Violin quality and bridge mobility

In the measured bridge-mobility curves of a Stradivarius violin, two sharp prominent peaks were found at approximately 450 and 550 Hz, and a broad rounded hill with a maximum at approximately 2.5 kHz. The labeling P1 and P2 is suggested for the peaks in honor of Frederick Saunders (principal peak P)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 1999-02, Vol.105 (2_Supplement), p.1216-1216
Main Author: Jansson, Erik V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In the measured bridge-mobility curves of a Stradivarius violin, two sharp prominent peaks were found at approximately 450 and 550 Hz, and a broad rounded hill with a maximum at approximately 2.5 kHz. The labeling P1 and P2 is suggested for the peaks in honor of Frederick Saunders (principal peak P) and BH, bridge hill for the 2.5-kHz hill. The P2 maximum is the highest, the BH the second highest, and the P1 the lowest. Measured bridge-mobility of soloist quality violins [E. V. Jansson, Acust. Acta Acust. 83, 337–341 (1997)] and measured radiation of Italian violins [H. Duennwald, Acustica 51, 281–287 (1982)] show similar features. The similarity indicates that the bridge-mobility predicts the sound reaching the listener’s ear well. A strong P1 and especially a strong P2 should be an indicator of a full tone. Balanced with the BH hill, it indicates the quality of a good violin. [Work supported by KTH, Swedish Natural Science Research Council, Swedish Institute, and Wenner-Gren Center Foundations for Scientific Research.]
ISSN:0001-4966
1520-8524
DOI:10.1121/1.425863