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What makes one violin better than another?
Part 3: Acoustic Optimization
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Part 1: Wood, Finish, Fittings
Part 2: Setup
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I subject most of the violins and fiddles we handle to at
least basic optimization. I'm not going to provide all the
details of what I do here, but I'll give a general outline. I
will also do this work on other violins for about $200. It is
fairly time consuming.
Spear’s Work
I’ve long been tuning bridges and so on by pretty much
standard methods and trying to understand Hutchins’
mode tuning work, with rather limited success . Deena
Spears’ book Ears of the Angels really opened my eyes to
the possibilities of fine tuning the acoustic response of
instruments.
The main aspects of the process Spears outlines (at least
the physical process - read the book) are:
1. Check for loose or weak seams
2. Set up and adjust instrument completely
3. Set B 0 to the “singing pitch” by adjustments to
fingerboard
4. Set tailpiece resonance frequency to a certain distance
away from the “singing pitch”
5. Adjust ribs to even response via slight scraping of the
interior of the ribs or blocks in critical areas
6. Tune bridge to symmetry by very slight scraping along
the sides
7. Adjust bass bar by fine scraping of heavy spots
8. Balance response of F hole edges on each side
9. Repeat until stable
After I learned how to apply this process to violins, I moved
on to mandolins (see www.mandovoodoo.com). Which
showed me a great deal about instruments in general and
led to my modification and expansion of the process.
How does this process work? Energy seems to go into
production of nice sound rather than noise. The amount
of wood actually removed is none to very little. Just
burnishing the bridge with a fingernail can be enough to
clean up the tone a little if done in just the right spot.
Maybe something to do with constructive and destructive
interference. Regardless, the system consistently
smooths and improves response and tone.
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My Current Working Approach
1. Check seams and condition
2. Set up including basic adjustments
3. Set B 0 to Spears' "singing tone"
4. Tune edges of fingerboard
5. Tune tailpiece
6. Work ribs as required for even response (here I differ
from Spears' approach)
7. Tune bridge (I work in a more complex manner than
Spears outlines)
8. Tune bass bar (including "ears of the angels)
9. Retune ribs
10. Tune F holes
11. Play hard for a few minutes
12. Check all of the above
I think of the process as looking for lumps or dead spots.
Small areas that are interfering with the even transmittal of
vibration around the instrument. Thinking this way gets
quick results. However, I have no scientifically defensible
explanation. I apply a similar process to making violins at
this point.
Results
The effect is one of cleaning up the sound and improving
response. Dynamic range, tone color range, and
response speed all improve. If the particular violin will
support it, the treble register gets a shimmering brilliance.
Further playing lets the instrument settle into its final tone
and response. Words are somewhat difficult to use in
describing the effects. The way I hear the instrument
there's a notable lack of "beats" in the instrument (like the
beats between two notes just a little bit apart). The
basic sound becomes free and open. The notes are more
even up each string and from string to string course.
There's much less "noise" in the overall tone. Notes stand
out, and the space between the notes is more empty. Like
a well tuned piano versus one just a bit out. The
overall effect is often quite striking. The instrument
becomes more of what it is already.
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