The Violin Explained: Components, Mechanism, and Sound

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List of Figures
1 Sound and Vibration
2 The Vibration of Strings
3 The Bridge, Soundpost, and Tailpiece
4 The Violin Body
5 Resonance and Response
6 Hearing String Sound
7 Under the Ear and Far Away
8 The Bow
9 How Glue Works
10 Varnish and Varnishing
11 Real Strings
12 Purchase, Maintenance, and Children's Instruments
Further Reading of Several Kinds
Index

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About

There are more curious beliefs about the violin than any other instrument. Physicists have now discovered how the violin family produce their sound, but this knowledge is not generally accessible to players and makers. In this book, now available in paperback, Sir James Beament, a distinguished scientist with a livelong involvement with musical instruments, explains, without asssuming any scientific background, how strings vibrate, and the role played by the bow, bridge, and body in producing sound. Those discoveries do not give a satisfactory explanation of what we hear, and the core of the book explains how the sound relates to the sensations it produces. This leads to the conclusion that most of the myths about violins are groundless, but also that nothing can be achieved by applying modern technology to making or playing. Practical advice on strings, maintenance, purchase and children's instruments completes the discussion.

Reviews

a comprehensive look at what is known about the mechanics of the violin family. In a very readable and non-mathematical style he explains the nature of sound production...and confronts the question of tone assessment. Professor Beament's book is a refreshing read full of information which goes a long way to filling a distinct gap in the market

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