Magnus Nedregard

Great! I think for many shops/makers the desierable uses of these tehcnologies are just two: - to be able to quickly make a 3D record/reference of interesting instruments that pass through the workshop, where the procedure of making casts or more elobarate scans etc. would be impossible. - to be able to make cnc-machined counterparts/patches by myself to adress edge wear, woodworm damage and similiar problems in a competitive and up-to-date manner. (Here I am extrapolating the wants of "many shops/makers" from my own desires of course but I believe I am fairly typical.) So correct me if I am wrong; I feel we are still not at a point where these procedures are straightforward for the digital layman, the "magic bullett" that @Jerry Lynn mentioned does not quite exist, and the learning curve is perhaps more time cosuming than what is cost effective for many situations... You really need to prioritise how you spend your time as a violin maker, so to jump directly to quite effective systems and not waste time on solutions that really reqiures a new career in computer tech (unless you already do that) is kind of key. The reason for bringing ut up is I´ve been quite impressed by some results I have seen obtained with reasonable effort and cost lately, so I was thinking the game might have changed a bit... or what do you think?

Thanks for the input LCF, a lot of info there.

From old photos it is not possible, photogrammetry as I understand it uses several pohtograps from as many angles as possible and then a software can do the maths and figure out the the 3d shape of the object. It requires a quite powerful computer, so typically your files will be sendt away to to be processed, and you get only the 3D model back. Apps like Kiri Engine kan do this, popular among people who want to insert 3d objects in computer games and such and other purposes like interior design. My thinking was that this is probably good enough now to be useful in violin making, but probably requires some know-how...

Hello, I am curious to know if anyone on the forum has any experience with photogrammetry, and how it can be used? More specifically...; - I would like to know if there is a great difference (for our purposes) between using the professional PG scanners, a high quality camera, or the simple mobile apps? - Is this usually best left outsourced to a a specialist or something a violin maker can learn to do him/herself? - Also, would one be able to make a precise 3-d printed cast out of a scan like this? I suppose in that case the old fashioned plaster cast could soon become obsolete. I am not by nature very into this sort of thing, but it looks as if this becoming really useful both in restoration and as a reference for making, so I am just starting to look into this...

Well, then I shan't bother to look up those saffron quotes! I am amazed that book is translated, it must have been a real nightmare to find the english equivalents of all those strange materials, since often it is unclear what it means in the original text. It is in fact an interesting topic in itself, how many ingredients of botanical origin - that in reality are so diverse, that when an old text mentions "pece" or "aloe" or whatever we have no way of knowing what exactely what they meant by that, it is more just a hint at what they might have referred to there and then, and from there you can start your investigation.

Hello! Still around, if more sporadically! It is a while ago, but I tink the book I meant must have been this one: https://www.amazon.it/Vernici-segreti-curiosissimi-Cremona-1747-ebook/dp/B00AZ0I00M I don´t have the book with me where I am now, but I could check later on which passage I meant. I think there is agreat deal about guilding/painting in those recipes, nothing (I seem to remember) is directly violin-specific. But it gives a good impression of the materials employed, and how, at that time.

As hinted on by the other two posters; the distinction between modern and baroque violins as two very different things is somewhat illusory - as all the most copied instruments in history were made as baroque violins. Also, what is "baroque"?.... in reality violins were played with gut strings up to about WW2 so that is not the difference. Necks with more or less wedge shaped shorter fingerboards can be found long after the "baroque" period was long gone. There has been a gradual development, with great local vartiations all along - the standarization of the violin setup is a quite modern thing. The bow is very important, a modern violin played with an early type bow sounds surprisingly "baroque" and a baroque violin played with a modern bow is stylistically a huge dissapointment...

Also, the amount of information and the degree of openness that Tarisio has brought to the violin market was much needed. I am not sure how it would have looked now if Tarisio did not happen. Many instruments are sold with more than one certificate I can't quite see any problem or anything strange about that.

Hei Salve! I acknowledge I am totally a dwarf compared to you on hardangers, but on the age, I still think this looks quite 1780-90's in many ways, woodworm or not! But I am perhaps not totally convinced the fingerboard is original to that fiddle, what do you think? The fiddle itself has suffered relatively little wear, whereas the fingerboard looks curiously worn and damaged.

The outline is of the old, archaic type, in other words it is most probably from before they started making the hardangers on the outline of italian and german violins. They are usually much shorter than a violin, virtually always unpurfled and with a through-neck. In my opinion this is how a proper hardanger should look, I always liked them better than the violin-like type. I should think it is a late 1700-fiddle from somewhere south of Bergen, but I am no hardanger-connoiseur. I would say this is one now for the museum or a collection... with that kind of woodworm damage, there's really no good solution that keeps the original pieces.

Good point to think about and mention to some musicians, on some violins the peg have been set low, so the gap is especially narrow.

I can't answer the question, but the thought experiment is extremely interesting! If Strad by time travel could enter the VSA competition, would he then be rewarded for his genius? Or could it be his contribution would be dismissed because he had developed yet another model that no one had seen before? Could it be his varnish would be found too intensely coloured, and too much filler was found to be used in the purling mitres? Would he be excluded when it was discovered that the scroll scandalously, was actually made by his son? The G-string was found to be somewhat lacking in power? Or, would actually his genius be recognised, and in a blaze of light it was as if all the other participants just disappeared and died of shame, and he took every prize there was, (except perhaps the "luthier under 20") and disappeared back to the 18th century with a devilish laugh? Or perhaps his participation had went by totally unnoticed?

Good to hear, congratulations Davide!

Well, fond as I am of many english types of cheese, and indeed other types of english food, I must still conclude that italian food is pretty hard to beat! Food questions apart, I have good reason to think that Newark is a very good school, and would probably be my second choice. If your main interest is antiqued instruments I would probably go for Newark. Although antiquing has become rather normal in italy too over the last decade or so, the Italians have a continuing tradition of making "new" instruments that I find sharper and more accentuated, although it might not be to everyone's taste right now. (I know, the english have that too, but as a general tendency I would say that the most important difference in focus is this. Newark also prepares you much better for restoration. At least that was the case when I last checked, but things might have changed in Cremona there.)