WELCOME
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HERE FINALLY! This is a recently made recording of my violin Opus 416 played by Joanna and Laura Johnson.
This new recording is of 7 short sound samples.
The first four samples (Chausson, 2 x Bach, Beethoven) are played by Joanna Johnson
and the remaining 3 (Wieniawski, Sibelius, Dvorak) are played by Laura Johnson.
It has 3 moments where the sound was so loud it distorted when recorded on my Zoom recorder. Otherwise, you can use this recording to compare with my earlier violins. Opus 416 was originally made in 2009 and later remade acoustically in 2011. This, incidentally is one of my smaller violins.
Click here for a Sound Sample of my Opus 416 played by Joanna and Laura Johnson
This second new recording is of the same 7 short sound samples but played on my violin Opus 439.
Click here for 7 Sound Samples of my Opus 439 played by Joanna and Laura Johnson
When so many other violin makers proudly associate themselves with the modern physics approach to violin acoustics, I, on the other hand, will distance myself from that approach. My only interest is in violin acoustics as it was understood and practiced by the Amati family of violin makers, Antonio Stradivari, and Guiseppi Guarneri "del Jesu", whom I trust did not know squat about the modern physics approach to violin acoustics. They were working with the perception of sound--not the facts of it. When it comes to music, it is all about perceptions not facts. Likewise, all great cooking is about the perceptions of flavor in foods, not the facts about them. So my approach to violin acoustics is entirely perceptually based--that is, How does the sound "taste" to the ear? and What do I need to do to make the sound "taste" more enthralling to the ear?
I have spent the better part of the last 35 years figuring out exactly what needs to be done to the violin to enhance the experience of hearing that sound. This is how the history of acoustics first developed and since that history was interrupted, by the effects of the industrial and the modern scientific revolutions in the making of things, musical instrument acoustics has been especially crippled by the modern "visual" approach to the science of sound. I felt that the approach to acoustics which worked so well the first time around from 1550 to 1825, with violins, harpsichords, organs, and pianos, needed to be reinvented. So that is exactly what I have done.
My first acoustic technological discovery came with my observation of what I called the "Area Tuning Principle". I published this discovery back in 1984, and then again on the web at my website specific for instrument making, and am happy to report that the idea is now being used successfully by some of the more important stringed instrument makers in Europe and England.
My second important acoustic technological discovery happened when I reinvented the varnish which the ancients were using on their violins. I published that discovery in 1994. That article I also published on the web at my "Art of Making" site.
Both these discoveries lead me ultimately to bring my violin acoustics research to a successful close as of October of 2010 after 32 years. I am currently working on a whole new batch of violins of which I hope to be able to post recordings sometime in late July.
Meanwhile I will keep the current sound samples and photos of the violins posted 18 months ago on this website until the new violins are able to be photographed and recorded and those recordings and photos posted. Further,
I would like to thank Mauricio Aguiar for his willingness to come to my shop back then to play the sound samples on each of my violins on this site, and to thank as well Skyko Tavis (at skylabsound.net [skyko@skylabsound]) for his help in creating distortion free sound samples of all those violins.
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Click here for a Sound Sample of my Opus 409
The violinist in this sound sample of the Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto is Laura Johnson, winner of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra competition in 2009, playing with the DYA Orchestra for this performance on my violin, Opus 409, made in late 2008 and finished in early 2009.
I have designed this violin expressly to create a violin in a slightly smaller size without sacrificing power, volume, resonance, sweetness, flexibility, or ease of playing. The purpose was to create a violin which smaller framed musicians would find easier to play. The question is: Can it be done? As time and opportunities permit, I plan to post recordings at this site so you can assess for yourselves if I have succeeded.
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Nothing anyone can say about how violins sound is very convincing because, for violinists, it is how it feels under the chin and the ear that counts.
I offer photos of my violins at this site to give you an idea of my visual aesthetic. But personally, I have no interest in how musical instruments look if they don't sound wonderful. That is why, more importantly, I also offer sound samples, morsels for the ears, which are extremely short snippets of music to give you an idea of how the particular violin pictured sounds. As for the rest, that requires you to actually play my instruments for you to get an idea of how my violins feel under the chin and bow.
You will find by clicking on the "Judging Violins" button, my views on how I evaluate the sound of violins. If you are interested to learn about how I think about building instruments, Click on the "Art of Making" button. There you can read some articles I have had published on the acoustics of violins and on the varnish I invented to enhance the acoustics which I build into every instrument I make.
Because the acoustical principles I use magnify the differences in the woods from which the instruments are made, each of my instruments sounds distinctive and unique. I think you will find, nevertheless, that they all bear a kind of family resemblance. The similarities are the result of how I choose wood and the principles I apply to enhance the sound of the instrument. Though I am extremely selective about the quality of the sound of every piece of wood I use in the construction of my instruments, still, I never attempt to make all my instruments identical sounding. That would be boring. However, I insist that each instrument be as good musically, acoustically, and behaviorally as possible, as is within my powers, for the wood used in that instrument. As you know, wood is not equal. Therefore the best possible outcome for each instrument is also not equal. That is why I price my instruments based on the acoustical and musical properties unique to each instrument. Those which are better suited to concert performance are more costly than those which work better in an orchestral situation.
If you are interested in playing and hearing one of my violins, email me and I will direct you to where those closest to you can be viewed.
The following link will allow you to hear a recording of one of my more recent violins. This recording and all recordings on this site were made by the kindness of Mauricio Aguiar, violinist in the Cincinnati Symphony.
Click here for a Sound Sample of Tchaikovsky on my Opus 413
My contact information is: Keith Hill - Instrument Maker, 5641 Granny White Pike, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027
My land line phone number is 734-322-3331
My email address is: pictagoras@aol.com
Op. 382 Hill Violin made in 2007
I designed this violin specifically for the smaller player. The body length is 34.8 cm give or take a millimeter. Every violinist of smaller stature who plays this violin exclaims on first try how much easier it is to play than the regular size violin. Clearly, small differences feel huge to smaller players. The question is: What does one give up acoustically when scaling down the violin? Theoretically, the answer should be: "Nothing, because Amati made the larger and the smaller size instruments too." I hope this violin and the subsequent others of of my design which I am picturing and sharing sound samples of will help answer this question.
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