Breaking the Stradivari Code.

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A System of Geometry and Simple Ratios.

As it turns out, there is a system of geometry and simple ratios behind the shapes of classical violin making.

This geometry can be cracked and deciphered -- once we find a few starting keys into the code.  And, like the DNA codes that shape life, classical violin making's codes of geometry and proportion not only determine the form of single instruments, but also play the central role governing changes and development of instruments across the generations of classical making.

Designing and Making a Violin From Scratch, 17th Century Italian Style

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How can we make what is seen in the old Italian violins?

From scratch so to say, rather than copying. And how can we proceed avoiding any methods inconsistent with the time of classical violin making?


To sketch the broad strokes of an answer, we'll lay aside all modern approaches and the now standard common practices that mostly arose out of 19th the century commercialization of violin making.  Using only resources appropriate to the time and  place of 16th and 17th century Northern  Italy, we will re-imagine designing and making a violin from start to finish.

A Plan for Reviving Old Italian Methods of Building and Designing Violins

So let's say someone wants to 'build violins the same way the old Italians did'.  How would you go about it?