Secrets of Stradivarius Explained

Secrets of Stradivarius Explained

Scientists may finally have discovered the secret of Stradivarius violins.

In a study published yesterday in Public Library of Science ONE, Dutch researchers ran five of the peerless instruments, made in the early 18th century by Italian craftsman Antonio Stradivari and synonymous with harmonic perfection, through a CT scanner.

The resulting three-dimensional X-rays revealed that wood used in Stradivari's violins possessed an exceptionally uniform density, with little variation in growth rings added by trees each season.

Summertime growth typically outpaces wintertime growth, producing broad rings of relatively permeable wood that alternate with narrow, dense winter bands. That differential affects the wood's harmonic qualities.

Fortunately for Stradivari, he lived during the Little Ice Age: trees grew little more in summer than in winter. Hence the uniformly dense wood

I've been reading articles over the course of the last few years about them trying to solve this age old problem. Very interesting indeed!

There's always the chance our climate could go a little wonky again within a short time frame and plunge us back into a Little Ice Age. Would really give us a chance to test the theory out then!

Let's see...Maunder Minimums, huge volcanic eruptions/Supervolcanoes, asteroid/comet impacts, North Atlantic Current changes...lots of good MegaDisasters that could get us there! Woohoo!

reply to post by Evil Genius


The "wood density" issue is not new. The density of slow-growth wood can be examined by such archaic methods as measuring the distance between the growth rings. This is easy to research in the Internet age....

This is very interesting. But it also makes perfect sense. . .

I'm sure when it comes right down to it, this is just one of a few unique qualities working in concert with eachother, (no pun intended), that have all contributed to the superiority of these instruments.

Thanx for the info-

2PacSade-

I was reading about this a wee while back.
At least we have something to look forward too with the onset of a new ice age or a nuclear winter.. Nice sounding violins

Or maybe the modern equivalent.. a sweet 'limited edition' Les Paul.. here's hoping

reply to post by AGENT_T


It could be reproduced via reverse engineering?

Someone figures out a way to manufacture similar material that has the same resonate qualities.

How bout hydroponic trees grown to spec? Anything's possible.

2PacSade-

Fortunately for Stradivari, he lived during the Little Ice Age: trees grew little more in summer than in winter. Hence the uniformly dense wood

Just think how good Oetzi's violins would have been...!

As for the "secret", I always believed it had supposedly something to do with the bumps (irregularities) in the wood that Stradivari chose for his instruments.

Or was that Amati...?

Anyway, that's what I've been taught.
(Not vehemently enough, it seems. )





[edit on 3-7-2008 by Vanitas]

Maybe this will work..
I wonder if this helped inspire Steven Hawking to predict global warming?
Someone asked Newton if a body would freefall to the center of the Earth due to gravity and it inspired him in his work on calculus.