Modal analysis comparison of two violins made by A. Stradivari

Overview & Synopsis

The Music Museum in Paris keeps in its collection five violins made by the maker Antonio Stradivari, names Stradivarius (1644-1737). Two of them, called the Davidov and the Tua have been made according the same mould, at the same period and the most important using the same wood - not only the same specie but also using the wood coming from the same tree. Indeed it has been shown thanks to a dendrochronological study of these two violins that the wooden plates are the same. Even though the violins has not the same history there are kept in their integrity. To evaluate the difference in the making process of this two musical instrument an experimental modal analysis of the soundboard was performed by processing its sound field. A non intrusive method, the Impact Planar Nearfield Acoustic Holography, was used. This technique, developed by the authors, implements the well known inverse method NAH on the basis of the acoustic impulse response field and is well adapted to modal analysis. To quantify the shift between the two responses a comparison has been made with a reproduction of another famous violin called the Allard.