Voice of Violins
The Renowned Violinist, Francesco Geminiani
Francesco Geminiani, the RENOWNED ITALIAN violinist, took a break from bowing to pen and paper in 1751. His decades of experience was to be distilled into a guide on how to best approach his favorite instrument. He explained that he was averse to violinists who tried to imitate the Cock, Cuckoo and Owl. Instead, he wanted to write a treatise on how to approach his favorite instrument.
It’s a daunting task, but those contortions make it seem easier. Recent research suggests that the instruments may be able to help Geminiani’s directive. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has published a new study that suggests great violins can sing like human voices. However, they may also be made by different makers.
Violins of Cremona
Cremona, located in northern Italy, has been home to a large number of world-class violins since the 16th century. Andrea Amati, a Cremona-based luthier, is widely believed to have invented the violin in the middle of the 1500s. Antonio Stradivari, a Cremona-based luthier, began to make his own instruments around a century later.
These instruments, along with the Giuseppe Guarneri violins, have inspired nearly every modern take on violin design. However, the originals are still considered to be exceptional. Bruce Hwan-Ching Tai, the study’s principal author, writes that he has heard Stradivari violins at concerts and close up. They sound unique to me.” Tai is a chemical biologist as well as a classical music enthusiast. He and his colleagues have been trying to “find an objective explanation for this stirring sound” over the past several years. His research group chemically analysed wood shavings taken from four Stradivari violins and similar pieces of modern maples in 2016.
Materials of Violins
The violin wood was much more durable than its contemporary counterparts. It had been treated with chemicals to prevent bugs and fungus, which was a hypothesis that Joseph Nagyvary (a biochemist and luthier who spent his entire life restoring old violins) suggested. It was dry and had become vibrating from years of playing. The researchers believe that this experience over centuries gave the instruments their unique tone.
Research and Studies of Violin Notes
Tai chose to focus on the sound in this latest study. Nagyvary and other researchers had previously found similarities in the sound of Stradivari notes with certain vowel sounds when sung by human vocals. Tai and his collaborators conducted a deeper investigation. They recorded Chu-Hsuan Feng playing 15 different violins. Five were made by the Stradivaris, three by the Amatis, four by other Cremonese and four by Brescian luthiers. Tai wrote that the violins came from Taiwan’s Chimei Museum and were only played “a few times per year”.
The researchers then had 16 choir members (eight male and eight women) sing the same scale eight more times for each of these vowels sounds: “had,” head, heard and heed. After obtaining all the recordings, the researchers ran sonic analysis to see how the different sounds of the violin and the human voice matched up.
Researchers were looking at vowel sounds and violin sounds. They therefore focused on formants, which are frequency groups that make up vowel vocalizations. For example, when a person sings or says an “I”, different parts of their larynx and pharynx produce sounds that correspond to particular frequencies. These frequencies are then combined to form the vowel. Researchers discovered that even though they lack this human vocal architecture the violins also produce formants with “vowel like qualities.”
This spectrogram shows the frequency ranges of several formants. It was taken by an American male. These formants make up the vowels “i”, “u,” or “a”.
If you would like to purchase your violin for sale, please check out the authentic music instrument sellers.
Interesting Findings on the Violin Research
Geminiani may have been onto something with another finding. The study found that all the violins had some sonic overlap with the spoken vowels. Tai et. observed that the 1570 Amati, and the 1560 da Salo had some sonic overlap with the sung vowels. al. Add your thoughts to the paper. This may have been Amati’s goal when he invented and perfected his design: make the violin sing.
Amati and da Salo had formants that were similar to those of baritone and bass singers, but Stradivari’s formants were closer to those of tenors or altos. This suggests that Stradivari took the idea of a singing device and modified it to suit his needs. Tai writes that someone might make violins that imitate mezzo-sopranos and sopranos in the future. It remains to be seen if it is possible or if it will sound good.
Tai concluded that, “Although this study did not include psychological experiments, I think the similarity of violins and voices could explain why violins are so beloved.” We may not understand how these instruments work. We may like them because they sound just like us when they do it.