What is Digg?Sponsored by Microsoft
Microsoft responds to the headlines. view!
microsoft.com/everybodysbusiness - Read our developers' points of view on the headlines making news.
189 Comments
- Berkana, on 01/23/2009, -0/+207I attended a lecture by Nagavary about his theories and techniques, followed by a concert of music played on both a Strad and on one of his violins. The audience all thought his instrument sounded at least as good if not better than that particular specimen of Stradivarius.
Another secret of Stradivarius (or rather, all thoroughly played old violins) is humidity cycling; exposing the instrument's unvarnished insides to varying humidity over many years causes wood creep, and wood creep improves the sound producing qualities of the wood. Fortunately, wood creep accumulates linearly, and can be forced by exposing the wood to artificially humid and dry air, simulating centuries of playing. The effects can be rather dramatic. The instrument warps a little bit, looking like instruments that are hundreds of years old, but their sound is also dramatically changed.
http://www.scoraig.com/arts/abeavitt/humiditycycli ...
(When a violin gets played continuously for an hour or so, the player's breath enters the sound hole near his nose ant mouth, and increases the humidity inside the violin.) - BrynoMite, on 01/23/2009, -2/+123The secret is that it's in Vault 92. I think it's north of the main D.C. area. Just poke around and you can find the entrance.
- TheRedeemer, on 01/23/2009, -4/+102Dugg for keeping Digg classy. Plus the word Stradivarius is sexy, in my opinion.
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -7/+71Why is that high culture articles like this are so rare on Digg compared to "troofer"/Ron Paul articles? Diggers should submit them more often.
- RudeTurnip, on 01/23/2009, -5/+52Could this help me out with Guitar Hero?
- opticwind, on 01/23/2009, -0/+44I've been playing violin for several years (it's a wonderful instrument, albeit expensive to maintain) and I've heard the argument over this several times. People claim that it sounds the same, or it's the placebo effect, or that they sound better because better players have them...I'm sorry but this is simply not the case. A Strad is expensive and illustrious because to a well-trained violinist the sound is incredible. I don't mean to get all high and mighty but much like truly fine art, the quality is powerful to those that know what to listen for.
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -1/+44Well, now that I read that article about humidity cycling, I dipped my acoustic guitar in the bath tub, and now I'm blow drying it. I plan to repeat the process several times and I am perfectly convinced that this is actually a good idea and that nothing can go wrong!
- sodade, on 01/23/2009, -0/+42I'd think it wouldn't matter much for a solid body electric....
- Kielistic, on 01/23/2009, -2/+40Wrong vault guys, Gary is 118 I think. Vault 92 is the mirelurks.
Play more Fallout. - atarijedi, on 01/23/2009, -5/+39I believe the secret is that they are made of wood.
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -3/+37At first I thought it was an Onion story.
It is not the chemicals that make it sound so good, the name Stradivarius that works like placebo.
I have Stradivarius cello replica and until I say it is not original all listeners say it is the most perfect sound they heard. - TetchyTony, on 01/23/2009, -1/+21Another hypothesis is that only really good violinists get to play a Strad., so - no wonder the sound is better? Old news anyway, 'Scientific American' did an exhaustive article on the wood and resonances maybe 20 years ago.
- bipolarruledout, on 01/23/2009, -1/+17I'll take culture articles (with a non political/environmental spin) period.. not necessarily high culture if there is such a thing. It's like people love the idea of erecting these walls around what common people vs. the well off should enjoy in life. You don't have to be rich to be cultured.
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -0/+16Could that be applied to guitars as well? Acoustic/electric?
- Jaliyl, on 01/23/2009, -0/+16Make sure to stop by Old Olney while you're up there, such a friendly little town.
- zyklon, on 01/23/2009, -2/+17Cancer is a little different. Go look up the nature of a cancer.
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -1/+16Gary, gary gary! GARY!
- regression, on 01/23/2009, -3/+18this is digg, give us a few hours and we'll have one...again.
- kofikingston, on 01/23/2009, -0/+15"Where the heck is Vault ninety.. oh there it is.. OH SHI- *deathclaw food*"
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -2/+16Gary?
- dementedd, on 01/23/2009, -4/+18shut the ***** up
- Murrabbit, on 01/23/2009, -1/+14The only reason that I even know what a Stradivarius violin is is because of Fallout3. And they say video games are rotting my brain!
- macmcraeart, on 01/23/2009, -4/+17otherwise known as the mysterious "apple logo effect"
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -0/+13So, if this article is correct soon we'll be able to go down to Guitar Center and pick up an assembly line made Stradivarius knock-off that sounds as good or better for $259.00 at the Summer Blowout Sale.
And, then again maybe not. Any violinists want to opine? - EmiliaGarcia, on 01/23/2009, -0/+12NapoleonsHat: Your friend owns an -original- Stradivarius? Tell me, where did your friend get 2+ million dollars? And also, what University would they be teaching at?
- lilrabbit129, on 01/23/2009, -0/+12That I can respect. Its similar to really good gourmet food. To an untrained pallet ( like mine ), it just tastes good, but to a trained pallet they know what flavors to look for, and when.
- lkoba, on 01/23/2009, -0/+12I'm pretty sure I heard a similar story about a year (or two) ago.
In that one they linked the wood attributes to sea water floods.
They reproduced such effects on wood and there was also a blind test were they couldn't tell which one was the Stradivarius.
Anyone have a link to that history? - inactive, on 01/23/2009, -0/+12netdroid9 -
technically, since most of the surface of an electric solid body guitar is finished with lacquer, humidity is not such a great factor with electrics, and it's technically impossible to humidity cycle it like a hollow body instrument, like acoustic guitars and violins, where a lot of surface inside the soundhole is unfinished and changes with environment.
In case of electrics, I guess your fretboard could warp a little in different humidity conditions - but the actual tone of the guitar wouldn't change much... :/ - TheThirdWheel, on 01/23/2009, -1/+12This ^
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -0/+9Could this be applied to guitar making?
- danr2c2, on 01/23/2009, -0/+9I was lucky enough to personally know a man who inadvertently lost his loaned Strad after driving off with it still on his roof. Years later it was finally recovered after being found in an attic of some random person.
UPDATE: It was the Duke of Alcantara Strad. Professor Margetts was my quartet master instructor in Fresno. He told us the story. It is on Wikipedia:
Genevieve Vedder donated the instrument to the University of California at Los Angeles' (UCLA) music department in the 1960s. In 1967, the instrument was on loan to David Margetts who left the Stradivarius on the roof of his car and drove off or claimed it was stolen from his vehicle. For 27 years the violin was considered missing until it was recovered from an amateur violinist. A settlement was made and the Stradivarius was returned to UCLA in 1995.[ - lunachique, on 01/23/2009, -0/+8I watched this fascinating program about the mini Ice Age. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age It was basically three distinct warming and freezing periods that occurred in the Middle Ages, and it affected everything from the Black Plague, to the Inquisition, to the Salem Witch Trials. It's really really interesting. It was those warming and freezing periods that caused the trees to become very unique and very strong. The wood was used for Stradivarius violins, and that is another reason why they are so priceless because that wood was distinctive to that particular period in history.
- Phyltre, on 01/23/2009, -1/+9Really? Ron Paul articles?
We haven't heard a peep from Ron Paul in at least six months--but Obama, who has an article every five minutes, fails to make your list? Sounds like you're just extrapolating your tendencies. - rsh28630, on 01/23/2009, -0/+8You may want to unplug the electric prior to dipping it in the bath....
- itsthehumidity, on 01/23/2009, -0/+8Yeah that is true with people. Tell them they're eating normal chocolate and they say it's good, but call the same stuff Dark Swiss premium and they say it's amazing.
- Azuroth, on 01/23/2009, -0/+8Gear up Soldier, it's just a little blood.
- zrang, on 01/23/2009, -0/+7R. Kelly wants to pee on your violin.
- bipolarruledout, on 01/23/2009, -0/+7So the question is should wood instruments be humidified or not? I think owners of quality guitars would really would like to know more about this?
- roctimo, on 01/23/2009, -3/+10God your name just says it all, doesn't it?
- jascination, on 01/23/2009, -1/+8Many say that the beauty of Stradivarius' instruments lies in the story that they hold; that the legend behind the instruments makes the listener fall in love with the violins before ever hearing them.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?p ...
There's a great discussion at this link of whether the beautiful sound that comes from these violins are genuinely better than other violins. From a post on that page: "The great old violins have many strengths and many flaws, but they have breathed in and sung out the history of music, and great players and listeners respond to that and crave it." - CressCrowbits, on 01/23/2009, -3/+10still morons posting ***** on the internet
- opticwind, on 01/23/2009, -0/+6That would be impressive if they blind tested seasoned violinists. If you ask a random person off the street the difference between a yamaha and a strad is minimal at best.
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -0/+6Good Violin makers soak the timbers in Urine before drying them again and crafting them. The urine acts as a preservative and timber hardener similar to placing wood into salt water. It doesn't rot, it simply turns steel hard making the grain tighter and cellulose less elastic, though that depends on the wood being used. Most of all it prevents borer and other insects from going there as well as eliminating fungal problems.
That might explain the Iron Salts. ; ) - CressCrowbits, on 01/23/2009, -0/+6SPOILERS
- inactive, on 01/23/2009, -0/+6Well high culture is different to pop culture. Culture is the ideas, likes and art of people, and we should try and embrace as much culture as possible. You don't have to be rich and middleaged to enjoy Beethoven, nor do you have to be black to enjoy rap. It's just that high culture seems to be a lot less common than popular culture.
- clondike7, on 01/23/2009, -1/+7did this guy never see The Red Violin?
- ems8, on 01/24/2009, -0/+6Sorry this isn't really a productive comment, but here it goes.
That was great information, Berkana. As someone who knows absolutely nothing about violins except that they sound good, your explanation helped add a significant degree of relevance for me regarding this digg post. Whereas at first I had no idea what the title of the post meant, I now have a pretty good understanding of what is happening.
In short, I learned something from your post.
Thanks - peterneo, on 01/23/2009, -0/+6Get him! He's an elitist!
- Volatile36, on 01/23/2009, -0/+6Wow, I'm surprised at the number of Stradivarius violins that have been stolen over the years...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradivarius - GalacticXenu, on 01/23/2009, -1/+7That's because Lord King God Obama will lead us to salvation. Ron Paul is a roadblock to the Promised Land.
obama08 -
Show 51 - 100 of 191 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is