Endeavour to obtain strings of uniform thickness throughout, a requisite which can only be insured by careful gauging. In selecting the E string, choose those that are most transparent; the seconds and thirds, as they are made with several threads, are seldom very clear. The firsts never have more than a few threads in them, and hence, absence of transparency in their case denotes inferior material. Before putting on the first string, in particular, in order to test its purity it will be well to follow Le Roy's advice, which is to hold between the fingers of each hand a portion of the string sufficient to stretch from the bridge to the nut, and to set it in vibration. If two lines only be apparent, the string is free from falseness; but if a third line be produced, the contrary conclusion must be assumed. In the case of seconds and thirds we cannot always rely on this test, as the number of threads used in their manufacture frequently prevents the line from being perfectly clear. The last precaution of moment is to secure perfect fifths, which can only be done by taking care that the four strings are in true proportion and uniform with each other. To string a violin correctly is a very difficult undertaking, and requires considerable patience. The first consideration should be the constitution of the Violin: the strings that please one instrument torture another. Neither Cremonese Violins nor old instruments in general require to be heavily strung: the mellowness of the wood and their delicate construction require the stringing to be such as will assist in bringing out that richness of tone which belongs to first-rate instruments. If the bridge and sound-board be heavily weighted with thick strings, vibration will surely be checked. In the case of modern instruments, heavy in wood, and needing constant use to wear down their freshness, strings of a larger size may be used with advantage, and particularly when such instruments are in use for orchestral purposes.
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VIOLONCELLO BY ANTONIO STRADIVARI. PRESENTED TO SIGNOR PIATTI BY GENERAL OLIVER. (Herr Robert Mendelssohn.) Plate III. |
Vast improvements have been effected in the stringing of Violins within the last thirty years. Strings of immense size were used alike on Violins, Violoncellos, Tenors, and Double Basses. Robert Lindley, the king of English Violoncellists, used a string for his first very nearly equal in size to the second of the present time, and the same robust proportion was observed in his other strings. The Violoncello upon which he played was by Forster, and would bear much heavier stringing than an Italian instrument; and, again, he was a most forcible player, and his power of fingering quite exceptional. Dragonetti, the famous Double-Bass player, and coadjutor of Lindley, possessed similar powers, and used similar strings as regards size. Their system of stringing was adopted indiscriminately. Instruments whether weakly or strongly built received uniform treatment, the result being in many cases an entire collapse, and the most disappointing effects in tone. It was vainly supposed that the ponderous strings of Dragonetti and Lindley were the talisman by use of which their tone would follow as a matter of course, whereas in point of fact it was scarcely possible to make the instruments utter a sound when deprived of the singular muscular power possessed by those famous players. After Lindley's death his system passed away gradually, and attention was directed to the better adaptation of strings to the instrument, and also to the production of perfect fifths.
We have now only to speak of covered strings, in which it is more difficult to obtain perfection than in the case of those of gut. There are several kinds of covered strings. There are those of silver wire, which are very durable, and have a soft quality of sound very suitable to old instruments, and are therefore much used by artistes; there are those of copper plated with silver, and also of copper without plating, which have a powerful sound; and, lastly, there are those which are made with mixed wire, an arrangement which prevents in a measure the tendency to rise in pitch, a disadvantage common to covered strings and caused by expansion of the metals; these strings also possess a tone which is a combination of that produced by silver and copper strings. Here again, however, great discrimination is needed, viz., before putting on the fourth string. The instrument must be understood. There are Violins which will take none but fourths of copper, there are others that would be simply crippled by their adoption. It cannot be too much impressed upon the mind of the player that the Violin requires deep and patient study with regard to every point connected with its regulation. So varied are these instruments in construction and constitution, that before their powers can be successfully developed they must be humoured, and treated as the child of a skilful educator, who watches to gain an insight into the character of his charge, and then adopts the best means for its advancement according to the circumstances ascertained.
The strain and pressure of the strings upon a Violin being an interesting subject of inquiry, I give the annexed particulars (see Table below) from experiments made in conjunction with a friend interested in the subject, and possessed of the necessary knowledge to arrive at accurate results.
The Violin being held in a frame in a nearly upright position, so that the string hung just clear of the nut to avoid friction, the note was obtained by pressing the string to the nut.
When the Violin was laid in a horizontal position, and the string passed over a small pulley, an additional weight of two or three pounds was required to overcome the friction on the nut and that of the pulley. Therefore it is probable that the difference in the results obtained by other experiments may have arisen from the different methods employed. But with a dead weight hung on the end of each string there could be no error.
TENSION OF VIOLIN STRINGS.
Ascertained by Hanging a Dead Weight on the End of the String.