Does anyone know if the researchers have made an effort to quantify the acoustics they are trying to recreate or explain?
The NYTimes article summarizes it this way: "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.
Here's the thing, is there actually a notably different sound? I have read the study that shows professional musicians don't necessarily prefer the sound of a stradivarius over a high quality new instrument, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't sound different. How good are they at telling the difference between these instruments, is it something a non-musician could notice or be trained to notice relatively easily.
Ideally, a researcher would be able to quantify the tone that is elusive. Alternatively, a team of listeners who can clearly distinguish between the two, reliable, would be useful. Because it sounds like the goal here isn't so much to get a really nice sound, it's to figure out why these instruments sound different (if indeed they do!)
I read the abstract, and it sounds like they've analyzed the composition of the violins and have found some notable chemical differences in the wood. It's not an uninteresting result, but I still have to wonder if we're a few steps ahead of ourselves here. First things first, do Stradivarius instruments, as a group, have an identifiably different tone or acoustic quality that makes it possible, either through acoustic measurements or trained human evaluation, to reliably classify them apart from other instruments.
The NYTimes article summarizes it this way: "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.
Here's the thing, is there actually a notably different sound? I have read the study that shows professional musicians don't necessarily prefer the sound of a stradivarius over a high quality new instrument, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't sound different. How good are they at telling the difference between these instruments, is it something a non-musician could notice or be trained to notice relatively easily.
Ideally, a researcher would be able to quantify the tone that is elusive. Alternatively, a team of listeners who can clearly distinguish between the two, reliable, would be useful. Because it sounds like the goal here isn't so much to get a really nice sound, it's to figure out why these instruments sound different (if indeed they do!)
I read the abstract, and it sounds like they've analyzed the composition of the violins and have found some notable chemical differences in the wood. It's not an uninteresting result, but I still have to wonder if we're a few steps ahead of ourselves here. First things first, do Stradivarius instruments, as a group, have an identifiably different tone or acoustic quality that makes it possible, either through acoustic measurements or trained human evaluation, to reliably classify them apart from other instruments.