Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See the extract.
- noun In musical instruments of the viol and lute classes, an opening in the belly or soundboard, so shaped and placed as to increase its elasticity and thus its capacity for sympathetic vibration.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Last autumn I got myself a vintage jazz model with an oval sound-hole, the kind of thing Django Reinhardt might have played, so there was no way anyone would mistake me for a rock-and-roller.
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The sound-hole loses the pointed form so much associated with Guarneri: the purfling is embedded, the edges heavy, the corners somewhat grotesque, the scroll has a mixture of vigour, comicality, and majesty, which may force a smile and then a frown from the connoisseur.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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Jacob Stainer was born in the Tyrol, and passed there his early years, and probably received his first instructions from one of the old Tyrolean Lute and Viol makers, at a period when they raised their model, and introduced into the German School the scooping round the sides of the backs and bellies, the inelegant sound-hole, the harsh outline, and uncouth scroll.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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The Italian makers of Brescia and Cremona appear to have been aware of the singular influence the formation of the sound-hole has upon the production and quality of sound.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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We find him guided throughout this period by his usual ideas as regards grandeur of outline and degrees of thickness; but the rotundity of the model, the shape that he gave to the sound-hole, the method of setting the sound-hole in the instrument, although, as before remarked, all executed with a breadth of purpose which his earlier efforts fail to show, may be cited as points in which he varied.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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The sound-hole, also, of Guarneri always preserves its distinctive character, and a grotesque humour which at once pleases the eye, though it is found to vary considerably with the three periods of his life.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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The scrolls are well executed, both in point of finish and style; the sound-hole also is cut with precision.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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There remained, after all Stainer's changes, the German sound-hole and extra arching, &c.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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The sound-hole is admirably cut, and the scroll also well carved.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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The model is often that of Girolamo Amati, but slightly more arched; the sound-hole is more rounded and less striking.
The Violin Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators George Hart
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