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Luthier
A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be used in French for makers of most bowed and plucked stringed instruments such as members of the violin family (including violas, cellos, and double basses) and guitars. Luthiers, however, do not make harps or pianos; these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to a frame. Craft The craft of luthiers, lutherie (rarely called "luthiery", but this often refers to stringed instruments other than those in the violin family), is commonly divided into the two main categories of makers of stringed instruments that are plucked or strummed and makers of stringed instruments that are bowed. Since bowed instruments require a bow, the second category includes a subtype known as a bow maker or archetier ...
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String Instrument
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some string instruments, like Guitar, guitars, by plucking the String (music), strings with their fingers or a plectrum, plectrum (pick), and others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow (music), bow, like Violin, violins. In some keyboard (music), keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord, the musician presses a key that plucks the string. Other musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments, the player pulls a rosined horsehair bow across the strings, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician cranks a wheel whose rosined edge touches the strings. Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra in Western classic ...
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Violin Making And Maintenance
Making an instrument of the violin family, also called lutherie, may be done in different ways, many of which have changed very little in nearly 500 years since the first violins were made. Some violins, called "bench-made" instruments, are made by a single individual, either a master maker or an advanced amateur, working alone. Several people may participate in the making of a "shop-made" instrument, working under the supervision of a master. This was the preferred method of old violin makers who always put their names on violins crafted by their apprentices. Various levels of "trade violin" exist, often mass-produced by workers who each focus on a small part of the overall job, with or without the aid of machinery. "Setting up" a violin is generally considered to be a separate activity, and may be done many times over the lengthy service life of the instrument. Setup includes fitting and trimming tuning pegs, surfacing the fingerboard, carving the soundpost and bridge, adjus ...
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Georg Staufer
Johann Georg Stauffer (also Johann Georg Staufer; January 26, 1778, in Vienna – January 24, 1853) was an Austrian luthier and the most important Viennese luthier of his time. Life Stauffer was born in the Viennese suburb of Weißgerber, the son of Mathias Stauffer, a labourer from Weyregg am Attersee. He studied under the luthier Franz Geissenhof. In June 1800 he took the Vienna oath of citizenship and in May 1802 he married Josepha Fischer in the Schottenkirche, Vienna. He took over the workshop of Ignaz Christian Bartl. Initially he built instruments modeled after the Italian guitar masters Giovanni Battista Fabricatore and Gaetano Vinaccia, he then developed several variants, typical of his own guitar style (see section ''Instruments''). In 1813/14, he applied for the vacant position of Court Luthier ("Hofgeigenmacher") but Johann Martin Stoss was preferred. From 1830-1836 Stauffer was also active as a music publisher. He devoted more time to his inventions, which is prob ...
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Louis Panormo
Louis Panormo (1784 – 1862) was a prominent English luthier of the 19th century, best known for his classical guitars, which were among the earliest made in England to follow the Spanish design. Often referred to as the "only English guitar maker of the time to make guitars in the Spanish style," Panormo played a significant role in popularizing Spanish-style guitars in Britain during the early Romantic era. His guitars were played by Fernando Sor and Trinidad Huerta. Early Life and Background Louis Panormo was born in Italy in 1784, into a family of musicians and instrument makers. His father, Vincenzo Panormo, was a violin maker who had trained in Naples and worked in Paris before settling in England in 1789, probably with his four sons. Louis was the youngest The Panormo family name was originally ''Panormus'', a Latinized form of the name for Palermo, Sicily, suggesting their Sicilian origins. Career Louis Panormo began working as a luthier in the early 19th centur ...
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Christian Frederick Martin
Christian Frederick Martin Sr. (; January 31, 1796 – February 16, 1873) was a German-born American luthier who specialized in guitars and the founder of C. F. Martin & Company. He made his first guitars in the United States in the 1830s. Early life and career Born in Markneukirchen in the Electorate of Saxony to a family of cabinet makers, Martin became an apprentice of the guitar maker Johann Georg Stauffer of Vienna, Austria. Martin also became a foreman at Stauffer's workshop. Martin was the second of five children and was more commonly known as Friedrich, given the German custom of using the second given name. In Martin's case, four of the children's first given names are a derivation of Christian (Christiane, Christian, Christian and Christiana). As a result of a dispute between the Cabinet Makers Guild, of which Martin was a member, and the Violin Makers Guild, Martin moved to the United States in 1833. The move occurred less than a year after his father Johann Georg ...
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Cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, scientific pitch notation, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola's four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef; the tenor clef and treble clef are used for higher-range passages. Played by a ''List of cellists, cellist'' or ''violoncellist'', it enjoys a large solo repertoire Cello sonata, with and List of solo cello pieces, without accompaniment, as well as numerous cello concerto, concerti. As a solo instrument, the cello uses its whole range, from bass to soprano, and in chamber music, such as string quartets and the orchestra's string section, it often plays the bass part, where it may be reinforced an octave lower by the double basses. Figured bass music ...
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Bow Maker
A bow maker is a person who builds, repairs, and restores antique or modern Bow (music), bows for bowed string instruments. These include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, viola d'amore, viola da gamba, etc. The French word for bowmaker (bow maker) is archetier, meaning one who makes Bow (music), bows of the string family of instruments such as violin, viola, cello and double bass. The root of the word comes from ''archet''—pronounced —the bow. A bow maker typically uses between 150 and 200 hairs from the tail of a horse for a violin bow. Bows for other members of the violin family typically have a wider ribbon, using more hairs. White hair generally produces a smoother sound and black hair (used mainly for double bass bows) is coarser, producing a rougher sound. Lower quality (inexpensive) bows often use nylon or synthetic hair. Rosin, a hard, sticky substance made from resin (sometimes mixed with wax), is regularly applied to the bow hair to increase friction. In maki ...
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Martin Hoffmann (luthier)
Martin Hoffmann (1653–1719) was an important German luthier, based in Leipzig. He was the father of Johann Christian Hoffmann (1683–1750), an important luthier, violin maker, and a friend and associate of Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety .... References German luthiers 17th-century German businesspeople 1653 births 1719 deaths 17th-century German artisans Musicians from Leipzig 18th-century German artisans {{Germany-music-bio-stub ...
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Viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the violin family, between the violin (which is tuned a perfect fifth higher) and the cello (which is tuned an octave lower). The strings from low to high are typically tuned to C3, G3, D4, and A4. In the past, the viola varied in size and style, as did its names. The word ''viola'' originates from the Italian language. The Italians often used the term '' viola da braccio'', meaning, literally, 'of the arm'. "Brazzo" was another Italian word for the viola, which the Germans adopted as ''Bratsche''. The French had their own names: ''cinquiesme'' was a small viola, ''haute contre'' was a large viola, and ''taile'' was a tenor. Today, the French use the term ''alto'', a reference to its range. The viola was popular in the heyday of five-part ...
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Violin Family
The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. At the time the name of this family of instruments was viole da braccio which was used to distinguish them from the viol family (viole ''da gamba''). The standard modern violin family consists of the violin, viola, cello, and (possibly) double bass. Instrument names in the violin family are all derived from the root ''viola'', which is a derivative of the Medieval Latin word ''vitula'' (meaning "stringed instrument"). A ''violin'' is a "little viola", a ''violone'' is a "big viola" or a bass violin, and a ''violoncello'' (often abbreviated ''cello'') is a "small violone" (or literally, a "small big viola"). (The '' violone'' is not part of the modern violin family; its place is taken by the modern double bass, an instrument with a mix of violin and viol characteristics.) Background The instruments of the violin family may be descended in part from the lira da braccio and the medieval Byzan ...
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Lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" commonly refers to an instrument from the Family (musical instruments), family of History of lute-family instruments, European lutes which were themselves influenced by India, Indian short-necked lutes in Gandhara which became the predecessor of the Islamic music, Islamic, the Sino-Japanese and the Early music, European lute families. The term also refers generally to any necked string instrument having the strings running in a plane parallel to the Sound board (music), sound table (in the Hornbostel–Sachs system). The strings are attached to pegs or posts at the end of the neck, which have some type of turning mechanism to enable the player to tighten the tension on the string or loosen the tension before playing (which respectively ...
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Antonio Torres Jurado
Antonio de Torres Jurado (13 June 1817 – 19 November 1892) was a Spanish guitarist and luthier, and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century." It is with his designs that the first recognizably modern classical guitars are to be seen. Most acoustic guitars in use today are derivatives of his designs. Biography Antonio de Torres was the son of Juan Torres, a local tax collector, and Maria Jurado. As was common, when he was 12 he started an apprenticeship as a carpenter. In 1833, a dynastic war broke out, and soon after Torres was conscripted into the army. Through his father's machinations, young Antonio was dismissed as medically unfit for service. As only single men and widowers without children were subject to conscription, in 1835 his family pushed Torres into a hastily arranged marriage to Juana María López, the 13-year-old daughter of a shopkeeper. Children soon followed: a daughter in 1836, another in 1839, and a third in 1842, who died a few month ...
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