The Science of Music

       Throughout history, Stradivarius violins have been investigated and compared against other makes of violins, as many individuals believe that the Stradivarius instruments are superior in their quality of sound. Many studies have been conducted analyzing the wood of both Stradivarius instruments and modern violins, with hypotheses structured around the differences observed. A collection of these observations, specifically those that have routinely found merit and are backed by corroborative evidence with multiple other studies, are presented below.

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       Mass spectrometry studies of Stradivarius violins indicate that a significant amount of various minerals (including arsenic, boron, germanium, antimony, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium, copper, zinc, and aluminum) are included in the wood of Stradivari's maple violins. The minerals are believed to be liquid-induced, as though the wood was supplied a chemical bath. Further examination suggests that this liquid treatment of the wood could only be accomplished shortly after the wood was felled, as the wood must be wet in order to accept the chemical bath. Modern attempts to instill a similar chemical treatment into dried wood have resulted in rejection of the chemical bath, as the wood splits itself. The dried wood is not able to tolerate the liquid bath/soaking of the wood.

       The intended properties of the chemical bath appear to have been antifungal, helping to preserve the wood and extend its lifetime (and Stradivari's instruments are known for their longevity). It is quite likely that the chemical bath was induced by the wood cutter(s) themselves shortly after felling the wood to help preserve the material as it was stored. This same process cannot be conducted by modern violins makers as today's wood is felled and shipped in mass quantities, not by any single person. The wood is also stored to dry for years before it is sold to achieve stability, which makes it intolerant to the prescribed chemical bath, as previously discussed. 

       The preservation of the wood within Stradivarius instruments exceeds most reasonable expectations, and a large quantity of Stradivarius instruments remain in superb condition today. The majority of the cells within the structure of the violin (cellulose, holocellulose and lignin) remain intact. However, it is noted that Stradivarius violins appear to degrade more quickly than Stradivarius cellos, and it is theorized that high frequency vibrations may be more destructive to the structures of the cells than vibrations of lower frequencies. Current projections estimate an operational lifetime of an additional hundred years for Stradivarius instruments before they become too degraded to be used.

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       The longevity of Stradivarius instruments has allowed for their wood to naturally age to a degree not achieved by other instruments. Throughout the years of their lifetime the Stradivarius instruments have been continually drying, slowly losing the water content of their cells. According to NMR analyses, hemicellulose cells in particular have decayed about 37 percent since the instruments' construction. The loss of water density within the instrument is believed to result in a brighter tone for the Stradivarius instruments.

       Additionally, the cells of the instruments are noted to reorient themselves throughout the lifetime of the instrument. This process is known to musicians as "homogenization". In order to reduce the energy expenditure of the instrument, the cells within the body of the instrument realign themselves to reduce friction. When vibrations are introduced to the instrument through playing the realignment acts to reduce self-destructive friction, ensuring the instrument doesn't vibrate against itself. This process lowers the energy expenditure of the instrument and allows for more of the energy input by the vibrating mechanism to escape as sound. Through this process not only does the instrument become more efficient, but in theory the sound of the instrument becomes louder and more brilliant because less of the vibrational energy is lost within the instrument.

       Although it is not proven, many musicians believe that homogenization affects the quality of sound dependent upon the vibrations that are in introduced to the instrument. For example, if an inexperienced player works with an instrument and constantly plays with poor tone it is believed that the instrument will align itself internally to match the poor tone, and any subsequent playing upon the instrument will result in a similarly bad sound. It is for this reason that a less experienced player believes a professional's instrument plays so well, because it has been molecularly oriented by the professional's playing to "play" with their great qualities. Based on this belief we can view the lineage of Stradivarius instruments in new light. As they have been passed through the hands of professional player to professional player the Stradivarius instruments have garnered centuries of great qualities. Not only do these instruments appear to become better as they age, they may become better the more they are played.

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       Another theory on the instruments' compositional differences is rooted within climate fluctuations experienced within the last few hundred years. In the 1600's-1700's Earth was experiencing a period of unusually cold temperatures during the Little Ice Age, which is thought to have affected the wood used to create the Stradivarius violins. The majority of growth within trees occurs during warmer seasons, when the tree grows more rapidly to accommodate greater amounts of water and nutrients. As the temperature begins to drop the tree growth slows as the tree produces thicker cells to help protect its exterior, essentially acting as insulation. Due to the cold temperatures during the time period of the Little Ice Age, trees were thought to have grown more slowly to continuously protect themselves from the harsher climate. The slow growing wood was more dense and resonates more easily because of its increased density. It should be noted that information proposed by this theory conflicts with tomography measurements of Stradivarius instruments. These tomography measurements instead suggest that Stradivari's instruments do not greatly differ in density when compared to their modern counterparts; the density of both woods is generally the same. 

 

       Although constantly disputed, Stradivarius instruments, and Stradivarius violins in particular, have achieved world-renowned fame for their brilliant sound. Quality of sound is often subjective, depending on the player and their skill, listening preference, environmental/acoustic settings, the particular sound of an individual instrument, as well as a variety of other minute details. As such, many musicians maintain their own biased beliefs and either have a preference for Stradivarius instruments or for an instrument constructed by a different maker. Additionally, a single violin isn't suited to every task. A musician wishing to play more mellow music may find Stradivarius instruments to be overbearing with their brilliant sound, opting for a violin with more soothing tone. Some musicians believe that Stradivarius violins are able to be played with more musicality; that their design and sound can be expertly coaxed to produce subtle nuances modern instruments are incapable of. No clear evidence exists to suggest that Stradivarius instruments are better or worse musically than their modern counterparts and the debate is unlikely to ever cease given how subjective musical preference is. Regardless of the fact that their superiority in sound might be disputed, there is no disputing the fact that Stradivarius instruments differ from modern violins within their molecular composition and that these differences constitute differences within the sound of Stradivarius instruments compared to those of the modern day.