Links - Knut's Acoustics

Jim Woodhouse (professor at Cambridge Univ. U.K.). Jim is one of the founders of modern, numerical bowed-string simulation, and has contributed enormously to the understanding of the bow-string interaction. As an acoustician his main interest seems to lie within the realm of string instrument acoustics: the guitar as well as the violin family.  

Terry Borman is an American violin maker and researcher. In his web site, under "Technical : Modal Analysis", you will find animations on how the bodies of different top-class violins move for different frequencies. He also offers a lot of good advices for producing the different parts of the violin.

Håkon Thelin  is a double-bass soloist and composer, focusing on contemporary bowing and pizzicato techniques. Here you will find many examples of mutiphonics and other unusual techniques employed in his own works. In 2011, Thelin won an important prize (Spellemannsprisen) for the "best contemporary-music recording of the year, in Norway".  

George Stoppani is a Manchester-based, British violin and string maker, and researcher. He has developed a number of fine computer programs for acoustical analysis (including "modal analysis"), many of which are available through his web site.

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm. Among the many qualifid researchers in this intitute of Speech, Music, and Hearing, two names stand out in string-instrument research: Erik Jansson and Anders Askenfelt. Much of their research can be found at this site. Of particular interest are Jansson's "Acoustics for violin and guitar makers" and Askenfelt's "Observations on the violin bow and the interaction with the string".

Joe Wolfe  is professor of acoustics/physics at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, with special interest in music and speech. His web site is filled with animations and practical (and very educational) examples of different intruments' behaviour.

Oberlin Acoustics, an offspring of the Oberlin College and Conservatory's summer courses for luthiers and string players, has links to a number of other sites, among them several that offer useful software for different kinds of analysis.

David T. Van Zandt  is a violin maker based in Seattle, Washington, who also provide links to interesting papers and sites, including home pages of a vast number of violin makers around the world.

Martin Schleske is a German violin maker and researcher, who has contributed a lot to the understanding of plate tuning (what to expect and not to expect when it comes to the assembled instrument, etc). Schleske is a popular lecturer for luthiers and players in specialist courses all over the world.

Anders Buen is a Norwegian acoustician and maker of the traditional "Hardanger Fiddle" (a lavishly ornamented violin with four or five additional strings resonating sympathetically with the fingered ones), as well as violins of the Italian school. Buen is also a researcher specializing in violins.

Mick Quinn and Gerard KilBride provide photos and physical parameters of bridges from a large number of well-known luthiers.  

The Luthiers Library provide pictures and measured data for a large number of violins and makers.

John E. McLennan is an engineer with a great interest in violins, both as a researcher (with a PhD on violins) and a maker.

Claudia Fritz is a French acoustician focusing on the violin family (although playing the flute herself). Claudia has done some very interesting studies on violin classification (tone color, playability, response, etc).

Daniel A Russel, professor of acoustics at Pennsylvania State University, provides some excellent animations on wave propagation in a variety of media, including sound field radiations from monopole to quadrupole sources.