The Brilliance of a Stradivari Violin Might Rest Within Its Wood.

[elleng]

'In the violin-making world, two names reign above all others: Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri.

Both masters lived during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, in a small town in northern Italy called Cremona, and garnered a reputation for making the best stringed instruments in the world. Since then, luthiers have tirelessly tried to imitate Stradivari’s and Guarneri’s craftsmanship, copying their wood choice, geometry and construction methods. But their efforts have met with little success.

For hundreds of years, the best violin players have almost unanimously said they prefer a Stradivari or a Guarneri instrument.

Why nobody has been able to replicate that sound remains one of the most enduring mysteries of instrument building. A new study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that answers may lie in the wood: Mineral treatments, followed by centuries of aging and transformation from playing, might give these instruments unique tonal qualities.'>>>

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/science/stradivari-violin-wood.html?

[rug]

1. I'm tone deaf. How'd you do?

[elleng]

4. OK-ish; I preferred 4 or 6!

[PoliticAverse]

2. "Blind-tested soloists unable to tell Stradivarius violins from modern instruments"

http://www.thestrad.com/blind-tested-soloists-unable-to-tell-stradivarius-violins-from-modern-instruments/

[pangaia]

9. Got lucky I guess.. picked #5, the Strad...

Maybe because I know the Tchaikovsky so well...

But there has been a lot made about actual double blind tests, true.....

[brush]

3. Did the two masters know each other?

[pangaia]

5. There were actually a number of makers in the Guarneri family.

the most famous was Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri, referred to with the suffix del Gesu. His are considered the greatest of that family's instruments, and by some to be the greatest in the world. Everybody has their own opinion.

Stradivari lived from 1644- 1737 , and the various Guaneri's from 1626-1744..(had to look that up) So I would guess Antonio Stradivari knew some of them,,, I really don't know.

I know several international concert violinists, and they all play either a Stradivarius or a del Gesu. Which does not mean ALL great violinists play an instrument by these 2 makers. One I know was playing a 17th century Strad, then switched to a del Gesu and now is playing an early 18th century Strad, which she prefers. I had the chance to hold this instruments once and play several notes.
WHEW !!

[brush]

6. Thanks for the info. Are you a violinist?

[pangaia]

8. No, a retired percussionist. and occasional conductor... :)))

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. It was kind of hard for me to tell much about the sound of the violins

because while I was listening my cats were fighting and making loud screechy sounds. I did pick the Strad, though; but maybe that was just luck or because it sounded so much better than cat screeches.

[dwayneb]

10. Stradivarius modal testing

That seems plausible. Years ago I worked on a project where client provided access to a Stradivarius and we performed modal testing, a method where the vibration patterns of the instrument could be measured and visualized using special software (this is common practice today but was rather ground breaking back then). The goal was to document the modal characteristics of the violin in order to copy it. This would include the mode shapes, the frequencies of each mode of vibration, and the amplitude of each mode which is controlled by the amount of damping.

Damping is one of the characteristics that is extremely hard to match, because it is frequency dependent. Different types/ages of wood could definitely change the damping at different locations thicknesses and frequencies. Turns out that is extremely hard to match, it is more than replicating the geometry of the instrument. In addition to the wood, the shellac/varnish changes the damping and tone of the instrument.

[elleng]

11. Interesting!

Welcome!