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Fiddle Jameson: Acoustics, what sound features make a good sounding violin?

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Fiddle Jameson: Acoustics, what sound features make a good sounding violin? Ask three violin makers and get four opinions… Actually thanks to some great work done by Carleen Hutchins, Joseph Curtin and the Oberlin acoustics workshop luthiers we have a fairly good idea of What acoustically represents a “good” sounding violin. The video shows Chladni sound patterns forming as a signal generator excites the plates at ascending frequencies. You can also identify the frequencies where these patterns occur with a spectrum analyzer, looking for peak energy for specific frequencies. We use the frequencies to calculate the plate stiffness and impedance. Calculating the stiffness is better than twisting the plate and hearing a crack when you press too hard… done that a few times, Ouch Impedance determines how much bow pressure a violinist needs on a string to start and maintain a tone. Too much pressure and the instrument is hard to play having limited dynamics. Too little pressure and the tone is mushy having little projection. Like Goldie Locks in the fairy tale we are looking for the acoustics that are just right:-). We take lots of measurements and compare the results over and over and over. #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast #acoustics

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Fiddle Jameson: Graduation

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Fiddle Jameson: Graduation, roughing out the inside of the plates. The thickness of the plates will range from 2.2 to 4.5 mm. I use my beam calipers, fashioned after one used by Stradivarius, to score the thickness lines in the plates. Then I use a gauge to remove the lines. When the thickness gets within 1 mm of final I switch to finger planes. If I switch to finger planes too soon my fingers tell me about their sore spots when the day is done. When I’m within .5 mm of my target thickness I switch to smaller finger planes and scrapers. This is the first 5-string model so I don’t have the final plate 3d scans. On my next version of this model I’ll use the CNC machine to speed up the process to within 3mm. That being said, the final finger planing and scraping must be done by hand, because this is when I test the resonate frequencies which determine the instruments ultimate voice. #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: The purfling corners are all glued in, the arching or the outside curvature of the plates is almost finished all except the finalizing of the edges.

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Fiddle Jameson: The purfling corners are all glued in, the arching or the outside curvature of the plates is almost finished all except the finalizing of the edges. The final shaping of the edges will occur after everything else is done on the plates. There’s a fair amount of dinging and danging on the edges during the graduation process, sound holes, bass bar and finally glue up and leaving a little extra wood at this time is a good idea. Now I’m working on the graduation, which is carving the thickness of the plates. The graduation phase is probably the most important aspect of the instruments sound. It determines the resonance of the plates; how they will vibrate when a violinist draws a bow on the strings. #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: Setting and gluing the purfling.

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Fiddle Jameson: Setting and gluing the purfling. With the grooves cut, I bend the purfling with a hot bending iron, then dry fit all the purfling corners on the top and bottom plates. Once everything is set I glue the purfling into the grooves. The hot hide glue causes the grooves to swell a bit more narrow and the purfling to get just a bit longer than the dry fitting, so there is always some last minute adjustments before the glue cools and sets. Wood, such a dynamic material… #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: Cutting and trimming the purfling groove

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Fiddle Jameson: Cutting and trimming the purfling groove. Once the edge margins are smooth and finished, no bumps etc, that edge is used to guide the process of cutting the purfling groove. I set my CNC machine with a 1.4 mm bit 2mm off the table, and positioned the router forward from a guide pin. Once I’ve tested the dimensions on some scrap wood, I put the plate next to the guide pin and give the command for the router to go to 2mm. Once the router is lowered I carefully guide the plate edge around the guide pin. The router is only used for the long curves, once I get into the corners I retract the router and leave that work to be done by hand. The corners are finished off with the traditional, marker, knife, and purfling cleaning tool. . . #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: Trimming the margins.

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Fiddle Jameson: Trimming the margins. Once the ledge for the top and bottom plates is a uniform 4.3 mm then the top and bottom plates are “tacked” glued to the blocks. The rib out line is then used to trim the plate edge margins to 2.5mm. I use the CNC machine to “rough” out the margins. By fastening a guide pin on the CNC table and then positioning the router bit about 5mm from the edge I can move the instrument body against the guide pin to get a uniform edge margin. Once the edge is consistent, I can move the CNC router 1/2 to a 1/10 of a mm towards the body to sneak up on my final measurements. As with the ledge, I bring the CNC within .3 to .5 mm and then finish by hand for those final 1/10ths. . . #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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New York Times article review on applying technology to Craftsmanship

I found this article last week in the New York Times August 28th Edition. The article was title , “Packing Technology into the Timeless Barrel” (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/business/packing-technology-into-the-timeless-barrel.html?_r=0). The article discussed how barrel making has not essentially changed for the past several hundred years, much like violin making. However the industry and competitive forces have changed, and companies are applying technology to optimize the barrel making process. The end result is higher-quality barrels tailor made for specific uses. Over the past year-plus I have been applying CNC technology to the beginning phases of the violin making process. The CNC machine can accurately replicate the beginning rough-out processes for the violin body and neck. The machine cannot do the intimate and labor-intensive plate tuning, fitting, finishing and varnishing; that must be done by hand. A CNC machine is a way to compete with cheaper labor, but only where technology is applied appropriate. Let there be no misunderstanding, a quality violin has to be done by hand for the majority of the work. Violins are made from wood, a natural material, the source material varies by nature and the violin maker must account for these variances. The New York Times article mentioned this raw material variance aspect related to barrel making as well. The New York Times article closed with this Quote, “Skilled Craftsmen still build a barrel by hand. …You can't just computerize it…you can use automation but in the end every barrel is going to be a little different”.. Likewise with the violin, we can use computerized technology and advanced acoustical analysis. But, in the end each violin will ultimately be crafted by hand and will be a unique violin representative of the individual maker’s skill. #violinmaker #violin #cnc #jacksonville #brunswick#savannah #saintaugustine #NorthFlorida #Florida #Georgia

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