Let’s talk basics about violin (fiddle?) making, lutherie and wood.
Basics
Within the chordophone family (ie, musical instruments with strings) we have four fundamental types: zithers, lutes, lyres, and harps.
We shall turn our attention now to lutes, especially violins and fiddles.
A lute is built by a luthier (/ˈluːtiər/ LOO-tee-ər), a woodcraft specialist who works building or repairing string instruments with a neck and a sound box (if we strive for precision).
A person who makes or repairs violins is usually referred to as a luthier or a violinmaker. One who makes or repairs bows is called an archetier or a bowmaker.
A violin is basically made of maple (back, sidestrips, and scroll/neck), spruce (top, bass bar, soundpost), ebony (fingerboard, other little parts – I shall discuss them eventually), willow (sidestrips), if you are following the masters (the likes of Antonio Stradivari or Giuseppe “del Gesù” Guarneri).
A fiddle does not need to meet these constraints: you can use any wood and let your imagination run wild.
Well, it’s perhaps way complex than just looking at the wooden parts that form the instrument, as discussed by The Strings Magazine. In this article there is a discussion on the types of music and also the relationship of the player with the instrument.
Epilogue
In this blog, I will not venture writing definitive articles about things, perceptions or any strictness putting boundaries to progress. I’m happy enough to think about it in terms of the wood and the wood only. So, for me, violins have ‘classic’ wood components whilst fiddles have any wood (note to trolls: go ahead, troll away).
Becoming a luthier, violin maker, manual woodworker (or any label you come up with) is pretty rewarding as I hope you might find out here in this blog. Stay tuned for great content.
Created: 1 January 1988
Notes: Riccardo Soffittari is a persona I adopted, ie, a fictional character employed here to explain about violin making, wood, and lutherie in general. The name’s creation is due to the fact that Riccardo contemplates wood related projects in his attic (soffitta or attico in Italian).