francoisdenis

I remind you that it is possible to download the outlines (recto verso) of the Stadivari forms on the website of the traité de lutherie discrepancies of the scans are less than 0.5mm in the lenght almost nothing in the width www.traitedelutherie.com

Dear David No, this part is not in the book but it can be download for free on my personnal web site (as some other papers) www.francoisdenis.com I remind that it's also possible (since 3 years) to download the outlines of all the forms. The both outline (front and back) are superimposed to show the discrepancies of the forms and also how the forms are twisted (almost 2 mm) on most of them. I recommand to used these original files rather than the copy of them published here.

Dear Chris, the order form on the web site is the good one

Hi everybody Few words to say that the second edition of the Traité de Lutherie has just been released by the ALADFI edition. Typos have been corrected, and price lowered of 60€ because the posters of the Stradivari forms are not sell with the book anymore. The outlines of the forms are available for free ont the book website. The original scans pictures should be availlable as well soon. I answer any question with pleasure www.traitedelutherie.com Francois DENIS

Dear douglas santos I understand your misgivings for the paiement. It's possible to pay without giving your CC information. Using our IBAN number you can do a bank transfer. You will find this number on the bottom of the orderform (and on the attached file) please fill the orderform first we need it for the shipment. You can used paypal as well with email francoisdenis4@gmail.com I confirm that it is not a book to learn how to build a violin but rather to know why it has been done like that. The contents of the book is, I hope, well presented on the site of the book. Yours FD

It was a chance to be with him in our meetings Too sad I did not know he was sick

Good ; when you say "layout" do you include the "connexion" with the 3 circles?

Dear AD, do you have the outline of the Amati paper ? do yo know the original measurement of it?

The Cremonese golden age is also the end of corpus of craft traditions rooted in the Middle Ages (mainly those of the XIV and XV century). Measures systems, formats, drawings technics... nothing is really invented during the seventeenth centuries. At that time, it 's only a question of more or less minor adjustments made ... or not made empirically. This last point is the whole issue that bothers us. How was made those, sometime minor, adjustments . As you note, some forms of violin were cut down (B, P / others could have been simply duplicated from another (MS 21 from MS44). Anyway nothing crucial (in this particular topic) is invented during this period and our understanding ot the process is complex to decrypt because it is obvious that several types of practices coexisted.

Dear Phillip, The inner form superimposed to the Andrea Amati is the theoretical reconstruction that I have proposed in my book. Up to now , I'm acquainted two differents forms attributed to Andrea Amati matching the little and the long pattern but....but the reality is more fun because I know a least one "long little pattern" I mean, a violin having the same form of the little pattern with the length of a long one.

Dear Addie, All the ribs outlines of the violin made by Andrea I have show a rather good match with the little pattern of Andrea Amati (see attached file) I have no idea about the fiorini doc Andrea Amati form+A.Guarneri outline.pdf

That is a good thing that people start to study the forms using good tools. To take outlines the vector drawing tool which exist in many software traditionally photoshop and illustrator do the job easely (however needs some practice) but these softwares are very expensive now and I strongly advise to switch on much more affordable softwares like Affinity Designer, Pixelmator, Affinity Photo as well for Autocad which can be replaced by Draftsight which offer (for free) the same possibilities. Furthemore, switch to these new softwares when you are use to classical previous softwares is easy because they use mostly the same keyboard shortcut. Speaking of the Strad forms outlines , the most accurate sources awaillable (because Addy do not inform us about the origine of his own source) until now are definitely the scans than I published 10 years ago but since these posters are sold out for (there is a plan to re-print this year) their outlines can be download directly from the traite de lutherie web site (english version www.traitedelutherie.com). I wrote that for different reasons among them the fact that most of these forms or not flat at all, the plate being strongly twisted (several mm) it remains impossible until now, to give a more accurate measurements of these forms that the ones I give. The good understanding of the connexion existing between a form with all its distortions and the violins made from it is a hard job who makes you cautious in the process of the "re-building" a geometrical interpretation. Actually keeping the idea of a more or less 0.5 mm a perfect match doesn't exist none real instrument or any geometrical reconstruction. So, over this limit all becomes a question of interpretation and ...experience. Draw a form with a divider, make it with an hand saw and a rasp then compare the result with the project then make the instrument (without the help of any electricity devices obviously) then do the the same, compare the result with the project, will be the beginning of your experience .

Remember that the smaller B form of the Stradivari set has been recut from a longer one probably by Stradivari himself. Thus, instruments having been made on this previously "non recuted" form should existed somewhere. FD

Dear Meisterhan, Take care that the animation shows the drawing of a viola! I met people who, not having noticed this point, had built on this pattern...a rather strange violin ! FD

These are good questions. Since this is a homothesie it is not accurate to speak of copy but Gasparo could have copied a smaller model Andrea and in this case, the Gasparo will indirectly reflect an unknown little version of the Andrea's tenor . But, numerous craftsmen at that time were still using these systems of relative measurements. Most likely, none of this two makers has invented the framework of this shape because this kind of proportional recipes definitely pre-existed for a long time. . For me, these homothesie raises the question of the type of construction used. Brescia have maybe used partial molds to bent the very thick ribs and it is the exterior measurements that are taken in account in the construction whereas at Cremona the use of a complet inside form lead to apply the proportionnal measurements to the form itself (rather than the complete instrument with the edges). I have some clues that indicate that Andrea may have been responsible for this change.