Best books

[AMORI]

I used two books to learn violin making. The Art of Violin Making (Courtnal and Johnson) and the book by Harry Wake. The Courtnal book is really good both technically and makes good reading.

Can anyone recommend another book which offers good reading and good technical advise?

[ken_barlow]

Did you get much out of HS Wake's book? I thought the bit about his life story was interesting, and was surprised to learn that he originally came from the same part of the world as me (NE England). But as a violin making text I found it pretty unhelpful. Courtnall & Johnson is great, though.

[CharlieNH]

Like many others, I have the Art of Violin Making and find it very useful. I also have the Strobel series books. Additionally, I have the CD of Ricardo Flores (which is interesting but may contain some practices of which others might disagree) and I have the DVDs of Raymond Lovi. The latter I find to be very helpful as it is nice to see the processes -- not merely read of them. Mr. Lovi (or whatever his actual name is) seems to have some less-than-perfect business practices (which I won't go into here), but I did find his work helpful. As with most subjects, one gets useful information from all sources and I am just starting to get a sense of the variability and flexibilty of the whole process. Of course, the real instruction begins with plowing headlong into building an instrument.

[Regis]

Amori,

I agree with the C&J and the Strobel books but, just got "The Art of The Violin Design" by Sergei Muratov. Talk about mixing engineering and art! The scroll and F hole sections are something. For me though, the topographical is better than C&J, Wake, or Strobel.

As a CAD expert, you would really like this one.

Regis

[AMORI]

I used the Wake book for my first violin and it was okay but not written in a way which is easy to understand. That is because there are few, if any, headings etc. The subjects just flow into one another without warning.

Having said that, it is worth having.

[MANFIO]

I agree with you about taking information from as many sources as you can and then forming your own opinion about the subject. That's why, mainly for a self taught violin maker, having as many good books as possible is a good (and dear) idea.

[AMORI]

I used the Wake book for my first violin and it was okay but not written in a way which is easy to understand. That is because there are few, if any, headings etc. The subjects just flow into one another without warning.

Hi Regis, I'm not really an AutoCAD expert, I'm self taught and only know the basics that are required for my line of work. I spent 25 years hunched over a drawing board and AutoCAD was a real revelation. So you recommend the Muratov book? I guess one can find it on Amazon. I tend to buy most of my CD's and books there.

[Regis]

Yes, I got mine on Amazon. And, I think it is about one of the least expensive books...around $20 US I think. Soft cover, about 135 pages (8 1/2 X 11). About 125 pages with drawings. No index but, ok table of contents and detailed illustration list. It'll make you want to pull out your drawing tools.

[administrator]

Agreed, the J&C (or C&J?), is a fantastic resource. It really details (almost) every aspect. I'd have to say, for any first timers out there, such as I, it's a must have. But I got to thinking....what do the seasoned experts think of it? Us newbies wouldn't know if the teachings are traditional, accurate, or proper.

I also have Henry Wakes Useful Measurements.....I found it only partially "useful". For nothing more, it's another resource to compare. It seems to me that the text part of it is mostly unorganized thoughts put down on paper. The charts in it are okay, but more illustrations would help to demonstrate exactly what the dimension refers to. Oh....and the 5 pages at the end that translate English to German to French and back again are REALLY "useful"....not!

[Seth_Leigh]

I have so far used a combination of what I learned from the C&J book, plus some Sacconi for flavor, and MIMF and Maestronet archives and active questions for other things. This forum right here, IMHO, is worth more than any book because I can ask any question and probably get a reasonable answer, and then ask followups for clarification, hear multiple points of view on it, etc.

I plan on ordering Francois Denis' book as soon as I can scrape up the $300 or so that it will cost. It hasn't been released yet but it's getting some serious talk in advance by people I respect greatly. I expect that book to be a major learning tool and step forward for me, and I plan to make my next violin mould according to his technique.

[David_Gouthro]

If you "sprechen Deutsch" I would recommend Die Kunst des Geigenbaues by Otto Mockel. It's a bit dated but still worth the money.

[Dean_Lapinel]

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[Brad Dorsey]

Karl Roy is supposed to have a book coming out soon. Perhaps Claire could tell us what it will be like.

[Andres Sender]

Dean what do you have against the Johnson/Courtnall book?

[ken_barlow]

"Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is a great source of inspiration for anyone who wants to do quality work in any sphere of activity. Including instrument building. Honest.

[Dean_Lapinel]

Hi Andres,

I have no problem with the book...I think it's one of the best out there. It just doesn't have the depth of detail and discussion that could be done for a more thorough understanding of violin making. There is, after all, quite a bit of controversy on many aspects of violin making that should be addressed in a book.

[ken_barlow]

I think the problem is that you said that "I don't think a good book on violin making has been published yet". Johnson & Courtnall may not be a perfect book or even a truly great book. But not a good book? Are you sure?

[LadyAmati]

What do people think about this DVD on learning violin setup?

Violin Setup

This new video produced by Dan Erlewine features Paul Newson, a veteran maker of violins and mandolins.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Video,_DVD,_software/Violin_set-up.html

[Michael Darnton]

A little too much like carpentry, a little too little like working on violins.

[LadyAmati]

thanks, so any recommendation for learning setup? I would like to start with bridges and then move to soundposts.

Clare

[ispirati]

I think the point here is that Violin making is not a rigid process. There are so many ways to go from tonewood to a violin. Although C&J demonstrated one method with limited variations, part of the process of learning violin making is to keep a "free" mind to create and explore. Personally, I like to visit maker's sites, especially when they post their working process. You often find small differences in their process or tools that may have great impact on the results. When you compare C&J to Michael to Claudio's processes, they are all similar but different.

Maybe some day, some one will write a book that incorporate more diverse view on the violin making. It will be a very "big" book/CD. I think HTML is probably a better way to navigate through the variouis way of violin making. Flores CD was an excellent idea, althought I would not say he is the greatest maker. (But Ricardo Flores is a decent violinist.) If some one can combine C&J, Sacconi, Stroble, Wake, Flores, and all the relevent Maestronet discussion into 1 HTML CD with text search functions. Hm... Wouldn't that be a real nice CD book? You can search on a specfic topic and get to see many different approaches to the topic.

[ken_barlow]

I absolutely agree with most of what you say. But any serious student of any discipline should accept that they will have to consult many sources and try many experiments before they can become anything remotely resembling an expert in their chosen field. To expect to have some kind of "holy book" that contains everything that needs to be known in one volume is totally unrealistic, and the pipe dream of the mentally lazy.

[ispirati]

It took me 15 months to make my first violin. At the same time, I read Sacconi's book first, then C&J, then Flores. I also have Lovi's DVD and Strobel's measurement book. I don't particularly like the last 2 But they do serve as a reference from time to time when I want to cross check measurements. Mean while, I am on Masestronet asking questions everyday. Why is it not possible?

Sacconi's book was the most difficult to read. But all the other books are mostly pictue books. You can even understand maker's point without reading the text. (But I did read all the text.) In fact, I am a very slow reader since English isn't my first language. After reading all the books, I developed my own preference of procedures.

Let's say if there is a book/CD that contains all the information above, wouldn't you buy it? It does not have to be a single author. It may be a collection of authors. Like a "Holy Bible of violin making". The only missing criteria is a publisher who is willing to pull everything together. Nothing difficult about that.

[Seth_Leigh]

I feel some goals are being misunderstood. Is the goal to find one book that will best help a total beginner successfully make a violin? Is the goal to find one book that will teach an intermediate maker all the nuances that a master maker knows? These are two totally different goals, among many possible. I think for one book to help a beginner successfully make a violin, the C&J book is pretty good. I'm sure Wake's book, Strobel's books and videos, and others not named in this thread also have helped many beginners make their first violins. I realize Francois Denis' book isn't for a beginner making his first violin, but that's fine, by the time I get his book I'll be on my 3rd violin, now I'm ready to maybe delve into the design issues a little more.

I think if one has made violins already and really wants a deeper understanding, getting a lot of different books and reading them all and comparing them will help a lot. I don't know, I'm not really there yet.

[Claire Curtis]

Thanks for the opening, Brad

Karl Roy is writing a major tome on violinmaking. Besides covering construction, it has major sections on history, wood, tools, bows, varnish, etc.

But Seth has it right -- a book is written with a goal in mind, and the goal of this book is not to show a beginner how to make a violin. Karl was director of the school in Mittenwald for twenty years, and has taught violinmaking at the Violin Craftsmanship Institute at UNH for 32 years; he feels that you cannot learn to make violins from a book. This book doesn't try to replace the guidance of a Master, but is rather a distillation of a lifetime of teaching in the Mittenwald tradition.

One thing I really like in the book is that he does at times go into reasons for doing things one way rather than another -- something that, as a teacher, he only gets into after housrs, or with more advanced students. In a lot of ways, I feel this book is a study guide for a journeyman violinmaker boning up for his exams. It reminds you of what you should have learned, and perhaps introduces you to some nuances you neglected to learn.

All in all, it should be a wonderful reference resource, and if all goes well it will be published sometime in late summer or fall.

--Claire