Thought I would blog a bit more research, some of which I looked into and wrote in notes for my extended research last year which I wanted to use this year. Appropriately it works with looking at the two instruments and technique. There are visual difference in the length of the fingerboard between the two violins; where the Modern violin is 4-5cm longer than the Baroque set up. This is at most being two inches shorter than the standard length of the fingerboard while there is only a centimeter difference in the neck length.
The main reason of the shorter length of the fingerboard and the neck is to try and keep the tension as low as possible. Nine percent string tension is needed to create the desired overtones; as Donnington (1963) describes in his book how the neck of the Baroque Violin goes directly into the belly of the instrument and a wedge is inserted giving the more height meaning that the fingerboard would not run into the body of the violin. Therefore the tension is not at its highest. (See Image to left) The second consideration is the music itself. Music written generally was never needed to reach notes quite so high as you need, of the modern length of the fingerboard, so the fingerboard could be shorter. However, on the modern 
set up, the neck angle enters at a 7-degree angle (image to right). By having the neck set at a steeper angle means that the strings generate more down force than at a flatter angle in early violin construction. On the baroque violin, this angle creates ‘parallel direction’ into the violin, which makes the sound more mellow and dark due to having less pressure on the bridge and the sound-post, unlike the modern violin needing 157-degrees common standard of string tension.
The specifics of the fingerboard and neck together highlight the reason why the output of sound is less powerful and suited to the music of the period, such as the playing in small concerts or group work enhancing its more intimate sound. I will speak with a luthier in then near future to collect as much information as possible on set up, or to enhance my own set up for the recording.
The second half of the eighteenth century started the trend of makers constructing violins to support higher tensions. By having a specific angle of the neck and fingerboard, the higher tension gives stronger and more brilliant tones. Having a steeper neck-fingerboard angle transmitted more tension to the belly and the back, which is balanced by having a stronger bass bar to support this higher tension. This extra pressure put on the modernized setup, is what marks the main difference between the baroque and modern instruments. In terms of tonal characteristics, our modern set up is much brighter and bolder which is needed to play more romantically or modern in style in bigger concert halls.
lauren hamilton violinist 