Masterful performance
Acoustic response of (a) 10 master Italian violins, (b) 10 fine modern instruments and (c) 10 cheap factory-made violins. The violins were excited by a simple electromechanical driver at the bridge. All the instruments have an air resonance just below 300 Hz and strong structural resonances between 400600 Hz. There is a gap in structural resonances at around 700800 Hz, while above 1000 Hz the spacing of the modes becomes closer and the average response approaches a continuum. The factory-made instruments have a rather weak response at high frequencies in contrast to the over-strong response of the modern violins, which may contribute to a certain shrillness in their quality. (H Dünnwald 1991 J. Catgut Acoustical Soc. 1 57)