There is nothing mysterious about them and there are several very skilled violin makers producing top quality instruments right now. Strads are popular for two reasons: 1. People flip them at auction like paintings. 2. Cache. Some owners will select a violinist to loan their strad. They seem to get some enjoyment out of owning the thing that a good violinist plays. It's a weird thing.
One possible reason is that lumber is processed differently in the modern age. Back in the day, logs could sit in the water for years and take on different characteristics. Another could be the old-fashioned glue mixture that no one can really identify. As said they're not really the mind-blowing standard of perfection they're sometimes made out to be, they're just really nice violins.
>they're not really the mind-blowing standard of perfection they're sometimes made out to be, they're just really nice violins.
There have been experiments on this. Double blind using well respected soloists as test subjects. Result? They couldn't pick a strad from a modern (very well built) violin. No question they are excellent violins but the best of the forever actually worth millions solely because of their quality? Nah.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/stradivarius-violins-arent-better-than-new-ones-round-two
No they won't because that implies strads we're low quality mass produced instruments and they weren't. Quality is quality you dumb fucking leftist cunt
>they're not really the mind-blowing standard of perfection they're sometimes made out to be, they're just really nice violins.
There have been experiments on this. Double blind using well respected soloists as test subjects. Result? They couldn't pick a strad from a modern (very well built) violin. No question they are excellent violins but the best of the forever actually worth millions solely because of their quality? Nah.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/stradivarius-violins-arent-better-than-new-ones-round-two
Alot of modern day musicians suffer from the cargo cult syndrome. Lots of cork sniffing but most would have trouble telling cheap gear from expensive gear in double-blind test.
Same, except it was an acoustic and I still have it. It's a lot of fun at the beginning, learning Yankee Doodle and all that, but the challenge increases dramatically as you move to more advanced pieces and I began to feel that I needed a teacher. The idea of getting beginner violin lessons as a mid-20s male seemed cringe so I dropped it. Still play other instruments though.
I know plenty of people that picked shit up in their 50s. Their sight reading sucks, but that’s expected. If you can understand it at 20, you can understand it at 50.
The climate affected growth patterns of trees used in their construction is something that can't be replicated in modern times.
That said, it doesn't really make enough of a difference tonewise to worry about it.
The better question is why violin makers are so stubbornly stuck in traditional manufacturing techniques when stronger, better sounding designs could certainly be innovated today.
just because its old doesnt mean its good
this is what guitar fags do all the time they will just equate old with it sounds better with absolutely no foundation for the argument everyone just accepts it
Trees grew denser wood at the location/time they were made. There was far less sunlight during the 50 or so years these violins were made due to some climate anomalies. The trees therefore grew slower resulting in denser wood.
This dense wood is probably virtually impossible to grow today because there’s so much carbon in the atmosphere, conditions for vegetation growth are excellent right now.
Of course then there is the master craftsmanship, and the instruments themselves have had time to season and harden as necessary. It’s easy to say someone could do it these days, but then why can’t anyone build a palace like Versailles, or make stain glass windows like those in the great European cathedrals? The modern world and market is corrosive to the kind of multigenerational dedication required for this craftsmanship.
Name recognition
This is not to distract from the fact that they were indeed some of the best, but their mythical status is largely overblown. Many contemporaries and makers through the years are no worse
What do think? Instruments are glorified shovels. 9 times out of 10 it won't matter what you use if your shit sucks.
It isn’t just a meme, analysis of the wood shows the density is both slightly greater and much more consistent in violins of the era, particularly Stradivarius, then wood today. It is impossible to grow trees today like those from the “mini ice age” conditions of 16-1700s.
>It is impossible to grow trees today like those from the “mini ice age” conditions of 16-1700s.
We can grow trees in any type of condition we want via greenhouses and climate control. Making dense wood isn't some kind of black magic. We're in the 21st Century for fucks's sake.
Because the people who had a deal with the devil died
There is nothing mysterious about them and there are several very skilled violin makers producing top quality instruments right now. Strads are popular for two reasons: 1. People flip them at auction like paintings. 2. Cache. Some owners will select a violinist to loan their strad. They seem to get some enjoyment out of owning the thing that a good violinist plays. It's a weird thing.
One possible reason is that lumber is processed differently in the modern age. Back in the day, logs could sit in the water for years and take on different characteristics. Another could be the old-fashioned glue mixture that no one can really identify. As said they're not really the mind-blowing standard of perfection they're sometimes made out to be, they're just really nice violins.
>they're not really the mind-blowing standard of perfection they're sometimes made out to be, they're just really nice violins.
There have been experiments on this. Double blind using well respected soloists as test subjects. Result? They couldn't pick a strad from a modern (very well built) violin. No question they are excellent violins but the best of the forever actually worth millions solely because of their quality? Nah.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/stradivarius-violins-arent-better-than-new-ones-round-two
Here are the results of that study in detail
http://www.lam.jussieu.fr/Membres/Fritz/HomePage/Vincennes/FritzEtAl_PNAS_public.pdf
300 years from now people will be idolizing ali express guitars as the epitome of music instruments
No they won't because that implies strads we're low quality mass produced instruments and they weren't. Quality is quality you dumb fucking leftist cunt
Alot of modern day musicians suffer from the cargo cult syndrome. Lots of cork sniffing but most would have trouble telling cheap gear from expensive gear in double-blind test.
Wrong. It will be PRS’s and Steinbergers
lmao you're delusional
Delusionally rich in 30 years
>not jelly over my ax
back to your 9 string and juice boxes, sonny.
>SE
Poor and not a real PRS
>t. knowing his prs’s this well
You posted a budget chink planks overseas model and tried to pretend you own something special
You don't
That guitar sucks my ass
>One tone knob one volume
Knob
Just get a tele.
confession. I tried to learn the violin, got me a yamaha electric. Played it a lot, suzuki method. I gave up and sold it. I regret it.
Same, except it was an acoustic and I still have it. It's a lot of fun at the beginning, learning Yankee Doodle and all that, but the challenge increases dramatically as you move to more advanced pieces and I began to feel that I needed a teacher. The idea of getting beginner violin lessons as a mid-20s male seemed cringe so I dropped it. Still play other instruments though.
>The idea of getting beginner violin lessons as a mid-20s male seemed cringe so I dropped it
What a fucking homosexual
It was a futile effort from the beginning. If you don't start playing strings as a child, you will never make it.
I know plenty of people that picked shit up in their 50s. Their sight reading sucks, but that’s expected. If you can understand it at 20, you can understand it at 50.
because the tone of a stradivarius is mostly hyped it comes from many generation of cork sniffers
a 100 years old violin played it by a pro can easily match it
The guitar equivalent is a 1930s or early 40s Martin D28 - these go for over a hundred grand. Makes my 2022 D-18 seem a bargain by comparison.
The climate affected growth patterns of trees used in their construction is something that can't be replicated in modern times.
That said, it doesn't really make enough of a difference tonewise to worry about it.
The better question is why violin makers are so stubbornly stuck in traditional manufacturing techniques when stronger, better sounding designs could certainly be innovated today.
just because its old doesnt mean its good
this is what guitar fags do all the time they will just equate old with it sounds better with absolutely no foundation for the argument everyone just accepts it
Trees grew denser wood at the location/time they were made. There was far less sunlight during the 50 or so years these violins were made due to some climate anomalies. The trees therefore grew slower resulting in denser wood.
This dense wood is probably virtually impossible to grow today because there’s so much carbon in the atmosphere, conditions for vegetation growth are excellent right now.
Of course then there is the master craftsmanship, and the instruments themselves have had time to season and harden as necessary. It’s easy to say someone could do it these days, but then why can’t anyone build a palace like Versailles, or make stain glass windows like those in the great European cathedrals? The modern world and market is corrosive to the kind of multigenerational dedication required for this craftsmanship.
What made them so good? Or was it just a meme that got perpetuated like the 59 Les Paul meme?
What do think? Instruments are glorified shovels. 9 times out of 10 it won't matter what you use if your shit sucks.
Name recognition
This is not to distract from the fact that they were indeed some of the best, but their mythical status is largely overblown. Many contemporaries and makers through the years are no worse
It isn’t just a meme, analysis of the wood shows the density is both slightly greater and much more consistent in violins of the era, particularly Stradivarius, then wood today. It is impossible to grow trees today like those from the “mini ice age” conditions of 16-1700s.
Who cares when 99.9% of people cannot hear a difference?
Just grow the trees closer to the north pole.
So we're doing the whole tone wood thing now.
>It is impossible to grow trees today like those from the “mini ice age” conditions of 16-1700s.
We can grow trees in any type of condition we want via greenhouses and climate control. Making dense wood isn't some kind of black magic. We're in the 21st Century for fucks's sake.
What’s the difference between a violin and a viola?
A viola burns longer.