Note (instrument making)
In the case of bowed and plucked instruments, the label is the manufacturer's information, which is traditionally on a label attached to the inside of the instrument.
Attachment
The note is glued in during production, often in addition to a branding stamp. It contains the name of the violin maker or guitar maker , often also the place and date, sometimes also a serial or production number and the signature of the builder.
In the 20th century, many violins without paper were assigned to great masters on the basis of typical construction and lacquer features. The violin experts stuck new printed notes into these instruments.
Misleading use
In the course of the 19th century and the increasing production of string instruments in factories, notes from old master violin makers such as Stradivari and Stainer were often forged on a large scale and stuck on cheap manufactured instruments. This led to the fact that innumerable alleged Stradivari, Guarneri and Stainer violins can be found in attics. These notes usually refer to the model according to which the violin was made. While stamp notes can often be found in German manufactured violins (from Saxony), the French violins from Mirecourt mainly contain the names of Italian masters. Other names that appear often: Guarneri, Amati, Klotz, Gasparo da Salo, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Tecchler. There are tens of thousands of violins with such a note in Germany. So were z. B. in Bohemia, Saxony and elsewhere like to stick such notes. Often one wanted to adorn oneself with the famous name, or it was an instrument that was built more or less based on the Stradivarius model.
Serial slip
Since many plucked instruments such. B. guitars, the note is visible through the sound hole, a note is also common in today's production models. This contains the manufacturer's brand instead of the builder's name and the model specification instead of the construction number.
literature
- Paul de Wit (Ed.): Violin notes by old masters: from the 16th to the middle of the 19th century , Leipzig 1910 (2 volumes). Facsimile reprint: Verlag Das Musikinstrument, Frankfurt 1976, ISBN 3-920112-51-2
- Paul de Wit: violin notes by old masters: from the 16th to the middle of the 19th century. I. and II. Part. ( archive.org ) Publishing house by Paul de Wit, Leipzig, 1910
- Stradivarius inflation . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1958 ( online ).
Web links
- Georg Kinsky : Directory of the instrument makers with replicas of the inscriptions and notes ( archive.org ) In: Museum of Music History by Wilhelm Heyer in Cologne. Catalog of the collection of ancient musical instruments. Commissioned by Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig, 1912