Power efficiency in the violin: Key design features boost violins' acoustic power
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 22:00
in Mathematics & Economics
Some of the most prized violins in the world were crafted in the Italian workshops of Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri -- master violinmaking families from the 17th and 18th centuries who produced increasingly powerful instruments in the renaissance and baroque musical eras. These violins, worth millions of dollars today, represent the Cremonese period -- what is now considered the golden age of violinmaking. Now acousticians and fluid dynamicists, along with violinmakers, have analyzed measurements from hundreds of Cremonese-era violins, identifying key design features that contribute to these particular violins' acoustic power, or fullness of sound.