What was designed 300+ years ago, is totally analogue, uses no electricity and is the most efficient sound amplifier... a VIOLIN!
During Covid, 2020 I made a copy of a 1729 Stradivari violin with wood I was very used to using. I made a mistake cutting the f holes, which was not that noticeable, but bothered me, because I knew it was there... 1 f hole was 1.5mm lower than the other.
I made another belly, right away, thinking to swap the 2 tops. However, I noticed the wood was very heavy, dense and very hard to carve. I was sharpening the planes all the time! After gluing together the 1st violin, it sounded pretty good, so I decided to keep the asymmetric top on the 2020 violin & make a completely new violin for this newly made top with the dense wood. I picked a piece of very dense maple for the back thinking this would be a great test for the effects of dense vs lighter wood. The dense maple was even harder to carve but I finally put that violin together last Thursday...
I met Etsuko Kimura, Assistant concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, at the violin shop & here is a clip of the 2021 violin's 1st sounds...
The differences shocked all of us, as this violin had more of everything! More focus, core, density & power than the lighter wood violin. Because the wood was dense, I could work the plates thinner for the same tap tones. Something fascinating is the weights of the fiddles.
If you look carefully at the grain lines in the center 40mm section on the front, you will see the soft wood almost non-existent between the hard grain lines. This tree had a very hard life in those years. This wood being very dense, was carved thinner, so the plate could respond quicker to the vibrations transmitted to it by the bridge...
The 1729 Stradivari: 386gms
2020 copy, light wood: 390gms
2021 copy dense wood: 393gms
Here is the 2021 violin & the clip of it's 1st sounds:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2976611389286405&set=pcb.297661148261972...https://www.facebook.com/100008127183370/videos/pcb.2976611482619729/99849141423...Enjoy
Ed