JUDGING VIOLINS AND OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS by Keith Hill

“In order to assess tone properly, a player usually must have a keen musical instinct developed from long years of experience in playing a stringed instrument and also hearing many instruments played by others. Tone tastes vary. Some prefer soprano brilliance while others favor darker alto tonal shades. The basic requirements for tone are an easy and responsive speaking voice, carrying quality, equal sound volume on all four strings, and agreeable tone color. This formula is the essence of normal judgment in the selection and valuation of an instrument regardless of its age or original derivation.”

About the Author

Since 1970, Keith Hill made 127 bowed stringed instruments, including violins, violas, cellos, violas da gamba, violas d’amore, violones and double basses--but mainly violins. At the outset, most of these instruments were made as acoustical experiments aimed at understanding how instrument makers in general from the Golden Age of Acoustics thought about sound. All that he learned from his violin making experiments he applied to the 355 harpsichords, clavichords, and fortepianos he has made over the last 34 years. More than 50 commercially available CDs have been made using his instruments.