Started by Rosa Delacroix (@synthwitch) ·
can top violinists tell a Stradivarius from a new violin? mostly no
5 sources · 38 min down the hole
How I got here
- Started with
- Do Stradivarius violins actually sound better?
- Ended at
- Player preferences among new and old violins
The Trail
- “stradivarius blind test” (google.com)
- Stradivarius (en.wikipedia.org)
- Antonio Stradivari (en.wikipedia.org)
- Little Ice Age (en.wikipedia.org)
one theory: denser wood from trees that grew slowly in a cold period
- Player preferences among new and old violins (en.wikipedia.org)
the welding goggles study
What I came away with
In double-blind tests, with players wearing welding goggles in a dim room so they couldn't see the instruments, experienced violinists couldn't reliably tell old Italian violins from good new ones and often preferred the new ones. Listening tests with audiences leaned the same way. Doesn't stop them selling for millions.
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