Tone-Quality of Bowed-String Instruments and Its Variation by Violin-Making
H. Meinel · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1956
One problem of the investigation of musical instruments concerns the statement of physical characteristics of the tone quality. By musical experts' collaboration, old Italian violins and modern ones have been classified according to their tonal quality and physically examined by obtaining their response curves. The best old Italian master violins show physical particularities of tone quality which modern violins do not generally have. They affect the sound-color, transient phenomena, and “carrying power”—very important properties. Within a comparatively small range, conditioned by different musical taste, we can state an optimum response curve of violins. Curves of good and bad violas and violincellos have been taken, but are not sufficient for stating optimum curves. Furthermore, we must try to find fit measures of violin making, by means of which the optimal physical characteristics of tone quality can be attained. Methods must be found for building these optimum qualities into new violins. Such factors as shape, thickness of material, and varnish, seem quite important, while the bass bar, sound post, bridge, and strings are of less importance. Comparisons are given between a violin made on the basis of these researches and a Stradivarius instrument.