Wake-Up Call: The Concept of “Playing-In” a New or Long Dormant Violin Is a Surprisingly Tricky Subject

By Cliff Hall | From the March/April 2025 issue of Strings

The question of how to “wake up” a new or an old-but-forgotten violin—helping it reach its full tonal potential—has long been characterized by both curiosity and contention. Some may think decades of playing-in can be replicated in just weeks, whereas others insist the only way to develop an instrument’s tone is to play it longterm, and still others claim it’s just an illusion in the ear of the beholder. While this idea of “waking up” or “playing in” an instrument touches on the idea of old versus new, the concept being addressed here is not whether old instruments sound better than new ones but rather how one develops the tone in instruments that have seldom or never been played. This applies to both an old instrument found in the attic and a new one that just left the hands of its maker. 

“There is a definite difference between a violin ‘fresh off the bench’ and one that’s been ‘saddled up and ridden’ for a few seasons. This phenomenon has intrigued and puzzled violin aficionados for several generations. Theories span from plate vibrations and Chladni patterns [symmetrical vibration patterns on a rigid surface] to diamond dust hardening the varnish to how the vibrating bridge and soundpost ‘bite’ and settle into the body over time. We can’t say with absolute certainty what causes them to sound better after being ‘broken-in,’” writes Rhiannon Nachbaur, owner of Fiddleheads Violin Studio, in an email. “I have a strong hunch it has more to do with the hydration in the tracheids and vessel elements. Simply put, these are the inner cellular pockets that move hydration throughout plants just as our human veins and cells nourish our bodies. With the water removed, I think they become minuscule echo chambers, the concert halls of dust specks, that respond to key vibrations.”

Understanding the changes that occur in a violin over time is central to the debate over tonal development, but some insist that the ultimate sound of a violin is influenced profoundly very early on, before bow touches string. A mature sound, some luthiers argue, is determined by the quality of the wood it’s made of, and that wood must be well seasoned. 

“A new violin might be made from fairly fresh wood that has been kiln dried. Or it might be made from air-dried wood that’s 50 years old. Big difference! Avoid the kiln-dried wood that’s most common on new, relatively inexpensive violins. Will a brand-new violin made with 50-year-old air-dried wood sound better than a 25-year-old-violin that was made with fairly fresh wood that hasn’t been played in a while? Probably,” writes Andy Fein of Fein Violins in an email. “I generally try to use air-dried wood that’s 20 to 50 years old. If the grain structure is about the same—the older, the better.”

Opinions on the role of time in shaping an instrument’s tone vary widely among luthiers, musicians, and scientists, setting the stage for some spirited disagreement. Noted luthier August Gemünder (1862–1928) offered a contrasting view. “If more men of science wrote upon musical subjects, and fewer sentimentalists were allowed to break into print with their ideas upon scientific problems in acoustics, there would be less superstition and more of fact in common circulation regarding the effects of age upon the violin,” wrote Gemünder in his publication Violin World in the summer of 1918. “All that which older makers left for age to accomplish the modern maker accomplishes by proportionally graduating and arching his wood. But very little playing is required to fully develop a properly made modern violin.”

So wherein lies the truth? As with most things, the answer probably lies somewhere in between. If the violin is well-graduated and crafted from properly seasoned wood, what is the best way to facilitate its tonal evolution? Fein shares practical guidance on the art of breaking in an instrument.

“Play it. A lot! But obviously, no one can or should play 24 hours a day,” writes Fein. “I think Itzhak Perlman recommends no more than five hours a day for even his most advanced students.”

Experiments in Artificial Aging

Let’s say a player just bought a new instrument and doesn’t want to wait for the violin to mature. Are there any viable shortcuts? 

Early in his career, enterprising luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875) tried to enlist the appearance of Father Time when his violins, though expertly crafted, just weren’t selling. Musicians believed that only old Italian instruments possessed the revered “mature” sound, so Vuillaume baked his wood (or possibly colored the white wood yellow with the smoke of sulfuric acid) to mimic the aged appearance of these instruments. The gamble worked, boosting sales, but came with long-term consequences, as it ultimately damaged the wood. 

While this practice aimed to replicate the look of vintage instruments without actually changing their sound, some modern instrument manufacturers have turned to a process known as torrefaction—first employed by Vikings to preserve wood—where the material is heated in a low-oxygen environment, resulting in an aged appearance and, purportedly, enhancing its acoustic properties. Though Martin Guitar has had resounding success with its “aged” series of torrefied guitars, stringed instrument makers have been reluctant to adopt the process. One exception is Vermont Violins, which uses torrefied wood on some of its instruments in the V. Richelieu line.

“As a new manufacturer of string instruments in a temperature- and humidity-variable climate (Vermont), we wanted to control for changes in the wood when we milled our plates,” Vermont Violins cofounder Kathy Reilly writes in an email, noting that torrefied wood helps address this challenge by offering greater stability, reducing the risk of cracks and warping during the crafting process. “The challenge is balancing the brittleness associated with heat treating and the stability of the wood.”

In an online brochure about its Vintage Tone System (VTS), Martin says its torrefaction process “acts like a time machine in which Martin can target certain time periods . . . to recreate not only the pleasing visual aesthetics of a vintage guitar but also reproduce the special tones previously reserved for vintage instruments.”

Vermont Violins is not making the same claims.

“The impact on sound? No idea. The natural variability in Lucchi meter [which measures the acoustic properties of wood] readings in spruce and maple would require a much larger sample size than I have had access to. Maybe in a couple of years I will have that data,” writes Reilly. “That is the closest I would venture to go on that question given the subjective nature of sound!”

Anecdotal methods aside (like the “play-in process” of the 1960s, when musicians leaned instruments against speakers and left the radio on all day at high volumes), there are also products on the market that claim to accelerate tonal changes. The ToneRite, for example, attaches to the strings above the violin’s bridge and uses subsonic vibrations in an attempt to simulate decades of playing in a fraction of the time. “Simply attach the ToneRite whenever you are not playing, and expect to hear a dramatic increase in resonance, balance, and range after only a week of use,” promises ToneRite’s manufacturer on its website.

But how effective is it? Since tonal changes are subjective, the results can vary widely depending on the player’s sensitivity and the specific instrument. Nachbaur casts doubt on the tool’s effectiveness. “I am personally of the opinion that actual playing, and not that of a saw-like machine that slides a bow over open strings or a clip that buzzes the bridge, makes all the difference to how well, not just quickly, the instrument will mature,” writes Nachbaur.

In addition to years of use, professional violinist Mary MacFarlane sees two things as essential for improving a violin’s sound: first, understanding what a good sound truly is, and second, knowing how to produce that sound to bring out the instrument’s best qualities. “A poor setup is often the primary reason for a violin’s poor tone. Beyond this, there are techniques I use to ‘wake up’ an instrument or soften its rawness by teaching it to respond to my input,” writes MacFarlane in an email. “The method is to focus on identifying notes with resonance and work intensively on those, teaching the violin to produce higher-quality frequencies over time. Vibrations travel along the wood grain, and depending on how it is played, the violin can become more responsive and refined or remain rigid and harsh.” MacFarlane supplies detailed exercises for this on her YouTube page. 

In the end, the evolution of a violin’s tone is deeply personal and subjective. “One great caveat—I tell every player, ‘No one hears with your ears except yourself.’ There’s a tremendous amount of personal taste involved,” writes Fein. “If you, as a player, think something sounds better, then it does. To you.”