Anatomy of a Violin – What a Violin is Made of

A lot of factors go into producing the sound on a violin, like the violinist’s skills, the room’s acoustics, and the skill of the violin maker. However, there is one more element that has a crucial effect on the music: the tonewood used to make the violin. This critical material makes up the overwhelming majority of the instrument, and even the best player would struggle to coax a pleasing sound from a violin made with sub-quality tonewood.

The Types of Tonewood

Spruce

Spruce is the wood of choice for most instruments with soundboards, including violins, guitars, pianos, and harps. When returning Crusaders imported one of the violin’s medieval ancestors, the rebec, to Europe from the Middle East in the 11th century, they replaced its animal skin soundboard with spruce.

The sixteenth century Cremonese luthiers who started the modern violin-making tradition used spruce to build the table and maple for the neck, ribs, and back. These trees were plentiful and easily accessible to Italian violin-makers, but they also produce durable, acoustically pleasing, and light tonewood.

Spruce is particularly light, strong, and flexible, ideal qualities in instrument material. It is also used to make the bass bar, sound post, blocks, and linings. Because of its high stiffness-to-weight ratio, spruce maintains its strength even when it is cut very thinly, making it the ideal topwood for violins.

Maple

Most modern luthiers use maple for the back, ribs and neck of the instrument, although occasionally other varieties of wood are utilized for the scroll and neck. It boasts a unique figure, which lends a particular aesthetic beauty. This optical quality is achieved by maple’s growth patterns, which creates a wave pattern with alternating light and dark “flames.” Some luthiers may forgo maple for the back and ribs using poplar or willow instead, which are known to produce a darker tone quality.

Ebony

Ebony is used for a violin’s fingerboard. This dense hardwood has the strength and flexibility to support even the most aggressive playing, and it also boasts excellent acoustics. Many luthiers also use ebony for the pegs, tailpiece, and chinrest, although rosewood, boxwood, and modern composite materials may be substituted.

Aging Tonewood

When it comes to violin wood, older is always better. There is a reason that professionals play almost exclusively on antique instruments. The process of drying out and seasoning wood is a crucial factor in determining a violin’s sound quality.

Tonewood should be cut from the oldest trees possible

The best tonewood is found at high altitudes, where trees are able to grow slowly. Some music historians believe that Stradivari and his contemporaries made such uniquely powerful instruments because a mini Ice Age slowed tree growth. Central and Eastern Europe’s cold, mountainous regions produce some of the world’s most prized tonewood.

When the tree is cut matters

Once the right tree has been identified, it is cut during the winter, when the tree is dormant. The wood is then cut into cylinders and sealed on the ends before it is left to age in controlled conditions. During this time period, the wood dries, oxidizes, and strengthens. It takes three to four years for the wood to dry out, and then luthiers wait at least another seven years for the wood to season. The highest quality tonewood is generally aged for longer, between thirty and fifty years.

Although the drying out process can be artificially sped up, tonewood must be seasoned using traditional methods. Furniture makers use kilns to dry out their wood, but this process changes the wood on a cellular level. Kilned wood has diminished vibrational qualities, making it unsuitable for violin-making.

After the violin has been made, the wood continues to age. There is a reason that professionals play almost exclusively on antique instruments. The wood on a hundred-year-old violin has vibrated so long that it produces a richer, more mature tone.

The Grain and Cut of the Wood

When a luthier is choosing their tonewood, they not only want a visually stunning piece of wood, but they also want a strong, stiff grain. Grain refers to the tree’s rings. Periods of cold weather and slow growth produce dark, thick lines, whereas milder weather produces widely spaced rings. An unstable climate can create wide variation in tree rings; when cut, the wood will be unstable. For violin-making, luthiers need a straight grain with tight, even spaces.

Most violin wood is cut on the quarter, like cutting a slice of a round cake. This technique results in a long, straight grain that won’t warp. However, some luthiers use wood that is cut tangentially “on the slab.” Maple is often cut on the slab to showcase its flame. Although it is not as stable as quartered wood, slab wood can result in a deeper tone quality.

Conclusion

Not all tonewoods are created equal, and luthiers take great care when selecting their materials. For a violin to have the best tone quality possible, the wood must be from the ideal tree and locale, properly seasoned, and have the proper grain. Next time you listen to a violinist or play your own instrument, take a close look at the meticulously chosen wood that makes it all possible.