Tone Bites If you are offended by imperfection, you will probably find other of my pages than this one more to your liking. Some of these acoustical morsels are not polished performances, indeed! some are homecooked. The point for offering this page here was to give you an idea of the sound these instruments not to produce a polished performance. Those treats which are not homemade are taken from either recordings or live (what a strange use of this word!!!!! as it appears to indicate that any performance which is not recorded in front of an audience is dead...go figure?) Some people can't stand anything except a super edited performance, I know this is true from having observed thousands of musicians over the last 35 years, which is why I offer this warning before you decide to tread into this particular banquet room. All the violins were recorded using the same setup, settings, and positioning. Having such a set up allows you to hear the actual differences between the instruments. The violin in this nibble is my opus 368, made in 2003. The player of the violins treats is Mauricio Aguiar, from the Cincinnati Symphony. Opus 368 was fashioned after the tonal ideals of Guarneri "del Jesu" as embodied in one of his violins built in 1734, known as the "Gibson". Every instrument I have built in the last 30 years has been another step in my quest to duplicate the knowledge of acoustics which the greatest instrument makers of the 17th and 18th centuries possessed. My reasoning is simple. Since copying the instruments of the past has proven, and continues to prove, to be an abject failure, despite the occasional happy accident, I felt it would be more productive to aim at thecopying the knowledge those great instrument makers possessed which allowed them to produce one masterpiece after another, after another. At the time I heard and studied the acoustics of the "Gibson" Guarneri, it was owned by Ruggerio Ricci. He was kind enough to allow me access to his treasure in order to determine its acoustical design. Interestingly, the acoustical design of his Guarneri was virtually identical to that of the 1741 Guarneri in the Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI, the main differences between them being the precise frequencies of the top and back and the blatant and curious asymmetries of the Dearborn instrument. It has taken me 25 years of constant experimentation to begin to understand the work of this particular maker. Click here for a morsel of my Opus 368 The next violin, my opus 379, made in 2004, is also based on the Guarneri "del Jesu" sound ideal. The main difference between this violin and No. 368 is that I learned something more about the acoustics of varnish...that and the fact that 368 has been played in and 379 has not been played much at all, only tested. I can't wait to hear it after it has been played for a year Click here for a nibble of Opus 379 No. 376, the violin in the next bite, was built with the same acoustical concepts and techniques as 379. The main difference between them beside the wood is that 376 has been played in constantly for two years while 379 has hung "curing" in my shop. Click here to sample Opus 376 This next instrument, my opus #371, reflects the acoustical thinking of Carlo Bergonzi. Click here to taste Opus 371 Here are four more samples for you to compare how these four violins sound on the same or similar music...in the same order as above. Click here to snack on Opus 368 Click here a sniff of 379 Click here for a swallow of Opus 376 Click here to retaste Opus 371 Tim Burris plays "live" in these two recordings made during a concert last year. The Lute sound he is playing with is my one and only attempt to make such a sound. Click here for the Lute Click here for another earful Marianne Ploger recorded these following entrees, four pieces of Chopin, on a Graf type six and one half octave Viennese fortepiano, my Opus 311, made in 1996. These homecooked recordings bear all the earmarks of serious gourmet acoustical cuisine. Click here to have a taste. Click for another taste. Click here to wrap your ear around this one. Prepare yourself for this Tone Bite More to come.