Stradivarius stringed instruments — the exquisitely fabricate , highly seek after multi - million dollar sign wood boxes * crafted in the seventeenth and eighteenth C by Italian luthier Antoni Stradivari — are a bit of a enigma to modernistic daytime observers . Despite their quality , nobody quite knows what wee them so superior .
Researchers at National Taiwan University , however , recall they might have an answer . accord to astudypublished this calendar week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , it ’s all about the Mrs. Henry Wood , sister .
After canvass maple samples from four Stradivari and one Guarneri ( a likewise well - consider instrument ) , the generator discover that the wood had been chemically treated — the sample contained traces of aluminum , calcium , fuzz , sodium , atomic number 19 , and zinc .
“ This case of chemical seasoning was an unusual practice session , unknown to later generations of violin manufacturing business , ” the authors concluded . “ In their current United States Department of State , maples in Stradivari violins have very different chemical properties liken with their advanced counterparts , likely due to the combined effects of aging , chemical substance treatments , and vibrations . ”
harmonise to Henri Grissino - Mayer , a prof at the University of Tennessee , Knoxville , who contemplate tree rings , modern instrument do n’t get these kinds of baths . “ This newspaper is the first to convince me that some type of mineral extract into wood might have ranking strait in a melodic instrument , ” hetoldthe New York Times .
It remains a mystery , however , whether the famed luthier knew what kind of outcome the chemic discussion would have . Hwan - Ching Tai , one of the survey ’s author , positedthat the chemical bathroom was probably ab initio do by forest proletarian who wanted to avoid fungus and worms .
Besides the chemical paper , the researchers also find that a third of hemicellulose , a component in forest that sucks up moisture , had decomposed . As a outcome , the instruments had around 25 percent less wet than newer version — a key contributor for their “ bright sound,”according toluthier Joseph Nagyvary .
Still , as the Washington Postpoints out , the debate over how the famed instruments get their sound is n’t over , as interpersonal chemistry does n’t account for acoustic effects — how the pawn actually oscillate and produce sound . And some even think all the hustle is for nothing : A 2012study , for example , found that 21 players opt a modern instrument over an older one when they were n’t told which was which .
In other words , if you attempt to give your violin a bath , you ’re likely go to have a bad sentence .
- I used to play the violin , a Very expert Wooden Box , so I am allowed to call them this .
[ PNASvia theWashington Post ]
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