Using CT scanners to study violins

SEPTEMBER 3, 2008--Berend Stoell and Terry M. Borman of the Department of Radiology, Division of Image Processing, Leiden University (Leiden, the Netherlands; www.leidenuniv.nl/en/) have examined the wood density of five classical Cremonese violins--three by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu and two by Antonio Stradivari--using quantitative CT densitometry, a technique usually applied in a medical setting. The results from these classical violins were compared to those of eight contemporary violins, made by T. Borman, A.T. King, and G. Rabut, to determine whether objective measurements of material properties can explain the historical consensus on the differences in quality of sound between classical Cremonese and modern violins.

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