Here is the fixture I use to tune the plates. Most makers are concerned about the tap tones the back and belly make in the free state. I use those just to get a rough estimate of their stiffness. On a finished violin there is no such thing as a free plate. They are glued all around the edge. My plate tuning is much the same as described on an excellent website by instrument maker Keith Hill. www.instrumentmaking.keithhillharpsichords.com It is called Area Tuning, and isn't based on free plates, but on the natural state of the violin belly or back, glued to the ribs. I haven't "mastered" this tuning idea yet, but I have noticed that the closer I get to getting it really in tune, the better sound I get out of the violin. It could be that my making is just getting better. But there is no blind study to prove that. My latest addition to this idea is mounting a sound post on it. The idea came to me and I gave it a test. Putting the sound post in position changes the tuning. Might as well tune it with the post then. In the top picture the sound post isn't glued in place! When you fit it correctly to the belly it will stand up on its own. I just took the big hunk of spruce off so you could see how I can take wood off the outside, or inside of the belly. I need a thinner piece anyway, the big one gets in the way.
It's Christmas Eve. I've had the last two days off, but have been busy, not much on violins. It's funny how the holiday has changed into just that, a holiday. It started as a celebration of the birthday of Jesus, and now is just a day to give and get presents, eat a meal with family, have some time off work. How many people think of it as the birthday of the Saviour? Many more are concerned about getting the right gift. Spending enough so you don't look cheap, to your family or outsiders. Giving for those reasons is like doing the right thing just to do the right thing. It really amounts to nothing. God doesn't want you doing good because it is the right thing...people will see you as good. God wants you to get to the point where you do the right thing because it is the only way you see to do it. Then people know you are good. At that point it isn't even you that is good. It is the spirit of God working through you that gets the credit. Without that you'd be just like everyone else, worried about opinions and how you stack up. Take some time over Christmas and think about how you stack up. Not in the opinions of people around you, but in your relationship with Jesus, the birthday boy.
Hi Ken: Can you tell me more about how you use your 'plate tuning fixture'? What frequencies do you look for ??
ReplyDeleteI've seen others who use this technique, but they post no details! Patrick Kreit uses it with v good results but uses the garland itself glued onto the plate. God bless, and best wishes, Jonathan (www.platetuning.org)
I now glue the belly on to the garland and glue it to a different plate (see Jan 19, 2011). The one shown here I use for the back. I basically thought that free plate tuning is great for determining the relative stiffness, but assembled the violin would have the edges constrained. I'm using the idea from Keith Hill to bring all of the tap tones in an area to the same pitch. I find the highest pitch, scrape some, find the highest pitch, scrape some...
ReplyDeleteI don't get an entire area completely done, just better than it was, then move on to another area. Later I go back and do the same thing over. Gradually it gets better.