Response Measurement and Harmonic Analysis of Violin Tones
R. B. Abbott · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1935
Output intensity measurements and harmonic analyses were made on the open strings of a series of twenty-one violins ranging in price from $25 to $10,000 each. To secure standardized conditions, a mechanical bowing device was used, and the pressure, speed, and relative position of the bow maintained constant. A crystal harmonic analyzer, operating synchronously with an automatic level recorder, furnished a graphical record of the desired tone structures. The measured responses, tone centers, and tone structure factors were plotted against the retail prices of the violins and correlations found to exist.