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Researchers Reveal Secret to Stradivarius’ Superior Sound

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 July 2008, 00:05 CDT

Over the past 300 years, music lovers and scientists alike have been unable to explain reasons why the sounds from a Stradivarius violin are superior to those of other instruments in its class.

Now, with the help of a computed tomography (CT) scanner, a Dutch doctor and a violin maker from Arkansas believe they have determined the key to the Stradivarius’ quality sound – its dense wood.

Dr Berend Stoel of the Leiden University Medical Center and violin maker Terry Borman used an adaptation of a computer program developed to calculate lung densities in people with emphysema.

They were able to analyze the physical properties of violins without risking damage to instruments worth millions of dollars.

Writing in the journal PLoS One, Stoel and Borman noted finding no significant differences between the median densities of modern and antique violins, but did discover far less variation between wood grains of early and late growth in the old ones.

Since differentials in wood density affect vibration and therefore sound quality, the discovery may well explain the superiority of the Cremonese violins, they reported.

The maple and spruce wood used by Italian masters like Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu to craft Cremonese violins could be noticeably different because trees grew different in the past than they do today.

"Climate difference could explain part of it but treatment of the wood could be another explanation. A third answer could simply be the ageing of the wood over the past 300 years," said Stoel.

"There is no way of knowing from this data; we've just shown there are density differences."

Stoel and Borman hope their research may help modern instrument makers seeking to replicate the work of the Italian masters.

Source: redOrbit staff and wire reports

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