This is the first book to combine museum-based conservation techniques with practical instructions on the maintenance, repair, adjustment, and tuning of virtually every type of historical musical instrument. As one of the world's leading conservators of musical instruments, Stewart Pollens gives practical advice on the handling, storage, display and use of historic musical instruments in museums and other settings, and provides technical information on such wide-ranging subjects as acoustics, cleaning, climate control, corrosion, disinfestation, conservation ethics, historic stringing practice, measurement and historic metrology, retouching, tuning historic temperaments, varnish and writing reports. There are informative essays on the conservation of each of the major musical instrument groups, the treatment of paper, textiles, wood and metal, as well as historic techniques of wood and metalworking as they apply to musical instrument making and repair. This is a practical guide that includes equations, formulas, tables and step-by-step instructions.
This is the first book to combine museum-based conservation techniques with practical instructions on the maintenance, repair, adjustment, and tuning of virtually every type of historical musical instrument. As one of the world's leading conservators of musical instruments, Stewart Pollens gives practical advice on the handling, storage, display and use of historic musical instruments in museums and other settings, and provides technical information on such wide-ranging subjects as acoustics, cleaning, climate control, corrosion, disinfestation, conservation ethics, historic stringing practice, measurement and historic metrology, retouching, tuning historic temperaments, varnish and writing reports. There are informative essays on the conservation of each of the major musical instrument groups, the treatment of paper, textiles, wood and metal, as well as historic techniques of wood and metalworking as they apply to musical instrument making and repair. This is a practical guide that includes equations, formulas, tables and step-by-step instructions.
This book addresses key questions about the materials used for the wind instruments of classical symphony orchestra such as flutes, clarinets, saxophones, oboes, bassoons and pipe organs. The content of this book is structured into four parts. Part 1- Description of materials for wind instruments deals with wood species and materials for reeds used for making clarinet, oboe and bassoon- and, with metallic materials and alloys for - horn, trumpet, trombone, etc. Auxiliary materials associated with the manufacturing of wind instruments are felt, cork, leather and parchment. Part 2- Basic acoustics of wind instruments, in which are presented succinctly, some pertinent aspects related to the physics of the resonant air column. An important aspect discussed is related to the effect of wall material on the vibration modes of the walls of wind instruments. The methods for measuring the acoustical properties of wind instruments are presented. Part 3- Manufacturing of wind instruments, describes the technology used in manufacturing metallic tubes and pipes made of wood. Part 4 - The durability and degradation of materials addresses data about methods for cleaning wind instruments, studies factors producing degradation of organ pipes, describes methods of conservation and restoration of brass instruments and of historical pipe organs. Finally, the properties of marble are described, being the only one nondegradable and sustainable material used for pipes for organs.
A musical instrument is a witness of the many human visual and aural sensibilities, beliefs and dreams. It is not just a technical object, but one with its own aesthetic properties, an object that makes a variety of characteristic sounds without necessarily the existence of a connection between its visual and sound aesthetic. Preserving an instrument means therefore preserving our culture, our history, our dreams. The conference, open to all museum professionals, was intended to present and critically discuss the latestresearch about diagnostic techniques applied to musical instruments as well as advanced conservation practices, use of materials, collections management, through the presentation of case studies. Its main objective was to be a forum for the exchange of information, seeking to promote the transfer of knowledge regarding the daily activities of preservation and to facilitate the exchange of scientific information and opportunities for collaboration among researchers from different backgrounds. The proceedings contain a selection of the papers presented in 2010 and 2011. Table of contentsForewordEmanuele Marconi, editor 1. TransformationsRobert L. Barclay – Restoration Consultant, Canada 2. DocumentationRobert L. Barclay – Restoration Consultant, Canada 3. On the field – universal measurementPatricia Lopez Bastos – ANIMUSIC – Associação Nacionalde Instrumentos Musicais 4. Investigating and Preventing the Deteriorationof Historic Brass Instruments in EUCHMIPanagiotis Poulopoulos – Deutsches Museum, Munich,Arnold Myers – The University of Edinburgh 5. Surface cleaning of musical instruments –towards a more conscious approachClaudio Canevari – Civica Scuola di Liuteria di Milano 6. Dendrochronology: Tool of Truth or DeceptionStewart Pollens – Violin Advisor LLC, New York 7. Piano’s forgery revealed by dendrochronologyDavid Houbrechts, Pascale Vandervellen – MusicalIntruments Museum, Bruxelles8. Structural, chemical and mechanical imaging appliedto the conservation of musical instrumentsJean-Philippe Echard, Sandie Le Conte, Stéphane Vaiedelich– Musée de la Musique, Paris9. Digital X-Radiography of Musical InstrumentsAna Sofia Silva – Conservator of Musical Instruments,Portugal10. Synchrotron radiation microtomography: a tool fornon-invasive analysis of historical musical instrumentsFranco Zanini – Sincrotrone Trieste11. Synchrotron radiation microtomography of bowedstringed instruments: the 1753 violinby G.B. GuadagniniNicola Sodini – Sincrotrone Trieste12. Stereomicroscope and SEM microanalysis study ofmusical instruments from Correr museum in VeniceStefania Bruni, Giuseppe Maino et alii, Enea Bologna13. X-ray and neutron imaging as complementarynon-destructive methods for investigations of historicalbrasswind instrumentsDavid Mannes, Adrian. von Steiger, Eberhard Lehmann,Rainer Egger – Neutron Imaging and Activation Group,Spallation neutron source SINQ, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI),Villigen14. Looking over the Instrument Maker’s shoulders.Methods of material analysis of production technologyfor brasswind instrumentsAdrian von Steiger – Bern University of the Arts15. The emulation of non-linearity of musical instrumentsby means of Volterra seriesLamberto Tronchin – Università di Bologna Authors’ Biographies
This is the first comprehensive study of the life and work of Bartolomeo Cristofori, the Paduan-born harpsichord maker and contemporary of Antonio Stradivari, who is credited with having invented the pianoforte around the year 1700 while working in the Medici court in Florence. Through thorough analysis of documents preserved in the State Archive of Florence, Pollens has reconstructed, in unprecedented technical detail, Cristofori's working life between his arrival in Florence in 1688 and his death in 1732. This book will be of interest to pianists, historians of the piano, musicologists, museum curators and conservators, as well as keyboard instrument makers, restorers, and tuners.
In a bid to claim ‘scientific objects’ as requiring a significant amount of conceptual labor, this book looks sequentially at instruments, habits, and museums. The goal is to uncover how, together, these material and immaterial activities, rules, and commitments form one meaningful and credible blueprint revealing the building blocks of knowledge production. They serve to conceptualize and examine the entire life of an instrument: from its ideation and craft to its use, reuse, circulation, recycling, and (if not obliterated) its final entry into a museum. It is such an epistemological triptych that guides this investigation.
Christianity Today Book Award in Culture and the Arts (2021) “In the final analysis, music is prayer cast into sound.” One of the greatest luthiers of our time reveals the secrets of his profession—and how each phase of handcrafting a violin can point us toward our calling, our true selves, and the overwhelming power and gentleness of God’s love. Schleske explains that our world is flooded with metaphors, parables, and messages from God. But are we truly listening? Do we really see? Drawing upon Scripture, his life experiences, and his insights as a master violinmaker, Schleske challenges readers to understand the world, ourselves, and the Creator in fresh ways. The message of this unique book is mirrored in sensitive photographs by Donata Wenders, whose work has appeared in prominent newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Esquire, as well as museums and galleries throughout the world.
Intended as a practical guide to organ conservation issues, this work covers such topics as the need for regulation, the availability of grants, the benefits of good advice, the results of neglect and bad practice, the rewards of care and good housekeeping, and the principles of good restoration practice. Dominic Gwynn draws on his knowledge, experience and expertise and dedicates over half of the book to restoration techniques and the materials from which organs are made.
