CARE OF VIOLIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20982, 19 September 1931, Page 10 (Supplement)

CARE OF VIOLIN.

J SOME USEFUL HINTS. USE OF BRAZIL NUTS Some interesting facts about tlie health and history of the violin wero mentioned I«_y IWiss Editha Knocker, the principal of tlio Editha Knocker Violin School, speaking at the summer course in music teaching at Oxford. The violin, slic said, had tlio oldest ancestry of any instrument, going back some thousands of years B.C. It had an exceedingly disreputable beginning being used mostly by wandering gipsies and acrobats. -After a, time tlieso outlaws began to be recognised and asked to plav at civic functions, and that was the start of tlio rise of tlie violin to its established position of to-day. There were 84 different pieces in a violin and it took good workers approximately six weeks to make one. In the days of Tartini, when the pitch of the violin was lower than now, the strain on tlio stretched strings across the delicate bridge was 631b.—the weight of a good solid, fat child—but in 1830 the strain was tested again and found to be 901b. .As a result, many of the beautiful old Italian violins, which were never meant to boar such a strain, had crashed and perished. Strads, on the other hand, were built thickly, and that was why they were in their prime today. Discussing the caro of violins, ]\liss Knocker advocated (ho use of nuts, scents, rice, salad oil, soap, and silk handkerchiefs. " A cheap and safe way to clean a violin," she said, " is to get a. Brazil nut, peel the kernel, cut it in half, take off all sharp corners, and rub the. violin with it, for this possesses the best oil. Rub it off afterwards with a silk handkerchief—they must always he silk for a violin—and the grain of the wood will show up as it never has before. " Soap is good to make the strings glide smoothly through the grooves, while for the bony part eau de cologne, lavender water, or methylated spirits are excellent, so long as you do not let any drop on the varnish. When properly cleaned and free from resin a violin will sound 60 per cent, better and bo 50 per cent, easier to play. " Just as you go to a dentist every six months, so a violin ought to be overhauled by an expert every six months." I