THE

JOURNAL

OF THE

ACOUSTICAL

SOCIETV

OF AMERICA

VOLUME

29. NUMBER

JULV.

1957

Regarding the Sound Quality of Violins and a Scientific Basis for Violin Construction*
H.

MEINEL

Forschungsinstitut
fur MikinstntmentenbaudesDeutschen
Areresfit:r Material -und Warenpriifung,Berlin, Germany

(ReceivedOctober15, 1956)
Response
curves,important both for steadysoundand transients,give a far-reachinginsightinto the
objectivecharacteristics
of violins:goodonesexhibitlarge amplitudesat low frequencies
and small onesat
high frequencies,
a broadminimumnear about 1500cps,and largeramplitudesbetweenabout 2000 and
3000 cps.The musicalsubjectivesignificance
of thesephysicalpropertiesis mentionedbriefly. In general,
the soundpressure
radiatedfroma violinfollowsthe inverse-distance
law, beingindependent
of frequency.
The influenceof wood thicknessis very important, that of the varnishis comparablysmall. Pine has a
greaterdampingat high frequendesthan at low frequencies.
This seemsto be a goodacousticalreasonfor
makingimportantparts of stringedinstrumentsof pine. Sapwoodis better than heartwood.Similarly, some
kindsof varnishproducemoredampingat highfrequencies
than at low frequencies.
If a resonance
curveis
to be imitated in detail, it is necessaryto changecarefully the woodthicknessof certMnparts of the violin
body. The applicability of present-dayscientificknowledgeto the constructionof violins is here outlined.

INTRODUCTION

HE physical
behavior
of violinsis reviewed
as

many) partialsin the high-frequency

region,where
the ear is very sensitive.

Examplesof responsecurveswe obtained for each

string
are represented
in Fig. 1, wherethe frequencyis
that influencethe quality of the violin sound.More
plotted
on
a
logarithmic
scalehorizontallyand the
specifically,
we first consider
response
curvesof violins,
sound
pressure
measured
at
a distanceof about one
the law of radiation,and the transientresponse.
Then
we look at the influenceof kind of wood, varnish, and meter is plotted vertically on a linear scale.These
curves have been obtained from the best Stradivari
woodthickness.Finally, we summarizepresentstatus
whichI everhad the opportunityto test.This wasthe
of violin makingon a scientificbasis.
concert instrument of Joseph Joachim and Karl
A. REGARDING THE SOUND QUALITY
Klingler,a violinof fascinating,
finetonequality.Such
OF VIOLINS
a groupofcurves
exhibitsall thesoundspectra
generally
underthe conditions
of bowingused.In regard
A comparison
of oldItalian violinswithpresent-day possible
onesisan obvious
wayto startresearch
ontonequality. to the superbviolin timbre the followingpeculiarities
backgroundfor a discussion
of technicaldetails

For example,responsecurveshave been measuredfor are significant.'-'

suchcomparison.
F. A. Saundersand his cooperators
in
(1) Large amplitudesat low frequenciesin the
the United Statesdeservepraisein this connectionas
responsecurve mean large amplitudes for the low
doesalsoG. Pasqualiniin Italy. Similarly,H. Backhaus
harmonicsof the sounds.Subjectively,this meansthat
and collaborators
in Germanyare to be named.

the soundsare agreeablysonorousand that they

"carry" well.

Response Curves
Whereas

some have

used electrical

excitation

in

recordingresponse
curves,we generallypreferto bow
the violin in an automaticway. To do sois indeedmore
troublesome,becauseit requires sound analysesin
small frequencyintervals. It does, however,supply
curves under rather natural conditions,and that is
what the present-dayinvestigationsometimesneeds
very urgently. Furthermore, these curves are easily
reproducible.
If the comparativelysmall soundpressures
at high
frequencies
vary in their productionor measurement
by
even 10%, the appearanceof the resonancecurve is
changedvery slightly, but the differenceis readily
audible. This surprisingly strong subjective effect
arisesfrom the fact that these variations usually concern at least several (with low-frequencysounds, Fro. 1. Responsecurves of Joachim-KlinglerStrad (1715),
* Presentedat the SecondInternational Congresson Acoustics,

violinof fascinating,finetonequality.

heldin conjunctionwith the Fifty-First Meeting of the Acoustical

H. Meinel, Akust. Z. 2, 22-33 (1937); 2, 62-71 (1937);
283-30o (194o).
Society of America, Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 17-23,
1956.
: H. MeineI, Akust. Z. 4, 89-112 (1939).
817

H.

818

MEINEL

Hopf.
Klinger4hal,
1810

We havestill furthersimplifiedby formingaverage

valuesoverintervalsof a fifth, for groupsof violinsof
equalworth:that is to say,a groupof distinguished
old
Italian violins, a group of goodmodernviolins, and
finally a groupof mediocrepresent-dayones.As Fig. 3
shows,again the best violins have the smallestamplitudesat high frequencies,
the largestamplitudesat low
frequencies,small amplitudesin the vicinity of about
1500 cps, and a stressof the frequencyrange from

value
about
50
Ant.
5kadirlu,
1717,

about 2000 up to about 3000 cps. Thus the groups

also exhibit the differences which have been stated for

FIG. 2. espon crv of Stmd (a voH of v

singleviolins.That is why we considerthemas typical.

For comparison,the curve of the Joachim-Klingler
good
Stradivari has also been drawn in.
Curves for somebad violinss are shownin Fig. 4 in
comparisonwith the averagecurve of the best old

quality).

(2) Smallamplitudes
at high fquencies(above Italian master-violins. Here we see that bad violins'
about3000cps)givethe sounda haoous ftness exhibit large deviationsfrom the mean curve of old
anda e, pureresponse;
seealsothe resultsof F. A. Italian violins. Therefore, we considerthe mean curve
Saunders
a and G. Pasqualini.

(3) Smallamplitudes
near15 cpspreventa very
nail

charactery Such a condition is lewise very

faeorableto the tonequalityof otherstrents2 .

(4) If theregion
from2 upto 30 cpsisstressed
the soundacquires
a ve aeeable,pithy, and dull
brightness.
ss goodviolinsdonotexhibitthesesigns
of qualityto thesamedegree
asshown
in Fig.1.
For theprent weareworkingmostlywith spler
es

obtained in a manner which is detailed in the

literature, suchasthoseshownin Fig. 2 for StradNari

andHopf.Againwefoundthat theStradivariexhibits
smalleramplitudesat high frequencies
and larger
amplitudes
at lowfrequencies.
Thereis an pressive
mimum near 15 cpsand thena rise the region
from 20 cps to about 3000 cps.Therefore,these
curvesalso demonstratethe most essentialcharacteri-

Fro. 4. Responsecurvesof bad violinsin comparison

with the
averageresponse
curveof very goodold Italian violins.

sticsof a olin of goodtonequality.

to be the ideal one for violins; we concede,of course,

that the individually different, artistic taste allows

deviations.From the physicalpoint of view, however,
otal vaue 1250
thesedeviationsare relatively small,especiallyat high

lal va] $ 500

frequencies;seealsoFig. 3.
The differencesmentionedabove refer to beauty of
sound, response,carrying power, and quantity of
soundwhich are important properties.If we want to
obtain a still morecomprehensive
picture of a violin's
tonal qualities, it is necessary--in addition to the
responsecurvesshownin Fig. 1--to record for each
string,to makemeasurements
of thedynamicrange(the
differencebetween largest and smallestamplitudes),
and of the efficiency?In performingall these tasks,
FIG. 3. Averagerpon curvesof groupsof violins
several standard violins, some of which have been in
of differenttone quMity.
my personalpossession
for more than 20 years,have
beenfaithful helpers.All of them representinstruments
F. A. Saunders,
J. FranklhInst. , 1-20 (1).
G. Pualhi t. n. elettroust.
O. M. Corbnophysicallytestedand artisticallyjudged.

2. -- 5tradir'
1715

(I.N.E.A.C.)20, 1 (1939);44, 1-19 (1943).

E. eus,
ust. Z. 6, 35 (11).
W. tteer
Phys,. BI. 4 101 (18).
H. Meinel,Akust.Z. 2, 22-33 (1937).

See particulars in Akust. g. 5, 124--129(1940).

F. A. Saunders,J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 9, 96 (1937).

VIOLIN

CONSTRUCTION

819

-slJdB

il,VU
J
....
.', I
v h11,,1%.l'lJ1Jh,..

ilk

J,,/'l

'L/If '

100

200

500

1000

/ fiJllqJII
Yl./I.F
IPTM
% I
I

,5000

2000

10000

Fro. 5. Violinresponse
curvesat distances
of 1 and 12 meters.Note that the difference
is very nearto
21.5 db as requiredby the inverse-distance
law.
Law of Radiation

lady sensitiveto soundin frequencyregionconcerned.

Suchviolinsdo not possess
goodcarryingpower.
The response
curvesshownin Figs. 1-4 wererecorded
Many
a
violinist,
playing
in an orchestra,wantsto
at a distance of about one meter. We now consider the
hear distinctly the sound of his own violin and
questionwhetherat a largerdistancethere are any eventuallyto take the lead with his instrument,too.
otherchanges
asidefromthe effectof sounddivergence.
He is thereforefond of a somewhatmore penetrating
In winter, when there was deep snow, the surfaceof sound. That may be warranted, however, without
which wasvery loose,we excitedviolinselectricallyto
having anything to do with the longingfor fine tone
radiate from an open windowinto the outsidewithout
quality. On such concertmasterviolins really small
any reflection.The recordingmicrophonewas taken amplitudesat high frequenciesare not to be found.
as far as 12 metersdistanceinto the open air, without
For this reasonI alwaysentrust--if possible--agroup

damaging
thesurface
of thesnow.At differentdistances of expertswith the selectionof high-qualityviolins
we recordedresponse
'curves.Thesedemonstratethat beforetestingthe instruments.ThusI obtainreasonably
in the absenceof reflectionthe soundpressurevaries clear results.
inverselyas the distanceand that this relationship
is
practically
independent
of frequency.
Seefor instance
Transient Response
Fig.5 whichshows
the curvesobtained
at distances
of
in order to clarify questions
relativeto response
!
1 and 12 meters,for whichthe theoreticaldifferenceis
21.5 db. On the whole the evidence indicates that the but recentlyshoweda prominentconcertmaster
a very
violin with smallamplitudesin high
soundis finally spreadingspherically,in spite of the goodpresent-day
selectiveradiationat highfrequencies.
?There resultsno frequencies,in accordancewith observationsnoted
evidence
for a preferredradiationat specialnodallines. above. He felt obligedto sy that this violin sounds
If oneperformssuchtestsin an unsuitableroomor beautifully and respondsmore easily than his own,
commits
anyothermistake(suchasmeasurement
very somewhatpiercinglysoundingItalian violin. Perhaps
near to the violin, 50 cm or less) the 1/r-law is one may explain this result on the basisof Raman'sn
apparently
not satisfied
(seeFig. 6). In sucha case well-provedtheorythat the force,requiredfor obtaining
thereisa largerfrequency
dependence
forthedecrease
of the partial vibration of a string, is inverselyproporamplitudes
anda considerable
influence
of the various tional to the ordinal number.Applied to the transient
nodallinesof the violinbodyon the spreading
of sound. response,it meansthat in setting the bow upon the
Also we see that within a distance as small as 12 meters string just at the beginningof the bow pressure,it
(Fig. 5) the high-frequency
soundof a violin is no is the highpartial vibrationsof the stringand thusthe
longersignificant.
Shouldthe curvesnot be recorded high harmonicsof the resultingairborne soundthat
in theopenair, but in a crowded
concerthall,thehigh are beingproducedfirst, and the lower oneslater. If
frequency
amplitudes
wouldbe evenmoresuppressed
dueto theirstronger
absorption?
Accordingto experience,
the piercingsoundof a
violinbeingplayedin a concert
hall diesawaywithin
a short distance.This observationagreeswith our
measurements,
accordingto which a good violin--a
L, L.II !11 LII'1
III)j'J
r ' I
violinwith goodcarryingpower--hasthe highpoint
,in its soundspectrum
at lowandmediumfrequencies.
I.
I
I
'
By contrast,the soundof a violin that has large
200
500
1000 cps
amplitudes
at highfrequencies
ismarkedly
reduced
by
Fzo. 6. Violin responsecarves at distancesof 0.5 meter (too
the absorption
in the concerthall. The effectis even near
the violin) and 4 meters.The curvesdiffer by much lessthan
morenoticeable
subjectively,
because
theearisparticu- the 18 db that would be requiredby the inverse-distancetaw.

150
dB

aH. O. Kneser,
Akust.Z. 5, 256-257(1940).

a C. V. Raman,
IndianAssoc.
Sci.Bull.15,62 (191g).

820

H.

MEINEL

However, that did not seemright to us. Pasqualini,6

whoalsocarriedout comprehensive
investigations,
took
no especialinterestin violin woodand thereforedid
not studyits behaviorat high frequencies.
E. Ptacnik
found
a
rise
in
damping
of
pine
with
increasing
.... c
.....
,
frequency,but accordingto E. Skudrzyk," he distinguishedbetweentone-pineon the one hand and
timber-pineon the other, and the age of the wood.
Thus we had to start from the beginning.
Wood suchas usedin makingmusicalinstrumentsis
beingtestedin this researchwhichis still in progress:
I
pine (spruce),maple,pear,cherry,oak,elm,mahogany,
255
rosewood,ebony, and other kinds.
Fro. 7. The i=ence of wood-thice is ret/ve]y grt; the
Between 100 cpsand 5000 cps we study rods, about
influenceof vmi
400mmlong,20 mmwide,andseveralmillimetersthick.
the high harmonics
have smallamplitudes,
they are Sticksof half the width yield nearlythe sameresults,
scarcelyaudiblein the transient.The soundthat so any influenceof radiationdamping,even in high
frequencies,
couldnotbestatedfromourinvestigations.]'
4b

thin

...

appearswithout this preliminaryhigh-frequency

The
noise articulates better. This difference of response

test method which--as

far as we know--has

not

betweenviolinspossessing
strongand weak high- yet beenemployedpreviously,is to fix the rod at one
frequency
amplitudes
is audible,especially
distinctly end and to exciteelectricallythe free end at various
frequencies.
Hangingup therodsat twovibrationnodes
by theplayerhimself.
did
not
prove
to be satisfactory,particularlyat high
On thisoccasion
wemayfurtherreferto the workof
frequencies.The dampingis determinedby meansof
J.-G. Flelmbold,
t2 whoin anotherdirectionreveals the resonancecurves,recordedcapacitively.Figure 8
distinctlythe relationsbetweenthe response
curveand shows some results.
the nature of transients.Inasmuch as the damping
The dampingof the variouskinds of woodusedfor
oa violin with its influence on the duration of the
making musicalinstrumentsis different: maple, oak,
transientsexpresses
itselfin the resonance
curves,one
elm, rosewood,mahogany, and other sorts show a
maysaythatthekindof transients
isalsocontained
in smallerincreaseof the dampingwith the frequency
theresponse
curverecorded
fromthestationary
sound.
Thus if one duplicates
the response
curveof distin- than does the typical violin-resonancewood, pine.
We find that from 100 cpsup to 5000 cpsthe damping
guishedviolinshe likewiseduplicates
the transient of pine is doubled,a changealmosttwiceas greatas for
response.
the other kinds of wood. The significanceof these
B. THE RESPONSE CURVE AS A TECHNICAL TOOL
results must be judged accordingto the acoustical
We now considerhow the responsecurve can help demandson the variousinstruments.As to violins, the
requirementsare: small sound amplitudes at high
practical
violinmaking.
Theinfluence
ofwood-thickness
largeamplitudesat low frequencies.
Owing
changes
?is relativelygreat(seeFig.7). Thoughnot to frequencies,
be disregarded,
the influence
of varnishis compara- to its greaterdampingat highfrequency,pinedistinctly
tivelysmall.Furtherinfluences
oftheconstruction
have complieswith the requirementsbetter than do other
likewise been tested.?,n.4Now all these features which kindsof wood.It seemsthispeculiardampingproperty
change
the response
curvesneedto be investigatedis an acousticalreasonfor makingthe importantbelly
exactly,in order to make it possibleto construct of stringedinstrumentsof pine.
By meansof this method one can also demonstrate
violinsexhibitingthe desiredcharacteristics.
differencesof damping in pine sampleswhich only
Kind of Wood

differ as to their positioninside of a pieceof tone-wood.

For the mostcomprehensive

researches
in respectto

Sapwoodis better than the heartwood,becauseit has

violins we are indebted to E. Rohloff? Accordingto

is a significant result; and there the far-reaching,

the importantinfluence
of woodon the dampingof a distinctlystrongerdampingat high frequencies.This
his findings,the logarithmicdecrementfor bending empiricalexperienceof the violin maker is obvious.The

bellies of the stringed and fretted instrumentsare

joined
in sucha way that the sapwoodis placedat the
up to 10000 cps is independent
of the frequency.
center and heartwoodat the edge.
n J.-G. Helmbold,
Akust.Z. 2, 256-261(1937).
x,j. Barducciand G. Pasqualini, Ist. naz. elettroacust.O. M.
n G. Pasqualini,
Ist. naz. clettroacust.
O. M. Corbino22,

vibration--suchas in stringedinstruments--from10

622--639(1940).

Corbino87, 1-32 (1948).

x?E. Skudrzyk, Acustica 4, 249-253 (1954).

n F. A. Saunders,
J. Acoust.Soc.Am.25, 491-498(1953).
t It seems,however,that the latest still runninginvestigations
tSE. Robloft,Z. Physik117,64-66 (1940);seealso,F. Kriiger
andE. Rohloff,Z. Physik110,58-68 (1938);andE. Rohloffand made by vacuum showan influenceof radiation dampingwith
the highestfrequencieshere investigated.
W. Lawrynowicz,
Z. tech.Phys.5, 110--111
(1941).

VIOLIN

CONSTRUCTION

821

decremn

... --.--Maple

Fro.

8.

Loga-

rithmic decrement of
different
kinds of

wood. Accordingto
present

measure-

ments, the damping

of pine (spruce)
exhibitsa greaterincrease with the fre-

quencythandoesthe
damping of other

-- - Ekn

kinds of wood.

-- f-ony
..... t4uhogon.
v
---

The experimentsshow,incidentally,that rosewood running)varnishinquiries.From Fig. 9 in comparison

has small dampingat both low and high frequencies, with Fig. 8 we see that the varnishingincreasesthe
so that it is particularlysuitablefor fretted instru- damping.Furthermore,we see that a hard varnish
ments that do not producevery much sound. This increases
the dampingat high frequencies
lessthan
resultof measurement
is likewisein accordwith many does a soft varnish?
decadesof empiricalexperience.
These measurementsof the influenceon damping
Influence

of Varnish

of wood

and

varnish

confirm

acoustical

results 7.a

formerlyobtainedby recordingin quite anotherway

The samemethodof measuringdamping,by means the responsecurvesof violins. Thus a procedurelies
of vibrating woodenrods, is also used for our (still beforeus for investigatingkind of woodand of varnish
0-

Fro. 9. Change
of the logarithmic
decrement by varnish. A hard varnish

increasesthe damping at high frequencies less than does a

soft varnish.

asThis varnishwasproduced
by Dr. Ing. Karl Letters,K/!n-Lindenthal,
Sielsdorfer
Str. 9. During the investigations
the soft
varnishes
werenot quitedry.

822

H.

MEINEL

Unduly thinningthe woodspoilsthe result.An elastic

aftereffect seems to exist: there may be continual
changein an acousticaleffectfor severaldaysafter the
changeof wood thickness.This may be causedby
adjustmentsin the internal stressset up by removalof
the wood,whichtake placeafter a few days.Sometimes
the desiredeffect is really obtained, but unwishedfor
effectsappear at the sametime in other frequency
ranges.Everyonewho surveysthe importanceof these
few statementswill, I think, understandthat we are
nowfacingthe real problemof makinga violin which
hasthe desiredacoustical
effects.We likewiserecognize
the extentand difficultyof the work still beforeus.
C. STATUS

OF SCIENTIFIC

VIOLIN

MAKING

Even before we succeedin masteringthe response

curvescompletely,partial results may be obtained,
that enable us to recognizewhether or not the way
taken will be the right one. Figure 11 showsthe curve

Fig. 10. Influenceon the response

curveof certainchanges
in

the wood thickness at the left middle bow of the back. Condition
for most wood removed.

with referenceto its acousticaladaptabilityto violin

making.
Influence

of Wood Thickness

In connection
with woodthickness,I want to point
out particularlya resultof F. A. Saunders.
x*He discoveredthat the loudnesscan be distinctly increased

by diminishing
thescoop
at thecorners.
Thisdisclosure Fro. 11. Responsecurvesof a Strad (above,a) and a modem
(H. Meinel, below, b) measuredby Dr. Karl Steiner,
appears
to meto be of greatimportance.
By meansof violin
Tfibingen, 1950. The approach of the modern violin to the
just suchdiscretechanges
in woodthickness,
restricted Italian modelis good,but the result is not yet entirely satisfying.
to certainpartsof the violin body,we are able to copy
smallsignificantproperties.Having alreadyformerly of a Stradivari and that of a violin made about 1950
started experiments
'9 of this kind, we are now conaccordingto the scientific-technical
experienceof that
tinuing them again. Thus, for instance,a resonance
time. Thesecurveswere recordedby K. Steinerat the
rangenear500cps(justabovea2),beingoriginallytoo
weak,is reinforced
by graduallyremovingwoodfrom University of Tiibingen,Wiirttemberg.The violin in
intendedimitation of
the left middlebowof the back.(SeeFig. 10; the wood questionis not a consciously

was thickestfor conditiona, thinnestfor cond{tion.) the Stradivari, but the striking similarity of the three
The sameeffectcanalsobe obtainedby diminishingthe mostimportantmaximaand of the meanamplitudesat
showthat one can arrive at a useful
woodthickness
at certainotherpartsof theviolinbody. high frequencies
approachto Italian modelsby useof generalprinciples
Probablythe effectis influenced
by the positionof the
nodallines.The effectdoesnot alwaysoccur;obviously now available. Although we are standing at the
beginning,in view of what is still to be done,there is no

it depends
on the physicalstateof the violinat hand.
tH. Meinel,Elek. Nathr. Tech.14, 119-134(1937).

doubt

that

research on violins

will

solve the most

importantproblemsin a measurabletime.