Michael N.
Well-known member
It's a get out of jail card, an excuse for someone to say that an instrument might not sound great now but just wait! In 2 or 3 years time your new XXXXX will truly sound great.
Strange that Strad and Guarneri violins don't fair so well against their modern counterparts in blind tests. You'd think that 350 years of 'opening up' would give them a distinct advantage. Blind tests tell us otherwise. Then again if you've just been told that the violin you are hearing cost a few million you just might start to hear things differently. . .
I'm not convinced at all. I think it may be a combination of factors, most of which have already been covered. Now I'm fully aware that wood changes over time and that string tension has it's effects. I just don't think that those changes necessarily result in better tone. Don't underestimate the player 'tuning in' to the instrument, both in terms of physically playing it and becoming accustomed to it's particular sound. Let's call that falling in love, sometimes it takes months or even years. Then every other instrument is judged by that particular instrument.
Strange that Strad and Guarneri violins don't fair so well against their modern counterparts in blind tests. You'd think that 350 years of 'opening up' would give them a distinct advantage. Blind tests tell us otherwise. Then again if you've just been told that the violin you are hearing cost a few million you just might start to hear things differently. . .
I'm not convinced at all. I think it may be a combination of factors, most of which have already been covered. Now I'm fully aware that wood changes over time and that string tension has it's effects. I just don't think that those changes necessarily result in better tone. Don't underestimate the player 'tuning in' to the instrument, both in terms of physically playing it and becoming accustomed to it's particular sound. Let's call that falling in love, sometimes it takes months or even years. Then every other instrument is judged by that particular instrument.
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