Hand-made violins is a craft that has not changed much in the last few hundred years. The ambition of today’s violinists is to create a musical instrument that looks and sounds exactly like the instruments of Cremon masters from the early eighteenth century.
Sebastian Gonzalez from the Violin Museum in Cremona thinks it’s time to improve the traditional violin shapes. Although he studied physics and computer simulations, thanks to his wife’s family, he lost his passion for string instruments.
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However, he faces a number of problems that he did not expect: “Wood is different today than it was 300 years ago, when Stradivari made his tools. Whether it’s global warming or something else. If the wood is different, you also need to change the shape, ”says Gonzalez.
Violin and artificial intelligence
Gonzalez and his team first focused on the top plate of the violin – the so-called lid. According to them, this is key to the resulting sound. Using sophisticated instruments, they have already measured and created an accurate model of hundreds of musical instruments.
One of the first instruments he explored in this way was the famous violin Messiah of Antonio Stradivari. “They are some of the most important violins in the world because they have remained intact for three hundred years,” he explains.
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The researchers had the resulting data processed by artificial intelligence, which used them to learn how the geometric parameters and material of the violin affect their sound. During subsequent testing, the new system correctly predicted the acoustic properties of various lid shapes in 98 percent of cases. In the future, she should even be able to design the tools herself.
González resists the criticism of some violinists that artificial intelligence will destroy the uniqueness of handmade instruments. “I do not think we will destroy anything. Our goal is not to create robots that make violins. The intention is to understand the tools. “
According to music experts, the human factor will not disappear, no matter who or whatever the violin is designed. In the end, it is always the person who appreciates their tones.
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