A prevailing theory is that he soaked the wood in Venetian sea water. 3 sets ( that I know of ) of scientists, over the last 100 years, have independently ( and seemingly unaware of each others' research ) come to this conclusion. Euphonious Thumpe --- On Fri, 10/24/08, Jude Reveley/Absolute Piano <juderev at verizon.net> wrote: > From: Jude Reveley/Absolute Piano <juderev at verizon.net> > Subject: Re: The finite life of wood grain > To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org> > Date: Friday, October 24, 2008, 7:52 AM > Hi Jason, > > "Some experts, however, dispute the significance of > the study." > > -Journal reference: Nature (vol 444, p 565) > > > I agree with the experts that dispute this study. It's > one thing to observe a variation in the composition of wood > several hundred years ago and compare it to a sample of a > tree grown today. It is an extraordinary leap to then impart > some mystical and magical quality to this wood or for that > matter the varnish. > > It is still another thing yet, to then draw any conclusion > from a comparison of a violin to a piano, the piano being > strain bearing. Just pluck a violin string. It makes a > wonderful thunk we call "pizzacato," and it is > used with extraordinary and delightful effect by all the > masters; but it is the last type of sound I would want on > anything resembling a piano. > > Cheers, > > Jude Reveley, RPT > Absolute Piano Restoration, LLC > Lowell, Massachusetts > (978) 323-4545 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Jason Kanter > To: Pianotech List > Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 12:29 PM > Subject: Re: The finite life of wood grain > > > I may have missed this piece of discussion in years past, > but it seems relevant to compare soundboards to violins. > There is this research indicating that the quality of > Stradivari was due to chemical treatment of the wood prior > to manufacture. Of course piano soundboards are subject to > much different pressures and stresses than a violin, but is > it not conceivable that treating the wood might affect how > it ages? > Jason > > > ======from > http://technology.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn10686=========================== > Why do Stradivari's violins sound sublime? > a.. 18:00 29 November 2006 > b.. NewScientist.com news service > c.. Paul Marks > d.. > > e.. A wood preservation technique was probably > responsible for the exquisite sound produced by violins of > the 17th-century Italian instrument makers Antonio > Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri. > Chemical analysis of wood shavings scavenged from two > instruments while under repair has given fresh clues as to > their exquisite acoustics. > > Joseph Nagyvary of Texas A&M University, US, used > infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to > analyse the chemical properties of the each instrument's > backboard - its largest resonant component. > > Along with colleagues from Colorado State University, US, > and Brigham Young University in Utah, US, Navygary found > that a chemical wood preservative used in timber yards > around Cremona in Lombardy, where both violin makers worked, > appears to have given the violins their signature sound > quality. > > Brutal treatment > Navygary's analysis of the wood shows that it has a > different chemical composition to maple grown in the region > today. "The great Italian masters prepared their wood > by artificial means. The violin backs appear to have been > brutally treated with salts of copper, iron and chromium as > wood preservers," Nagyvary says. > > It is these salts, he suggests, that provided the > mellifluous tone. Some metal ions – like copper – have > powerful fungicidal properties, which is why they were used > to treat the wood. But these salts may also have altered the > mechanical and acoustical properties of each instrument. > Nagyvary now plans to find out exactly which salts were > used. > > Navygary says the preservation was probably not meant to > alter the acoustics. "They would just find salt > crystals in local quarries and dissolve them in water – > they didn't know what they were throwing in." > > Bow selector > Nagyvary has made analysing the Stradivarius violins – > and making similar-sounding modern versions – his > life's work. In 1998 he discovered that treating a piece > of modern maple with salt water and grape juice could > produce a violin backboard with some Stradivarius-like > resonances. Then in 2001 he found that borax, the > anti-woodworm treatment Stradivari used, also had an > appreciable effect on the violin's sound. > > Some experts, however, dispute the significance of the > study. "The more detailed the science becomes the more > sceptical I feel," says Jon Whiteley, curator of music > at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, UK, which owns two of > Stradivari's violins and one of his guitars. > > "The quality of the alpine wood and the varnish is > critical of course," he says, "but it's the > shape of the resonating soundbox, and the curvaceous, > arching way it bows outwards that gives the unique > tone." > > Journal reference: Nature (vol 444, p 565) > > ============================================
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