Headline of article in today's Cleveland, Ohio Plain Dealer,
sub-headlined, Experts trace it to Mother Nature's 'Little Ice Age'
Knoxville, Tenn.- The secret of a Stradivarius violin's heavenly sound
may actually have celestial origins.
For centuries, experts have debated whether special varnishes or wood
treatments were the secret to the instrument's rich resonance.
Now a tree-ring dating expert at the University of Tennessee and a
climatologist at Columbia University offer a new theory- the wood
developed special acoustic properties as it was growing because of an
extended period of long winters and cool summers.
" It just amazed me that no one had thought of this before," Dr. Henri
Grissino-Mayer said. "The relationship between the violins, the trees
that they were made from, the climate that existed when the trees grew
and how it affected wood density to create a superior tonal quality."
Grissino-Mayer at Tennessee and Dr. Lloyd Burckle at Columbia suggest a
"Little Ice Age" that gripped Europe from the mid 1400s until the 1800s
slowed tree growth and yielded uncommonly dense Alpine spruce for
Antonnio Stradivari and other famous 17th-century Italian violinmakers.
The ice age reached its coldest point from 1645 to1715.
Stradivari was born a year before this period began. and he produced his
most prized and valued instruments as the period ended- his "golden
period from 1700-1720.
Burckle, who studies global climate change through the lives of tiny sea
creatures at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation in Palisades,
N. Y. compared the dates and wondered if there was a connection.
He contacted Grissino-Mayer at Tennessee's Labortory of Tree-Ring
Science, who two years ago authenticated the world's most venerated
Stradivarius violin, known as "The Messiah" in England.
Grissino-Mayer developed a 500-year chonology, from 1500 to the present,
for 16 high-elevation forests of larch, spruce and pine in five
countries from western France to southern Germany. He discovered an
unprecedented period of slow growth from 1625-1720 characterized by
compact, narrow tree rings.
Grissino-Mayer and Burckle noted that "narrow tree rings would not only
strengthen the violin but would increase the wood's density."
Stewart
All these theories on the sound of strads are plausible. A prominent and
recent theory that the logs had been floated downriver during that period
and had remained submerged for some time before use. IIRC, a few years back
a scientist/violin maker in central Texas was doing something similar to
logs and getting a sound that fooled some "experts".
The sound of an any instrument is very subjective, and it is absolutely
amazing how much the particular sound of an instrument has to do with the
hands and touch of the player.
Good post!
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/21/03
"Stewart Schooley" wrote in message
> Headline of article in today's Cleveland, Ohio Plain Dealer,
> sub-headlined, Experts trace it to Mother Nature's 'Little Ice Age'
>
> Knoxville, Tenn.- The secret of a Stradivarius violin's heavenly sound
> may actually have celestial origins.
>
> " It just amazed me that no one had thought of this before," Dr. Henri
> Grissino-Mayer said. "The relationship between the violins, the trees
> that they were made from, the climate that existed when the trees grew
> and how it affected wood density to create a superior tonal quality."
>
Duh!
Violin Making from Lee Valley first published in 1885.
A pretty bold and self promoting statement, "no one had thought of this
before"
I don't know if I should bang my head against a wall, just shake it or
go cry.
Man lets all go grab headlines discovering "new" things.
Stewart Schooley <[email protected]> wrote:
>" It just amazed me that no one had thought of this before," Dr. Henri
>Grissino-Mayer said. "The relationship between the violins, the trees
>that they were made from, the climate that existed when the trees grew
>and how it affected wood density to create a superior tonal quality."
I bet a lot of people thought about it and then after a few seconds of
extra thought they realized that anyone making violins from wood
harvested a bit further North (today) would have the same qualities.
Since this doesn't seem to be the case, they would go back to the
drawing board.
Ken Muldrew
[email protected]
(remove all letters after y in the alphabet)
On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 10:52:32 -0500, Stewart Schooley <[email protected]> wrote:
> Headline of article in today's Cleveland, Ohio Plain Dealer,
> sub-headlined, Experts trace it to Mother Nature's 'Little Ice Age'
>
> Knoxville, Tenn.- The secret of a Stradivarius violin's heavenly sound
> may actually have celestial origins.
>
> For centuries, experts have debated whether special varnishes or wood
> treatments were the secret to the instrument's rich resonance.
>
(snip)
The real secret? 500 years of editing. The violin was invented during
his lifetime, or shortly before, iirc.
At some point, he learned how to make violins. At some LATER point, he
learned how to make a World Class violin.
After a Century or so, all of his clunkers became firewood. Only the
Very Best of his Very Best remain, and are in the hands of the Very Best
of the Very Best players.
Does wonders for ones reputation.
There are lesser-known makers of whom far fewer examples remain, but
which are extremely well regarded, not to mention a number of modern
makers who have an excellent reputation among players.
Isn't there a surgeon who makes one or two world-class violins per year,
and has a five year long waiting list?