Joseph Nagyvary, professor emeritus of biochemistry at Texas A&M University proposed a theory 30 years ago saying that chemicals had some acoustic effect. Recently a study by Nagyvary teamed with collaborators Joseph DiVerdi of Colorado State University and Noel Owen of Brigham Young University have discovered that chemicals used to treat the wood used in Stradivarius and Guarneri violins are the reasons for the distinct sound produced by the world-famous instruments.
It was found that these two famous makers intended to protect their violins from the attack of insects and in order to preserve them they treated the wood with aggressive chemicals. This procedure was an accidental invention, which lead them to create violins that produced unique sound.
There are only about 600 Stradivarius violins remaining and they are valued at up to $5 million each. Nagyvary and his team are still conducting experiments to discover those chemicals and are looking for some precious wood samples of these masterpieces. Such a discovery will shape a new innovative technique to create better violins and also a way to preserve these instruments.
Via: sciencedaily
