Spider silk spun into violin strings It’s a technology fit for It-silk Perlman. Japanese scientists have succeeded in harvesting spider silk for violin strings. Could they be an improvement on the gut and nylon used today? Dr Osaki used 300 female Nephila maculata spiders - one of the species of “golden orb-weavers” renowned for their complex webs - to provide the dragline silk. For each string, Dr Osaki twisted between 3,000 and 5,000 individual strands of silk in one direction to form a bundle. The strings were then prepared from three of these bundles twisted together in the opposite direction. Manyplayers reported that the spider strings had improved tone and a warmer feel. No word on how they plan to get the flies out of their violins. Visit the link above to hear a sample of the new strings! (ᔥ BBC News, image via Inkfinger)
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Spider silk spun into violin strings

It’s a technology fit for It-silk Perlman. Japanese scientists have succeeded in harvesting spider silk for violin strings. Could they be an improvement on the gut and nylon used today?

Dr Osaki used 300 female Nephila maculata spiders - one of the species of “golden orb-weavers” renowned for their complex webs - to provide the dragline silk.

For each string, Dr Osaki twisted between 3,000 and 5,000 individual strands of silk in one direction to form a bundle. The strings were then prepared from three of these bundles twisted together in the opposite direction.

Manyplayers reported that the spider strings had improved tone and a warmer feel. No word on how they plan to get the flies out of their violins. Visit the link above to hear a sample of the new strings!

(ᔥ BBC News, image via Inkfinger)

Source: BBC

Violinists can’t tell the difference between Stradivarius violins and new ones So says a new double-blind study pokes a big f-hole in the assumption that legendary, vintage instruments like Stradivari make any discernable difference in playing quality. By taking six instruments (three new and three of the most rare, worth $10 million together) and putting them blindly in the hands of 21 expert players, the researchers found that violinists couldn’t tell the old from new. Ever since the early 19th century,  many tests have questioned the alleged superiority of the old Italian violins. Time and again, listeners have failed to distinguish between the sound of the old and new instruments. But critics have been quick to pick holes in these studies. In most cases, the listeners weren’t experts, and the players and researchers knew which violin was which – a flaw that could have biased the results. What’s more, no one has tested whether violinists themselves can truly pick up the supposedly distinctive sound of a Strad. The common wisdom is that they can, but Fritz and Curtin showed that this isn’t true. “Many people were convinced that as soon as you play an old violin, you can feel that it’s old, it’s been played a lot, and it has a special sound quality,” says Fritz. “People who took part in the experiment said it was the experience of a lifetime when we told them the results. They were fully convinced they could tell the difference, and they couldn’t.” During the Eighth International Violin Competition of Indianapolis – one of the world’s most important competitions – Fritz and Curtin persuaded six violinists to part with their instruments. Three of the violins were new; one was made a few days before. The other three had illustrious, centuries-long histories. Two were made by Stradivari and the other by Guarneri. One of the Stradivari, denoted “O1”, currently belongs to an institution, and is loaned to only the most gifted players. All three have featured in concerts and recordings, bowed by famous violinists. Their combined value is around 10 million US dollars, a hundred times more than the three new ones. Of course, as Ed points out, this self-deceptive behavior is common, from wine to women’s shoes. He pointed out this piece from Jonah Lehrer that suggests although we are fooling ourselves by going for rarity over actual quality, we feel a certain psychological reward from giving ourselves a treat, no matter if it’s real. (via Not Exactly Rocket Science)
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Violinists can’t tell the difference between Stradivarius violins and new ones

So says a new double-blind study pokes a big f-hole in the assumption that legendary, vintage instruments like Stradivari make any discernable difference in playing quality. By taking six instruments (three new and three of the most rare, worth $10 million together) and putting them blindly in the hands of 21 expert players, the researchers found that violinists couldn’t tell the old from new.

Ever since the early 19th century,  many tests have questioned the alleged superiority of the old Italian violins. Time and again, listeners have failed to distinguish between the sound of the old and new instruments. But critics have been quick to pick holes in these studies. In most cases, the listeners weren’t experts, and the players and researchers knew which violin was which – a flaw that could have biased the results.

What’s more, no one has tested whether violinists themselves can truly pick up the supposedly distinctive sound of a Strad. The common wisdom is that they can, but Fritz and Curtin showed that this isn’t true. “Many people were convinced that as soon as you play an old violin, you can feel that it’s old, it’s been played a lot, and it has a special sound quality,” says Fritz. “People who took part in the experiment said it was the experience of a lifetime when we told them the results. They were fully convinced they could tell the difference, and they couldn’t.”

During the Eighth International Violin Competition of Indianapolis – one of the world’s most important competitions – Fritz and Curtin persuaded six violinists to part with their instruments. Three of the violins were new; one was made a few days before. The other three had illustrious, centuries-long histories. Two were made by Stradivari and the other by Guarneri. One of the Stradivari, denoted “O1”, currently belongs to an institution, and is loaned to only the most gifted players. All three have featured in concerts and recordings, bowed by famous violinists. Their combined value is around 10 million US dollars, a hundred times more than the three new ones.

Of course, as Ed points out, this self-deceptive behavior is common, from wine to women’s shoes. He pointed out this piece from Jonah Lehrer that suggests although we are fooling ourselves by going for rarity over actual quality, we feel a certain psychological reward from giving ourselves a treat, no matter if it’s real.

(via Not Exactly Rocket Science)

Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com