with the line of the body, while the G model has sloping
shoulders, and the f-holes are more slanted. Each has its own
characteristic tone.
Bows in the age of environmental awareness
The preferred material for the stick of the violin bow has been
pernambuco wood, which only grows in the Amazon delta region in South
America. Originally, it was exported to Germany for use in creating
dyes, but because of its unusual hardness, it began to be used to make
bows. However, in recent years, this natural resource has began to
become depleted. Tree farms were also created, but it takes 30 years for
this tree to attain full growth.
The carbon bow shown in the figure below uses carbon instead of
wood. Developed to protect the global environment while ensuring that
the seeds of music continue to germinate, carbon bows have has good
gripping characteristics and are long lasting.
The violin has four strings
From high to low, the strings on the violin are E, A, D, and G.
They are made from a variety of materials including catgut (sheep
intestine), nylon, and steel.
The tuning pegs are used for tuning
The neck is carved from a single piece of wood, and the part at
the end that appears to wind in on itself is called the "scroll." The
strings are attached to the tuning pegs, which are fitted inside
narrowly carved holes, and held in place by friction.
Only the high E string has an adjuster so that it can be easily
tuned, while the others rely on the tuning pegs for tuning, which might
take some getting used to. Recently, some violins come with four adjusters built into the tailpiece, so this is another option to consider.
Choosing a bow
The best material is pernambuco wood
The best wood for making bows is the extremely hard wood of the
pernambuco tree. This wood can be shaped into the delicate shape of a
bow because it is so hard and strong.
The shape, weight, balance, and other features of the bow differ
between makers. The only way to select one is to try them all
personally. A newly made instrument can be played energetically with a
new bow, but an old instrument should probably be played with an old bow
to bring out the unique characteristics of the instrument. Carbon bows have become popular recently. Once you become
proficient, it is convenient to have one as a spare when the other bow
is being rehaired or is otherwise unavailable. Some modern music also
calls for tapping the instrument with the bow, which might not be an
attractive proposition with an expensive wooden bow. Some people keep a
carbon bow handy for these situations.
The carbon bow produces a much louder and clearer sound than a
wooden bow, and so it may be useful for certain pieces. Care,
maintenance, and adjustment are the same as with traditional bows.
The vibration of the strings produces a spectacular sound
Vibrations from the strings are transmitted to the top plate
and bottom plate through the bridge, and this reverberates within the
hollow body, producing the rich, brilliant tone characteristic of the
violin. A bowed string vibrates and moves in a circular motion that
produces the fundamental tone, while the vibration produces overtones
like a rippling wave. This complex movement of the string is transmitted
to the body by the bridge. The bridge transmits this vibration to the
top plate of the violin through two fundamental movements; one in which
it pushes down on the top plate alternately one foot at a time, and the
other in which both feet push down on the top plate simultaneously.
There is another small yet important part: the sound post. The sound
post is a post sandwiched between the top plate and the bottom plate
underneath the bridge, and it transmits the vibrations from the top
plate to the bottom plate. It also serves to preserve the shape of the
body. If you look inside a violin, you can see the bass bar running up
the left hand side as you face the instrument. The piece sitting under
the bridge on the right-hand side is the sound post.
Instruments related to the violin
The origin of the viola
A term used to refer to a variety of bow and string instruments
Nobody knows for sure where and when the first viola was
created. However, it is known for a fact that the instrument was in use
in northern Italy around the same time as its cousin, the violin (i.e.
the first half of the 16th century). Although the instrument is called
"viola" in both Italian and English, use of the term only became
commonplace from the 18th century onwards. Up until then "viola" was
used to refer to a variety of bow and string instruments (i.e. stringed
instruments played with a bow)-which should be obvious if you consider
the example of the instrument called the viola da gamba (which means
"viola for the leg"). In French, violas have been called "altos" since
the Baroque period, because they are the members of the violin family
responsible for playing in the midrange. The German word for viola
("bratsche") is said to come from "viola da braccio" ("viola for the
arm"), which is what instruments in the violin family were referred to
in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The history of the viola
How the structure of the viola has changed over the years
The four strings on a viola are tuned
in fifths to the notes c, g, d', and a'. This tuning is exactly one
fifth below the violin, expanding the instrument's low range. Of course,
while the instrument itself is larger than a violin, violas are not
kept to strict size standards even today. It is said that the ideal size
when it comes to acoustics is 1.5 times that of a violin, but that
would make the instrument far too large to support with the arm and
shoulder. Violas therefore must be made slightly smaller than this ideal
size. During the Baroque period, two types of violas were produced at
the same time: a slightly smaller instrument capable of clean playing in
the alto range, and a slightly larger instrument suited for playing in
the tenor range. The larger of these was later modified to make it
smaller. Compared with the bright sound of violins, violas produce a
refined and more somber timbre. This is likely due to the compromise
that had to be struck between acoustics and size. The structure of the viola has changed over the years in a
similar fashion to that of the violin. The body of the instrument was
reinforced in order to allow it to play louder music more evenly. The
neck was attached at a sharper angle and the bridge was made more
durable, allowing for the strings to be strung more tightly and
dramatically increasing the instrument's volume. Violas were strung with
bare gut strings until the 17th century, but in the 18th century the
lowest string (C) was replaced with a reinforced gut string wound with
metal. In the 19th century the G string was also replaced with
reinforced wound string. Modern violas generally use steel strings wound
with metal, making them even louder.
The origin of the cello
The bass viola da braccio
No one knows for sure when exactly the first cello was created.
However, based on the instrument's first mention in writing, we know
that it was being used at the beginning of the 16th century. At first it appears that the instrument was called the bass viola
da braccio ("viola for the arm"). As the name suggests, this was a
viola da braccio (one of the ancestors of the violin) that was capable
of playing in a lower register.
Cellos until the first half of the 17th century did not have a set
number of strings, and instruments with anywhere from three to five
strings were played in a variety of tunings. However, during the first
half of the 17th century, cellos in Italy were generally four-stringed
instruments tuned to C-G-d-a, and this gradually spread to other
countries as well. From the 18th century onwards fingerboards grew
increasingly long, the shapes of bridges and bows were changed, and
other detailed modifications were made in order to these instruments
louder. By the second half of the 19th century, cellos were generally
supported on their end pins (until then they were held between the knees
and played, like a viola da gamba). Steel (or nylon) strings became
commonly used at the start of the 20th century, replacing the gut
strings that were used until then.
The history of the cello
How the structure of the cello has changed over the years
The relatives of the cello
At the beginning of the 18th century, cellos came in a variety
of shapes. One example that is especially famous even today is the
"violoncello piccolo (small cello)." These instruments are slightly
smaller than a cello, and there are even some that are strung with five
strings in order to expand the upper register. J.S. Bach is well-known
for using the violoncello piccolo in his compositions. His "Solo Cello
Suite No. 6 in D Major" specifies the use of a five-stringed instrument,
and it is likely that he assumed a violoncello piccolo would play this
piece. Bach also composed some church cantatas that call for the
violoncello piccolo. Some conductors even today employ violoncello
piccolos to play these pieces in an attempt to reconstruct the music as
it was meant to be heard. One notable example is Anner Bijlsma.
The origin of the contrabass
The contrabass plays a very important role in providing solid
lower register support for the stringed instruments occupying the front
of the orchestra. However, there is one aspect in which the contrabass
differs significantly from the violin, viola, cello, and other stringed
instruments. The contrabass was originally a relative of the viola da
gamba, a completely different kind of stringed instrument. Instruments
in the viola da gamba family were often in use until the second half of
the 18th century. They differ from instruments in the violin family in
that fingerboards are fretted and their bows are held differently when
playing. The "violone," the largest instrument in the viola da gamba
family, was responsible for playing in the lower register. It is also
the instrument that the contrabass ultimately developed from.
The history of the contrabass
The contrabass was originally a member of the viola da gamba
family, so the number of strings varied from three to six even after the
turn of the 19th century, and there were many varieties of these
instruments of roughly the same size as a cello. Modern instruments tend
to have four or five strings tuned in fourths. When playing the
contrabass, either a French bow or a German bow is used. French bows
resemble violin bows and are gripped similarly, while German bows (used
in Germany and Austria) developed from viola da gamba bows and are held
with an underhanded grip.
(Source: Yamaha.com)
