Chapter XIII: How to Test a Violin’s Tone

The method of testing tone which I have used for many years, with uniform success, is this: I procure a fine-toned old master violin, a really first-class solo instrument and one possessing those qualities of voice and carrying power most desired by artists. I then secure the services of a competent critic. The old master and the violin to be tested are then played under two environments: in a large hall, and in a room, carpeted, furnished, and curtained. The piece to be played is selected with a view to placing upon both instruments (which are tuned to exactly the same pitch) a severe tonal and operative test, and this piece is played successively upon both violins. The critic is never allowed to know which fiddle is being played, but must judge by the tone, and decide which possesses (1) the best carrying power, (2) the greatest depth and richness on the lower strings, (3) the most incisive and telling qualities of clearness and brilliancy in the upper register, and (4) which of the two violins conveys the best general impression of tonal refinement.

Where the slightest doubt exists regarding the flexibility of tone, that is to say, the ease with which it can be produced under the bow, I submit the violin to some great player. This last is a very important test, for it determines the playing possibilities of the instrument. If the violin passes with honour through these trials it is a very fine-toned and satisfactory fiddle indeed. Should it fail to equal the old master on any tonal point, or not prove perfectly satisfactory to the artist as a responsive instrument, the points wherein it is at fault are clearly indicated.

Those who wish to settle the question of a violin’s tone, therefore, should carry out the test upon these lines, or follow them as closely as circumstances permit. Thereafter the instrument may be treasured or condemned with equal confidence, for it has been weighed in an impartial and accurate balance. The violin submitted to test must, of course, be in proper adjustment and equipped with suitable strings. If there is doubt about this, place it in the hands of a qualified expert in such matters.

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Since age is so universally invoked; since it is this element which gives to the old violin its greatest value and (so it is said) to tone its quality and mellowness, let us endeavour to determine just what relationship exists between age, the violin, and tone.