Harmonic Vibrations

[Amos McWoods]

Wasn't sure what section to put this in...or if it's been posted here before...but it's one of the coolest things I've seen.

Kind of a neat example of something sound does that our eyes can't normally see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOMiowrff0Y&feature=PlayList&p=D0159918B60A1331&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=52

 

[ez_willis]

weird .

 

[RAMI]

Very cool.

 

[Dogbreath]

what they said.

nice find man...

 

[Ethan Winer]

one of the coolest things I've seen.

That is very cool, and the technique has been around for many years. Carleen Hutchins is a pioneering luthier who makes violins and cellos etc. In the 1970s she got permission to borrow and disassemble several Stradivarius violins, and she analyzed the front and back plate vibrations exactly as shown in that video, to learn where the various resonance were. She published the results in Scientific American in October 1981, and the article has about a dozen photos like what's shown in that video. I bought my cello from a fellow who took violin-making lessons from Carleen Hutchins, and as a class project he re-graduated my cello (planed the wood to be thinner) making it much better than it was when he bought it in 1958. My friends Bob and Deena Spear are also disciples of Carleen Hutchins, and they use the same techniques, as do many other modern luthiers. More on Bob and Deena here:

From Sawdust to Sine Waves

--Ethan

 

[WhiteStrat]

Mmm...salty.

 

[Amos McWoods]

That was an informative read, thank you for that Ethan. Love learning about that kind of stuff.

Particularly interesting to me was the paragraph about Deena changing each fingerboard on each individual violin, adjusting its thickness and length to compliment/enhance the tonal properties of the body of the instrument. At another forum I hang out on, there are often heated debates about the tonal differences between maple and rosewood fretboards on Fender guitars, or whether there are any differences to begin with...apparently there are!

 

[Lt. Bob]

extremely cool!

 

[fat_fleet]

we live in a bitchin universe.

 

[Ethan Winer]

At another forum I hang out on, there are often heated debates about the tonal differences between maple and rosewood fretboards on Fender guitars, or whether there are any differences to begin with...apparently there are!

Well, a solid body electric guitar is totally different than a violin and cello. With a solid body guitar, the main goal of the body is to present a rigid structure that does not resonate, so the strings can vibrate freely with long sustain. Sort of like the massive metal harp on a grand piano, but without the resonating wooden sound board. (An acoustic/electric guitar is somewhere in between a solo body guitar and a cello.)

The reasons those arguments go on forever is because it's very difficult to do a proper comparison.

--Ethan