Thus I have become acquainted with several artists who constantly tortured their violins by getting the sounding post and bass-bar displaced. This proves a want of correct theoretical knowledge, and through this ignorance they make the sounding post wander about the whole violin.
The place of the sounding post can only be ascertained through the theoretical knowledge of the construction of the bottom and top of the violin. Many players think they can obtain the right tone by the position of the sounding post alone, but no sounding post can make good a fault in the construction of the bottom and top.
CIRCULAR WHICH ACCOMPANIED MY "EMPEROR VIOLIN" IN THE VIENNA EXHIBITION OF 1873—AN INTERESTING EXPLANATION ABOUT VIOLINS AND OF THE SCIENCE OF TONE.
It is an indisputable fact, that of all productions of art in the world, the violin has been least understood.
This wonderful instrument has remained an enigma to the musical world until now. How fortunate it is that this instrument does not understand human language, by which circumstance it escapes that medley of critical remarks which are made in its regard.
It is, therefore, in the interest of art and its votaries that I have determined to present herewith to the public the results of my long experience obtained in making violins, and in examining those sciences connected with it.
It is generally known that up to the earlier part of the eighteenth century the Italian masters made the best violins, and with the death of those artists a decline of that art, too, took place. Those so-called classical instruments have been, especially of late years, eagerly sought at high prices, by all artists and amateurs, because a settled opinion has taken hold of their minds that nobody is able to construct a violin which is fit for solo performances; that the secret which the old Italian masters possessed is not yet found, and that new violins, although constructed according to the rules of acoustics, cannot gain the desired perfection until after the use of a hundred years. This, therefore, animated many violin makers with an endeavor to overcome that difficulty, but in vain; at last Vuillaume, of Paris, was impressed with the thought of making wood look old by a chemical process, and he succeeded in creating a furor with his instruments made of such wood, so that people began to believe the right course was being pursued. It turned out, however, that after a few years those instruments deteriorated, and finally became useless and proved a failure.