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( Western - with Notes) Origin
Know Your Instrument: In Europe, the violin can be traced back to the 9th century, with its origin possibly in Asia. Not less than 450 years were required to bring it to its present form, representative of the experience acquired throughout the centuries by the makers of stringed instruments. The primitive form of the stringed instruments is themusical bow, an arched stick held by a taut string tied to its two ends. The string is divided by a loop or bridge. In order to enhance its resonance, the primitive bow was held before the mouth. In the more evolved forms, resonance enhancers included coconut, calabash (a hollowed out, dried gourd generally used as a recipient), tortoise shells, wooden boxes or pig bladders that were thrust tightly between the strings and the bow.
The origin of stringed instruments played by rubbing the strings is linked to the appearance of the bow. The more ancient stringed instruments were played by plucking the strings with the fingers. Perhaps the bow was at first a simple stick before the hair-bow was adopted. As there is no trace of a bow instrument in classical antiquity, it is freely admitted that the bow was imported from Asia by the Arabs or the Nordic tribes. But whether the evolution occurred in northern Europe, the Near East, India or Central Asia remains a mystery... The bow may have appeared in various places at the same time, as did several major discoveries in the history of mankind!... As from the 11th century we also find in Europe the TWO MAJOR TYPES of bow instruments: first, the instruments with a pear-shaped or pyriform resonance box, no distinct neck, no pegs, and a flat belly; second the flat-bodied, oval or elliptic instruments, whose only slightly arched body was connected to the generally flat back byribs. These instruments had a distinct neck (vielle of the Middle Ages - Not to be confused with hurdy-gurdy, "vielle à roue").
The Ravanastron (this instrument is said to have belonged to a sovereign of India 5000 years before Christ), theRabab or Rebab (very ancient, it was played in Persia, in Arabia and in North Africa), the Rebec (the rubebe or rebel or rebec was brought to southern Europe in the Middle Ages by Muslim merchants and artists)... and many other more or less rudimentary instruments dating back to ancient times are considered to be interesting - although distant -precursors of the violin.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, as from the 11th century, we can find the vielle and the rote (rotta), a simple reproduction of the ancient zither: in order to use it as a bow instrument and produce various sounds by shortening the strings, a fingerboard was placed between the sound-box and the upper transversal bar of the zither. In the 10th and 11th centuries the rote was widely used in all of central Europe, as testified by iconography. It was superseded by the vielle in the 12th century. Already quite early on, small instruments were played by holding against the left shoulder or the breast and not only on the knees! As from the 12th century there appeared a slightly more deeply cut-out form similar to the modern guitar and representing the last phase of the evolution of the vielle. This instrument was already predominant during the Middle Ages, probably because it was easy to handle, it had a vast sound range, and all the notes of the scale could be played relatively easily.
Following a series of combinations of the two primitive types, three other families of instruments appeared before 1500: the viola da gamba (viol held on or between the player’s knees), the lira da braccio (played with a bow) and the viola da braccio (held against the shoulder). It is from the viola da braccio that the VIOLIN evolved.
Thus, with the passing of the centuries, the violin, properly speaking, took form. As we have seen, the origins of the violin are several and varied; each of its parts is the outcome of a more or less complex evolutionary process whose beginnings are often difficult to determine; each of its parts, therefore, has its own history. An instrument with a rather chaotic family tree, the violin is an entity encompassing many destinies in a single instrument... At what moment did the violin leave the viola da braccio family? It is difficult to say... Terminology has long been hesitant, and the term "viola" was used most often for the soprano as well as for thealto. In Italian we find the expressions "viola con tre corde senza tasti" or "viola da braccio senza tasti"; in German "Geige", in French "vyollon" in 1523 and "violon" in 1556. "Violino" appeared in Italy in 1538 and "violin" in England only in 1572. The names of the oldest violin makers are for the most part unknown; some were undoubtedly also lute makers. Many musicians, moreover, built their stringed instruments themselves. The most ancient document mentioning instrument making as an independent profession comes from Paris, where in 1292, "féseurs de vielles" (vielle makers) were registered. The violin emerged in its definitive form between 1520 and 1550 in northern Italy with Milan as its centre (cf. map). The first violin makers in the area included, from Brescia, Giovan Giacomo Dalla Corna (ca. 1484-1530) and Zanetto de Michelis da Montechiaro (ca. 1488-1562) who made lutes, lyres and other similar instruments. It should be noted, however, that the instruments of these violin makers were not all violins that had reached the final phase of their evolution.
Amongst the instruments that bear a date are two violins by Andrea Amati (born between 1500 and 1505, died inCremona in 1576), built between 1542 and 1546, that had only three strings in their primitive form. But as from 1555 several documents testify to the existence of the four-stringed violin: the first four-stringed violin by Amati that has come down to us is dated precisely 1555. Charles IX, King of France, placed a substantial order with Amati in 1560 for 38 instruments including 24 violins, 6 violas and 8 cellos; two of them can be found today at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Northern Italy maintained close political relations with France since Francis I (1515-1547, dates of his reign), which explains the order with Amati and the rapid expansion of the violin in France.
n the 17th and 18th centuries more or less prominent violin makers were to be found all over Europe, especially in Italy: in Milan, Bologna, Venice, Rome, Naples, Palerma. In Mittenwald, Germany, it was the Klotz family. Violin makers also worked in Holland, Paris, England, Norway, Austria, Prague and Spain... Violin making in Italy, however, gradually declined in the second half of the 18th century; the large schools fell into decadence due to increasingly negligent work. Buttheir decline certainly also had something to do with the end of the Baroque era, and nothing could emphasise more clearly to what extent the violin was representative of the Baroque style product. A wave of rationalization swept over the corporation of violin makers. Attempts were made to measure the instruments in order to establish optimal norms. The process of manufacture was also rationalised by dividing the work: isolated elements were produced by different artisans and assembled afterwards. Thus industrial manufacture came into being - and still exists in the 20th century - with several people in several places working at home. (Quite obviously such a procedure cannot possibly afford the quality of the timbre all the attention it deserves.) The first violin factory was founded around 1790 at Mirecourt, France, by Dider Nicolas. Afterwards other European cities shared the mass production of bow instruments. Towards 1800 the attempts to adapt the violin to the new style were unsuccessful, despite some interesting improvements. One should bear in mind that the attempts were in keeping with the new spirit that reigned after theFrench Revolution (1789-1815) and were unacceptable because the new form of the violin gave it a different timbre that did not correspond to the musicians’ ideal. Moreover, the Romantic Movement of the 19th century soon saw the return to the ancient forms, and the imitation of the old styles (Neo-Gothic, Old German and Neo-Baroque) reached their apogee.
Then came the series of experiments with the varnish; with time more and more tests were run in an effort to hit upon the ancient compositions of varnish and colour. Remarkable results were obtained on small surfaces but almost never on the entire surface of an instrument! This was proof that the art of varnishing depends less on the material used than on the experienced hands and eyes of the expert violin maker.
These facts bear testimony to the talent of certain modern violin makers. It is regrettable that such an ingenious man as Vuillaume found himself forced to copy. His typically "red" violins are amongst the greatest marvels of violin making. Thus new masterpieces emerged which were nevertheless only copies or free imitations of ancient instruments. A new challenge appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, following the increasing interest in Baroque music: as there was a total lack - or at least an insufficiency - of ancient, unaltered violins, violins were built according to the classical concept. Such instruments were presented for the first time in 1930.
Today violin-makers continue to hand-make beautiful, sturdy violins as was done in the old days. There are also factory-made instruments, but they are often rather catastrophic from every point of view! The violin is an infinitely complex instrument whose construction requires all the passion of a violin-maker for his art together with his experience, patience, meticulousness, talent and intuition, if it is to give full satisfaction and joy to the musician who plays it.
and the Timings for Violin with Carnatic pattern :
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Violin 
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