Sound Post
A slender wooden post positioned between the top and back plates of string instruments
"Sound Post" is an essential component found in string instruments, particularly in violin, viola, cello, and double bass. It is a slender wooden post positioned between the top and back plates of the instrument, transmitting the vibrations of the sound.
The sound post serves two primary functions: supporting the instrument and transmitting sound. Firstly, it provides structural support to the instrument, helping to maintain the stability and strength of the body. Secondly, the sound post plays a crucial acoustic role inside the instrument. When the strings vibrate, the sound post transfers the vibrations to the top and back plates, causing them to resonate and produce sound. This transmission and resonance process contributes to enhancing the instrument's sound projection and tonal richness.
Installing and adjusting a sound post requires expertise and precision. It is typically done by instrument makers or repair technicians, who tailor the adjustments to the instrument's specific structure and characteristics. Fine-tuning the position and pressure of the sound post can impact the instrument's resonance characteristics and tonal performance. Each instrument has unique requirements for sound post adjustment to achieve optimal sound and playing experience.
The sound post plays a critical role in string instruments, influencing the instrument's sound quality and playing performance. Proper installation and adjustment of the sound post can result in a more resonant, balanced, and powerful sound, providing enhanced tonal quality and musical expression.
Example of Sound Post
Terminology Information
Vocabulary Category
Related Terms
Dictionary
Other Terms
Tutor's Video (Anna Vienna Ho)
Tutors
Articles
The Greatest Violinist: Jascha Heifetz
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer, the predominant musical figure during the transition between the Classical to Romantic eras. He occupies an unprecedented dominance in the history of Western music history, and has been widely regarded as the greatest, most influential and most popular musician who ever lived.
Beethoven's music inherited the artistic atmosphere of Haydn and Mozart, penetrated the desire for dignity, vented the anger tortured by fate, and demonstrated his determination to fight with fate.
Compared to other musicians, Beethoven is effectively to interact the philosophy of life with audience through music. Although he was not a romantic, he had become the object followed by other romantics.
As a musician, Beethoven suffered from ear diseases. However, he was unwilling to succumb to fate, vowing to take fate by the throat, and continue to complete his career. In the last ten years of his life, without hearing any sound, his compositions influenced the development of music for nearly two hundred years.
