Masters of tonewood: the hidden art of fine stringed-instrument making

Abstract

"Masters of Tonewood focuses on many of the traditional centers of stringed instrument making, highlights the forests associated with them, and foregrounds the expertise and experiences of foresters, tonewood millers, luthiers, and musicians, offering readers an account of the relationship between music, forestry, and handcrafts"--

Contents

Tuning up : An introduction -- Origins -- A musical instrument is more than a tool -- Norway spruce and figured maple in violin family instruments -- Cremona and the Paneveggio Forest : Tonewood sources for the Amati, Stradivarius, and Guarnerius instruments -- The Franco-Swiss Jura Mountains : The forest as a renewable garden -- Rougemont, Switzerland : Forestry laws and choosing tonewood spruce -- Styria, Austria, and Transylvania : Tonewood sources and environmental issues -- Reghin, Romania : Town of stringed-instrument factories -- Zakopane, Poland, and Luby, Czech Republic : Mountains and stringed-instrument-making schools -- Mirecourt, France, and Andalusia, Spain : The guitar-making tradition -- Luthiers and alternative sources : Sinker wood, floorboards, and backyard trees -- Tree rings and beyond : A coda.