vathek Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 I was in a shop picking up a violin that I was having an f hole crack repair done when a woman walked in with her violin. I asked her what she was playing and it was a fairly recent violin by a very well respected current maker and she loved it, except not any more. She said that for no apparent reason the instrument changed, and sounded somehow choked or different, and it wasn't just her. String players in different chamber groups she played in asked her what had 'happened' to her instrument. She took it back to the maker and it still wasn't fixed and proceeded to take it to several other repairmen of top reputations and no one could figure out what was wrong with it or fix it. She is in the market for a new instrument. True story. Comments?
nathan slobodkin Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 She should go back to the maker again. There is probably something coming loose that they didn't see or it might just need a new, longer soundpost. It is possible that an instrument that was really too thin in the first place will lose it's tone but if it was made by any contemporary professional maker that would be very unlikely to be the case..
Torbjörn Zethelius Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 Violins go through stages in which they might not sound their best.
vathek Posted June 21, 2017 Author Report Posted June 21, 2017 I think I remember her saying that the maker told her he really didn't know what else he could do
kubasa Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 It's getting into the humid season where I live. I have one instrument I made that sounds best in low humidity and stiffens up in more humid weather (ugh). Change in humidity perhaps? If it's been through a few seasonal changes already, then never mind - I wasn't sure how "recent' this instrument was made.
Carl Stross Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 1 hour ago, vathek said: I was in a shop picking up a violin that I was having an f hole crack repair done when a woman walked in with her violin. I asked her what she was playing and it was a fairly recent violin by a very well respected current maker and she loved it, except not any more. She said that for no apparent reason the instrument changed, and sounded somehow choked or different, and it wasn't just her. String players in different chamber groups she played in asked her what had 'happened' to her instrument. She took it back to the maker and it still wasn't fixed and proceeded to take it to several other repairmen of top reputations and no one could figure out what was wrong with it or fix it. She is in the market for a new instrument. True story. Comments? Yes, they can "die" or lose their tone, or whatever you want to call it. It's very rare. High humidity might have something to do with it.
Carl Stross Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 2 minutes ago, James Rawlyk said: It's getting into the humid season where I live. I have one instrument I made that sounds best in low humidity and stiffens up in more humid weather (ugh). Change in humidity perhaps? If it's been through a few seasonal changes already, then never mind - I wasn't sure how "recent' this instrument was made. I was just replying when your post popped up. I would guess there is a connection but how exactly works and why a competent luthier can't bring it back, that I wouldn't know. I vaguely remember that one violin woke up after some years ( around 3 or 4 ). Died during a long trip by boat, could not be "adjusted" and woke up by itself after a while.
joerobson Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 Unfortunately I have been witness to this 3 or 4 times. 3 we're sure, the 4th wasn't conclusive. Each of the instruments "died" at about 5 years. The makers were well known and respected. The spruce on each had become quite soft as a result of excessive chemical treatment of the wood prior to Varnishing. Joe
nathan slobodkin Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 24 minutes ago, joerobson said: Unfortunately I have been witness to this 3 or 4 times. 3 we're sure, the 4th wasn't conclusive. Each of the instruments "died" at about 5 years. The makers were well known and respected. The spruce on each had become quite soft as a result of excessive chemical treatment of the wood prior to Varnishing. Joe I didn't think of that. Yes it is certainly possible for instruments which have been over exposed to either acid fuming or excessive ozone to turn to punk in a fairly short time. Often those affected instruments will develop small cracks or checking in the top which can be seen under close examination.
vathek Posted June 21, 2017 Author Report Posted June 21, 2017 I was under the impression she'd had the instrument for at least 5 years, and she was up from Texas, which I believe is a high humidity state
joerobson Posted June 21, 2017 Report Posted June 21, 2017 One of these instruments you could feel the sound post. You could not ... yet...see a bump.
not telling Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 Was such a great discussion before all this...
Jeffrey Holmes Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 JC & CS. Please cease and desist. Thank you in advance.
Violadamore Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 From what I've seen, if a violin "dies", I'd suspect murder or negligence.
caerolle Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 18 minutes ago, Violadamore said: From what I've seen, if a violin "dies", I'd suspect murder or negligence. I've owned a couple that should have committed suicide.
David Burgess Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 It might be going through puberty. If it's a boy violin, one would expect the voice to change.
AtlVcl Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 7 hours ago, carl stross said: I was just replying when your post popped up. I would guess there is a connection but how exactly works and why a competent luthier can't bring it back, that I wouldn't know. I vaguely remember that one violin woke up after some years ( around 3 or 4 ). Died during a long trip by boat, could not be "adjusted" and woke up by itself after a while. I recall in one of the volumes of the Casals biography he said he once had a wonderful modern instrument which he loved (I want to say it was a French maker, but this is a long time ago now). After a long boat trip, it lost its voice and he lost affection for it.
peace Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 This is very interesting. I purchased a Master level violin from the Beijing Opera Workshop few years back and for the first 18 months I just love the sound of it. Gentle, sweet, clear and warm. Lately it has became a different violin, it roars and cries that I don't like to play it any more. I have no idea what happened. The same dominant strings are still on and even after I shortened and moved the sound post a bit closer to the bridge. This violin has became louder for no reason. I changed to an other perlon strings but did not calm it down. Are there any explanation why a violin violin suddenly changes from singing to crying? I am all ears. Thank you.
WorksAsIntended Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 I had a 270years old violin with the most amazing g string. After getting really cold it sounded quite bad, also the loudness dropped significantly. Nobody could find out why, everything seemed to be still fine. I went to many luthiers, those who did not know the instrument before incistet on thats how the violin sounds, and maybe I remember it wrong. No cracks, nothing. We changed the soundpost 3 times, still the same. I ended up bringing it to a luthier specialised at baroque instruments and he rebaroqued this violin. It now is a decend baroque style violin but I still dont know what happend to the violin. My best guess is some damage in wood cells that is not visible as it was on a finer structure than cracks (when dissampled we did the strong light thingy, everything seemed fine).
andrea gavagnin Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 Strange thing, I guess during its 270 the violin has already got some cold. However, at least it played for 270 years. It is much more stupid in my opinion when is happens to a new one... Who knows, maybe those are the reasons why old instruments ended up in the fire place...
andrea gavagnin Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 Just imagine that happening to the Strads & co...
Muswell Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 A friend of mine, a professional luthenist was burgled. The burglars were disturbed and as they ran away they threw the Rubio lute they were carrying over railings into a sub-basement area. The case saved it from visible damage but he said that the sound had gone. Supported by Rubio he claimed on the insurance. It could of course be a case of psycho-acoustics.
David Burgess Posted June 22, 2017 Report Posted June 22, 2017 12 hours ago, nathan slobodkin said: Yes it is certainly possible for instruments which have been over exposed to either acid fuming or excessive ozone to turn to punk in a fairly short time. Often those affected instruments will develop small cracks or checking in the top which can be seen under close examination. Could be, and there might also be some varnishes which don't fully cure or reach their final state for a long long time. I don't use any chemicals on the wood, and dry my varnish for an unusually long time (long after it becomes dry to the touch), and they don't seem to change much.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now