The Sound Of The Violin Resolved Stradivarius.secretoMonday 30th of January 2012 12:30:46 PM
The fascination and global interest in the Stradivarius violins are due to its unique sound, achieved with precision and fineness of master Antonio Stradivarius.
They are unique pieces and each instrument has its own features.
The 1,200 instruments that produced approximately "Stradivari", an estimated are only half, approximately 600.
A genuine Stradivarius is distinguished by its paper-thin finishes, extreme beauty iridescent wood and the label citing the year and the place where were built.
A genuine Stradivarius costs more than two million dollars and which were used by the great soloists such as Yehudi Menuhin have invaluable.
Each Stradivarius is a single piece and has its own name.
The names of the Stradivarius tend to refer to individuals who have used them.
For example:
The Museum The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has the cello "Servais" made by Stradivari in 1701.
Its name comes from the musician
RELEVANT STUDIES
One of the people who best summed up the scientific aspects related to the quality of the violins is Colin Gough, researcher of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Birmingham, in Great Britain.
In April of 2000 wrote a very documented article entitled "Science and Stradivarius", which was awarded the annual award of scientific articles of 2000 to professionals in acoustics, instituted by the Acoustic Society of America.
On the basis of the particularities of the physics of the excitement of a violin string, extensively studied by Michael McIntyre and Jim Woodhouse from Cambridge University, in the aforementioned article,
Dr. Gough analyzes the way in which a violin works:
* the physical characteristics of the sounds,
* their frequencies,
* resonance or harmonics,
* the relationship with the smallest details of the various components of the geometry of the instrument,
* the tension of the strings,
* production of so them called Helmholtz waves,
* as extends the sound, and so on.
Another part of the article focuses on the characteristics of the materials used:
* especially wood,
* Soak treatment
* his ageing,
* your internal wetting,
/ > * adjustment of each component, and
* the discussion on the role of the varnish on the quality of the instrument.
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
(we are able to appreciate its qualities?)
As an experiment the newspaper The Washington Post asked Josh Bell violinist to play his Stradivarius in the metro in incognito to see how people reacted. If recognized it him and its Stradivari.
During his "concert" on the subway with his Gibson, which lasted several hours, only seven people arrested more than one minute.
This musician has played with orchestras and the most important directors of the world.
Soon lowered their expectations towards the attention which would result in the public in such an environment, and felt very grateful when the users of the subway, he finally threw 1 dollar! He took it with great sense of humor.
About 27 people gave about coins, $ 32
SOLVED the ?
After centuries of research scientists solve the of the Stradivarius sound:
the chemical treatment applied to the wood by master luthier of the Stradivarius - and the Guarneri - are the cause of the quality of sound of these instruments.
In his research,experts used sophisticated techniques of scanner to analyze small shavings of wood extracted from five old instruments that were being repaired.
The analysed instruments were violin Stradivarius in 1717, a chelo Stradivarius of 1731, a Guarneri violin of 1741, one manufactured in Paris in the 1840s by Gand and Bernardel and a viola made by Henry Jay in 1769, in London.
With infrared espetroscopia and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses proved that in the manufacture of the valuable violins were used chemical treatments, although unlike the same instruments from Paris and London.
Joseph Nagyvary, one of the scientists responsible for this study at Texas A & M University, had suggested that an Italian chemist of Cremona had manufactured a treatment with chemical preservatives to get rid of wood liable.
This component may have served to fill cracks in porous wood, making it more harsh and affecting, at the same time, to their "mechanical and acoustical properties '"
For years he works at the Swedish University to produce a violin with the same sound capabilities than the Stradivarius. Two Swedish researchers, Mats Tinnsten and Peter Carlsson, using advanced computer models to analyze its construction.
It is possible to see a new generation of Stradivarius, the heirs of the secrets of his craft, manufactured today.
style = "color: blue" > CURIOSITIES
The website of the FBI's Art Crime Team includes among the most sought after pieces of art Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius, valued at $ 3 million, which hurtado was in the apartment of Erica Morini in New York in 2005.
This violin was built by Antonio Stradivari in 1727.
In 2006, The violin, known as "The Hammer", in reference to their original owners, was acquired by telephone in an auction of musical instruments, organized by the firm Christie "™ s."
The name of the Hammer is derived from its first owner, the Swedish collector Christian Hammer, a jeweler of the Court of the Royal family of Sweden of the 19th century.
That same year was found another Stradivarius dated 1715 in a curious place in a brothel in Spain.
Stradivarius of 1719 on eBay and in May 2006, was auctioned a supposed.
In 2007 another Stradivarius violin, valued at some2.5 million euros, was stolen from the safe of the residence of an Austrian musician, Christian Altenburger in Vienna.
The Austrian police recovered this Stradivarius in just over one week, along with another violin built by Vuillaime and three arches, also of great value. None of the instruments had suffered any damage.
In 2006 knew also that a Colombian peasant was owner of a genuine Stradivarius, made in 1713 and valued at EUR 1.5 million, for 45 years.
He got in exchange for three bags of coffee and despite living without any luxury, could not sell it for sentimental reasons.
He stated:
When it came time to deliver it I started to cry and I had no courage
His wife disagreed with this decision.
But does what "magic sound" special each Stradivarius?
