I have a special relationship with my tonewood. Many pieces are like old friends. I go back to visit them each time I peruse my wood collection, choosing materials for an upcoming commission. In fact, I prefer a certain amount of my work to be un-commissioned ... in part because I can through my wood and decide the time has come for a certain piece, even when there may be no standing order for it.
The piece I'm holding below is an interesting case in point. I got a call from a contact in Bosnia that scouts wood for me. A beautiful curly maple tree had been found high in the mountains. ![]() |
This week, time has finally come for one old friend. I will build a personal model violin and make it available to someone who would like a part in the next chapter of its long future. |
The thing about wood is that 'speed of sound' is only half the question. What if the sound is pretty fast but the wood is also heavy?? In fact heavy, stiff wood is often quite fast. The speed comes from the stiffness ...think of bow wood for example. I want top wood that is maximally fast while also being maximally light ... low density. Some makers look only at density, but this too is only half of the story. What about super light wood that is punky and weak?? i.e. the opposite of bow wood? Not so good either, if you follow me.To really nail this question, you need an equation that takes both factors into account. This so called "Figure or Merit" actually exists in engineering terms and, luckily for us, a formula for tonewood is out there, albeit little used in the violin making world. It is calculated as the suare root of the speed of sound (along the grain x across the grain) divided by density. The higher the result, the lighter my top can be for the same target tap tones and modes. I find lighter weight plates are generally more responsive and give higher sound amplitude for the same amount of energy put in. Oliver Rodgers wrote a Fortran program for calculating the Figure of Merit in pieces of wood. And, my friend Thomas King re-worked it as an Excel spreadsheet which he shares on his web site.
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This piece of wood will become GA203 later this summer. A violinist in the Euclid String Quartet has been using my violin for some time. Now the other Euclid violinist, Jacob Murphy, will be joining him. |
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Work underway today, roughing out the arching for the new back. |
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It's the same wood, from the same tree. But the flames slope upwards from the center joint, like the Betts. |
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A few hours later and Dr. Winter's GA204 is back on schedule. |
Dear Friends,
I'm off to Prague on Monday for a meeting of the Entente Internationale des Luthiers et Archetiers (EILA). I will be representing my American colleagues as the US delegate and presenting a talk about "Trends in Today's Violin Making". Stay tuned ... I'll send photos back to the shop to tell you about the trip next week!
Gregg