Violin Acoustics

• Introduction to violin acoustics is a good place to start.

Some of our research on violin acoustics

• Articulation and vibrato on the violin and their importance to violin sound.
• A study of torsional waves in the bowed string, and how they are strongly coupled to the normal transverse waves during normal playing.
• The research papers of John McLennan, recent PhD graduate from this lab. These include
  • The thesis is available on line: The violin: music acoustics from baroque to romantic (34 Mbyte).
  • The thesis has also an appendix: the sound of the violin, from baroque to romantic. In these sound files, the same violin is modified in the many steps between baroque and romantic, and in each configuration it is played by experts in historical performance.
  • Sound files and analysis of The Effect of the Soundpost on Violin Sound.
  • Some calculations of Monopole Radiation at Low Frequencies in the Violin.
  • The Soundpost: an Update.
  • The function of f-holes in the violin
  • The Soundpost in the violin. McLennan, John. (2017). This small volume contains six of John's papers and some introductory material. Available as e-book or hardcopy from www.Xlibris.com.

Some explanatory notes

• Waves and sound (a multimedia introduction from Physclips).
• Strings, standing waves and harmonics (a simple introduction to vibrating strings).
• Bows and strings (a simple introduction to that interaction).
• Chladni patterns (experimental results showing the vibration of the plates of violins).
• What is a sound spectrum?
• What is a decibel?
• Acoustics for violin and guitar makers by Erik Jansson.
• We recommend Euphonics by Jim Woodhouse, a site that concentrates on physical modelling of musical instruments
• And finally, yes, we felt obliged to put on our FAQ some comments about that old question "what was the Stradivarius secret?".