Relación entre la calidad tonal percibida del violín y las características intrínsecas, geométricas y acústicas de los materiales de la caja armónica. Erasmus Project

Project Title

Relación entre la calidad tonal percibida del violín y las características intrínsecas, geométricas y acústicas de los materiales de la caja armónica.

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Research and innovation

Project Summary

The tonal quality of the excellent violins was until recently a mystery. Although many secrets are already known, there are still unanswered questions. Violin makers try to recreate these tonal qualities choosing the materials, creating shapes and taking wood off in order to optimize the sound. The balance between the thicknesses of the soundboard and the back is still an unresolved issue. The technological progress nowadays offer accessible tools that were previously very restricted. In this context we have carried out this project to try to resolve this issue combining research and educational.

Our students have taken part in the complexities of a scientific investigation, controlling each and every one of the variables, and seeing the different approach one has to take when making a violin departing from the traditional methods. We have had the opportunity to work with innovative measurement methods applied to violin making. The acquisition of these skills and those that will acquire the future students are a solid base of employability. The teaching staff, witness and participant, also widens their knowledge and experience on the subject, with the consequent effect on the abilities of the students. Another of the achieved objectives is an updated Curriculum in contents and competences, which is already put into practice at school. Although it is very soon some interesting conclusions are being drawn on the question.

The overall experience has been very positive for the students and teaching staff of both BELE, the violin making school and the Bilbao Conservatory, which has taken an active part in the Psychoacoustic and Free Categorization tests. This experience also extends to the University of the Sorbonne with the LAM laboratory to which Claudia Fritz belongs, an expert worldwide in perceptual evaluation protocols. She will have the oportunity to use the intellectual products generated on these tests in future projects. In the same way, the Engineering Department of the University of Cambridge will make good use of the conclusions that are being obtained, and although Jim Woodhouse has just retired, his experience and knowledge will continue to add academic value to doctoral students related to musical instrument acoustics.
In this sense, George Stoppani and Jim Woodhouse complement a good team to carry out an investigation, Stoppani with his experience in innovative methods of measurement and capacity of analysis and synthesis with Woodhouse´s experience in the scientific method related to the acoustics of musical instruments. Finally, we highlight the Bilbao Conservatory of Music, a place where education, research and innovation converge for this project, always seeking to improve the quality of education that increases training and as a result the employability of students.

The main activity has been the construction and assembly of 6 violins, combining different soundboards and backs, performing modal analysis in each phase, and controlling each variable.
In parallel it has been monitored, the making, by other European luthiers of other seven violins, following the same external shape used for the project. The perceptual evaluation, through Psychoacoustic and Free Categorization tests of these 13 violins was, along with an exhibition, another important activity carried out in Bilbao. The students participated in the creation of everything necessary to carry out these activities.

The obvious achievement is the building under controled parameters of 6 violins, which are available to anyone who wants to evaluate them. But the greatest achievement is the experience acquired by the participants in each of the processes: the learning of new methods of measurement, understanding the building of the violin in a novel way, experience of teamwork in usually individual processes, having the experience in the programming and carrying out of an event and an exhibition, etc. Protocols have been created to perform psychoacoustic and Free Categorization tests along with the design of reference data tables. In the need of more perceptual assessments, some basic conclusions have already been obtained on this Psychoacoustic field.
Another significant result is the adaptation of our curriculum. The impact is not immediate, even though has changed some of the working ways, but we believe that it will be seen in a few years when the participating students leave for their professional life. The conclusions are helping and in the future will help violin makers to improve their products and will also help to similar violin making schools interested in the scientific method.
Widening the skills training is the great benefit of this project. The increase in the quality and control of the sound of the instruments leads to the greater satisfaction of the whole sector. We also value the creation of a culture shared research and science to understand and improve our work.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 59207,95 Eur

Project Coordinator

Conservatorio Profesional de Música Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga & Country: ES

Project Partners

• THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
• SORBONNE UNIVERSITE