Wood in JMusical Instruments 



XiX 



ith, wiKiil IN su|in>iiit> for cortniii ]iiirt«i iiinl no mili- 

 ittitiitc liit!i Imvii nl>l<< tu iiiak<> iiirimilM ii|iuii it, ami tlioro ih no jinix' 

 |i«vt thiit a fliiiii|;o i» (■(lining. Wood |io»!<o)ii«'« i-crtniii iirc>|>prtii's 

 whirh nr<> nlixnliitt'ly orwontiiil in the produrtioii of nonic kinds of 

 iii!<trunipnt?<. The vibrntion of the steel wire in nnti»fnclory in some 

 ~irinf;e<l inMtruniento, provideil there is ii |iro|ier i>qui|inieiit of Hoiind- 

 iiii; lioardH, to niHf^iifr, moilify, or wiften the tones. 



The spruee sounding hoarils for pianos are l>eyond tlie reai'h of 

 ' "inpetition from substitutes. The metal jieople know iH'tter than 

 t.i push in tliere, and cement anil til)erbonrd are out of the (juestion. 

 >iiu'e Mittelbur({er, the riernuin musician, while .>il<>epin)( under a 

 rtwf of cedar shingles in I'hihidelphia 16(1 years ajfO was entranced 

 with tlie resonance produce<l by raindrops fnllinf; on the shingles, 

 until the present time, wooil has held an nndisputnble |dace in the 

 manufacture of musical instrunu>nts. Mittell>ur>;er "s first work under 

 his theory that hooiI was more niusicul than nu-tal, was when he built 

 a pipe or^n — the first in America — with the pijies of Soutliern white 

 cedar, the same wood which had charnieil liis ear while he listened 

 to tlie rain on the roof. 



Sprite Soi'nuinc Bo.Mtos 



The sujM'rlative quality of spruce as material for Boundiiif; boards 

 is due to the long, straight, regular fibers of which the wood is coni- 

 ]>osed. The microscope reveals what the unaided eye cannot see. The 

 minute cells forming the word are extremely long — fully one hundred 

 times as long as their diameter measurement — and each cell or filler 

 is stretched like a taut string. Although these cells, all lying length- 

 wise of the wood, are ])ackeil and stretched closely, side by side, there 

 is room for vibration when they are struck. One fiber communicates 

 its vibrations to another next to it, until the whole body of the board 

 is set vibrating and giving back the sounds which arc so rich, deeji, 

 and pleasing to the trained ear of the musician. 



All woods jiossess this <|uality of resonance but in vastly diflferent 

 degrees. Some are dull and nearly dead, others emit tones quick and 

 sharp, and still others give out sounds that continue a long time 

 ami gradually die away as if vanishing in the distance. Spruce is of 

 the latter kind. The ear need not necessarily be trained to the tech- 

 nicalities of musical tones to iliscern the high qualitic, of s|iru<e in 

 the matter of giving back sounds. 



K.XPI„MXED MY STKITTntK 



Kxtra long fibres or cells are not the only things rcquireil to niak.! 

 a wood highly resonant. The fibers must be free to vibrate. Some 

 tither woods which, as far as length of filler is concerneil, might be 

 resonant, are found to be dull. The fibers are tied together by cross- 

 bands, usually known as medullary or jiitli rays, running across the 

 tillers at right angles to them. When the fibers of such woods are 

 struck and begin to vibrate, they are interfered with by the cross- 

 bands — as if a hand is laid on jiiano strings that have been struck — 

 and the vibrations soon cease. 



Spruce has as many of these crossbands or medullary rays as most 

 other woods, but they are so regularly arranged, and are adjusted so 

 nicely as to distances apart, that the vibrating fibers are little inter- 

 fered with. For this reason spruce is said to be a "homogenus" 

 wood, meaning that one part is similar to every other part. When 

 one group of fibers has been set in motion, the motion can move 

 through all adjacent groups. With most other woods this is im- 

 liossible, because of the number and jiosition of interfering elements 

 which do not permit the vibrations to travel far. 



SE.iSOXlXG .VXD ResOX.VXCE 



In the manufacture of sounding boards the proper seasoning of the 

 wood is an extremely important part of the operation. Green wood 

 lias little resonance, and resonance may be greatly impaired by too 

 imich or too rapid drying. If the wooil is green or wet the hollow 

 .oils and the spaces between the cells are partly or wholly filled with 

 water. The fibers under such conditions will no more vibrate than 

 a conl will vibrate when it is not stretched. Some experienced lum- 

 —20— 



iHTiiien Jiidgi' f|Uite ncciirntelr ot the state ii 

 wood by its "ring" when struck. I'ersiiiis w 

 rience with a jiarticnlar kind of wood Im-c 

 dr.vnei'H by sound, as far as that wooil is cm 



IryiiesH ot ■ puve of 

 have had much ex|H>- 

 le experts at testing 



• inipairci 



rnjiid 



The resonance of wood 

 becnus<> the filters are turn or distorted by checks or warping. In- 

 stead of the filHTs lying regularly in pnrallel lines as Uiey should, 

 too great heat, or moderate heat njiplii'd suddenly, is apt to break 

 them or throw one set across another by warping. This destroys the 

 wood 's resonance, U'cause vibrntionH receivivl by one group of fibiTs 

 cannot jiass readily to adjacent groups, mid the motion is not I'ar 

 ried to the whole mass. 



Makers of sounding boards want their wood seasoned slowly and 

 a long ,tinie. This gives the fibers and the other elements of which 

 the wood is composed an opjiortunity to ailjust themselves so gradually 

 to the smaller space which they will occupy that there is a minimum 

 of breaking and wnr]iing. It was fornicrly a theory that sounding 

 boards should air season from five to ten years. That seeni» to be a 

 longer pciioil tlinii is iieres.sary in most climates. 

 Otheh Instki'^xts 



The piano sounding board is not the only imperative ilcmund on 

 wood by manufacturers of musical instruments. The high-grade harp 

 has its wood, also, and while a harp without wood might lie |>osMible, 

 it would be pretty much in the same class as the poetical "harp 

 without strings." Hani maple and other woods answer satisfactorily 

 for sounding boards in some instruments. The violin Ls an example. 

 This is a small instrument, but it is in the highest class. Men have 

 become famous on account of the violins they have made, and their 

 names have become synonymous with jierfcction in that line. Stradi- 

 varius is an example. The performer on an in.strument is usuall.v 

 the one who becomes famous, not the maker; but the violin furnishes 

 the exception. The greatest violinists in the worhl are proud to adver- 

 tise that they ]ilay on instruments made by Strailivari. What great 

 pianist has ever advertised the maker of his jiiano, unless ]iniil to do 

 it? Manufacturers of first grade pianos are glad to present their 

 fine.st instruments to such artists as Rosenthal and I'aderewski, and 

 send men along on the tours to keep the jiianos in the lie-st condition. 



The making of the highest class violin requires two things aliove all 

 others: suitable wood, and a maker who knows how to use it. "Use- 

 less each without the other." Virgil's immortal war epic began 

 with the words: "Arms and the man," (Jimu vinimquc). If some 

 poet shonbl arise to write epics of industry, as Virgil, Homer, ami 

 Tasso wrote of war, the canto on musical instruments might pro|ierly 

 open with the %vords: "Wood and the man." 



' ' RE.SOX.-VXCE ' ' AXD " RiKO " 



Wood possesses resonance, metal has ring. That iiiay not ivholly 

 conform to dictionary definitions, but it classifies the two materials 

 liretty accurately. In certain instances the ring of metal is beautiful. 

 The chime of well-tuned bells needs no apology. In fact, it can be 

 classed among the most perfect soumls. The singing of a tightly 

 stretched tele]ihone wire across an open field in the autumn wind is 

 a most pleasing melody to one who has an ear for the delicac.v of 

 the simpler sounds. But how much softer and meloilious that singing 

 wire becomes if the ear is ]iressed against the telephone pole, so that 

 the vibrations come through the wood to reach the ear, instead of 

 directly from the wire. Kvery one of the billions of fibers tliat make 

 up the teleplione jiole seems to add something. The tones are segre- 

 gated and multiplied until they range from the sound of a bee's 

 wings to the bass notes of an teolian harp. It is the wood, simply 

 the rough telephone pole, that works the miracle. 



Some of the finest phonographs are equijiped with wooden horns. 

 This is done, it is explained, to get rid of the "metallic ring." The 

 purpose is accomplished. Resonance is substituted for ring. 



Gottlieb Mittelburger, the organ builder anil musician who was 

 mentioned above, announced what he considered a great discovery 

 when he said that the tones emitted from the cedar organ pipes 



