Musicians held the larger instruments however they could manage, sometimes pinched between the player’s legs and sometimes, anchoring pins or hooks were set into the backs of cellos and large violas to allow straps to be worn. The endpin didn’t exist for cellists, either. Players often used their thumbs to adjust the tension of the horsehair, releasing tension to play chords and double stops, and then pulling the hair taut when melody called for focus. Those bows did not have the tension-adjustable camber of today’s bows and featured an identifiable swan-head-shaped bow tip. Gut strings put the instrument under lower tension, and were played with a very different style of bow. In its original Baroque setup, the violin family of instruments featured a fat neck set at a shallower angle to the top, large fittings (often made of softwood veneered with inlayed hardwood), a squat, broad bridge, a shorter bassbar, and most importantly, gut strings. Violin-įamily instruments quickly became the darlings of royal courts in Europe, but even in a palatial setting, the instruments had little space that needed to be filled, and consequently, didn’t need to be very loud. “Chamber music” meant just that-small ensembles would play in a chamber, a small room, with a handful of audience members. When Andrea Amati started cranking out violas at the beginning of the 16th century, the demands on instruments were more relaxed than they are today. Baroque setup gives a mellow, complex palette to the musicians, and is the most distinct setup from the one that you’re probably familiar with as a 21st-century musician. Your instrument is likely set up as a modern instrument, but it’s always best to start at the beginning.ĭriven by such luminaries as Christophe Coin and Jordi Savall, Baroque music played on instruments with period-appropriate setup has been experiencing a revival in the last decade. There are three standard setups these days-Baroque, classical, and modern-with the lines between them blurring sometimes from instrument to instrument.Įach setup offers the player unique sounds and techniques and provides insight into how the music played today might have sounded when it was composed. The result of this long lifespan is that as music, and the needs of the musicians, changed, leading players and makers needed to change how violins are set up to suit the changing fashions of the music world. Some instruments made in the early 1500s are still being played on stages around the world today, proudly bearing the scars of wars and human intrigue as they throw their voices out to please and thrill. The connection that violins, violas, and cellos make to those who play them, and hear them, is remarkable. I may be preaching to the choir here, but violin-family instruments are remarkable.
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