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39 Comments
- jwolcott, on 10/01/2009, -1/+53Everyone knows that the best violins are those infected with the Stradivirus.
- AMD64MM, on 10/01/2009, -0/+27Biolin?
- cc132, on 10/01/2009, -1/+25This rant is from a guitar forum that I read, so I cannot take credit for it, but it sums up my feelings well.
"The "secret of Stradivarius" keeps getting rediscovered every few years, with uncritical news stories of this type breathlessly reporting the "news." The only thing relatively unusual about this article is that it didn't star Joseph Nagyvary, a grandstanding retired Texas A&M professor who has "rediscovered" the "secret" several times over - over the years, his theories have changed several times:
the "secret" is in the wood, which was soaked in brine;
no, actually, the "secret" is in the finish, which must have contained chitin from insect exoskeletons (which Nagyvary obtained by boiling giant vats of Junebugs)
no, I take it back, the "secret" was that the Master used urine in his finish (which Nagyvary obtained by putting out collection jugs in the Texas A&M men's rooms.)
and so forth.
The real "secret" was that Stradivarius was an extraordinary craftsman who did superb work that was recognized even within his own lifetime, so his instruments were cherished and guarded and taken good care of so they could be passed down to future generations.
That's all there is to it." - Gnar04, on 10/01/2009, -1/+22maybe if i cover my viola in mayo and leave it out in the sun for a while...... hmm.
- kinerry, on 10/01/2009, -1/+16they can, these audiophiles are the same ones hawking gold plated cables
- jwolcott, on 10/01/2009, -1/+15I question the validity of your concern.
- maximilen, on 10/01/2009, -3/+15"According to Schwarze, treating the wood with fungi artificially recreates the structure of the wood that was naturally occurring during Antonio Giacomo Stradivarius's lifetime. The Little Ice Age, a period of abnormally cool weather between 1645 to 1715, made trees create more uniform wood. Treating wood with the fungus artificially recreates wood similar to that which was created in the Little Ice Age."
Nice find, too bad they won't be using that wood anytime soon in the Yamaha acoustic guitar I'm looking at buying. - TheUngod, on 10/01/2009, -1/+12In the right hands it can become a world class violin. But in the wrong hands, it still sounds like a fungi infected piece of crap.
- skidork, on 10/01/2009, -0/+10Quality of sound is too damn subjective....
- captininsanity, on 10/01/2009, -0/+9Have they tried pure unobtainium?
- damnshoes, on 10/01/2009, -0/+6It would be awesome if violins came to life.
- SpruceCaboose, on 10/01/2009, -0/+5I am pretty sure it is a combination of 3 factors. 1) The wood. Most studies seem to indicate that the climate in his time made woods with differing acoustic properties. This scientist studying sound vibrations in wood also seems to corroborate that. 2) Stradivarius was a great craftsman who did make well crafted (but not impossible to reproduce) violins that have held up and been treated incredibly well over the years. And 3) People see the Stradivarius name and bring to that many mental preconceptions, most crucial is that the instrument must be top notch since they are exhausted all over the world and the player must be highly skilled to have an instrument of such worth.
I don't believe at all that there is something magical about a Stradivarius that makes reproducing the sound quality of one impossible. However, they are top notch instruments, and they likely always will be, as much for their history as much for the quality of the sound. - RealmDown, on 10/01/2009, -0/+5A fungus unsungous
- PakoBedejo, on 10/01/2009, -1/+6Can't they make violins from a specialized polymer instead? Surely one can be engineered...
- PakoBedejo, on 10/01/2009, -3/+8So, you're saying they can more consistently reproduce these 'works of art' using willy-nilly wood than if they were to use an engineered material?
- Harabeck, on 10/01/2009, -1/+6Or, we could over tradition and use engineered materials more exactly shaped and get better results. It doesn't have to be an art, people just like the nostalgia.
- 0tis, on 10/01/2009, -0/+4Yeah, she didn't believe it either :(
- phorofor, on 10/01/2009, -1/+5My saxophone sounds better without fungus growing in it.
- PakoBedejo, on 10/01/2009, -1/+4miggyb...
engineered materials =/= mass produced
There's a difference. Learn it. - taokr, on 10/01/2009, -0/+3Agreed, if it truly was just the wood used at that time, then wouldn't all violins made in the time of Stradavarius sound great? How come we don't hear about Joe Smith violins from 1700?
- pointlessbanter, on 10/01/2009, -2/+5have they tried transparent aluminum?
- nerwala, on 10/01/2009, -0/+3fungus enhances wood?
- pgoetz, on 10/01/2009, -0/+2Well, unless one is willing to spend >$3000 for a bow, carbon fiber bows are the best. I got a Coda bow and would never consider using anything else again.
- RaximKoron, on 10/01/2009, -0/+2well, they do make plenty of acoustic instruments out of carbon fiber to great effect.
- lunachique, on 10/01/2009, -0/+2I saw this fascinating program about the mini Ice Age that happened during Stradivarius' time that caused the Alpine spruce trees he used to go through prolonged periods of growth and non-growth which caused the wood to become extremely resilient.
- diggaligg, on 10/01/2009, -1/+3They said it sounded "warmer". How much more objectivity do you want?
- captininsanity, on 10/01/2009, -0/+2Everyone knows music sounds better on shrooms!
- vcleniuk, on 10/01/2009, -0/+2Thanks for reposting, cc132. I agree with that comment, too.
Craftsmanship...
I dugg the article -- but agree with your post. - DarkSpoon, on 10/01/2009, -0/+2i would like to have see some pictures of the different stages in making the bioviolin.
- tobiasproject, on 10/01/2009, -1/+2helloooo computer...
- captininsanity, on 10/01/2009, -5/+6Even if they were able to reproduce a similar material it still wouldn't be enough. There's so much that goes into making these violins properly acoustic don't expect that to be possible any time soon. That's why there more than just a product, but a work of art.
- miggyb, on 10/01/2009, -4/+5Harabeck, by your logic, mass-produced synthetic sofas should be more comfortable than leather custom-made ones. You have to think about the instrument (and instrument maker)as just one piece of making music (the other two being the player/interpreter and the composer [Edit: look at TheUngod's comment below mine]). Most people, probably including myself, aren't really able to hear the difference between a "Superb" violin and a Stradivarius, but I'm certain there IS a difference.
Mass-produced technology can raise the standard of objects, but they can't make the best one of anything. Another example, keyboards. There's some pretty good gaming keyboards, but if you were able to buy a custom-made keyboard designed specifically to fit your hands, fingers, wrists, etc, you'd be able to "perform" better on it than on just a regular keyboard meant to fit the bell-shaped curve. - Hodor, on 10/01/2009, -2/+1what a fungi effect they discovered.
- captininsanity, on 10/01/2009, -5/+3It's not impossible for it to be done, but at the moment there is no such material. Violins must be hand made by a master for the fact that natural materials are never truly homogeneous, so it takes a skilled hand to work with the material to make it produce the right shape to make the sound.
- NotAChickenHawk, on 10/01/2009, -4/+2There's a fungus amoung us.
- CosmosCR, on 10/01/2009, -3/+1It just seems like there's no reference point. Who's to say what a violin should sound like?
- diguptruth77, on 10/01/2009, -10/+5Wait...did it sound better because the people listening were ON mushrooms? No *****...
- Icupnimpn2, on 10/01/2009, -9/+4Violins, dude. RTFA. VioLINS.
It's algae that improves violas. - CosmosCR, on 10/01/2009, -14/+3I question the validity of the listening test.
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