Comparison of the Recorded Resonance of two Stradivarius Violins
The Sandor Vegh and Itzhak Pearlman violins recordings are very different sounding even thought both violins were made by Stradivarius. The Pearlman sound is a brighter performance recorded in a much larger space than Vegh's recording. The spectrums of the violins have many similar resonance peaks however Vegh's violin has a much stronger resonance just a few cents above middle C (C4) and D (D4). These strong resonance peaks give the performance a much deeper sound. I personally think this sound suits the contemplative nature of his performance. Pearlman's recording has a brilliance that to me suits the virtuosity of his performance. Both violins have the same resonance's just above C4 and D4 the difference is in the relative strength of these components.
Computer Musicians and Audio Engineers take note : it is easy to see why electronic simulation of the violin is so difficult. (surprising is it !!) The resonant peaks are much less than a semitone in width with 20-30 decibel peaks. This is a graphic illustration that reveals one of the desirable properties of the violin, vibrato and its tone. An electronic simulation would require a very large bank of high order bandpass filters, and note that this is only in the range of G3 - C6 there are still another 4 octaves of ever more peaks an valleys. The placement and depth of the resonance peaks and valleys also determine the evenness of the tone as a musician plays up and down the scale - the width of each resonance valley cannot be too wide and the graphs of the spectrum reveals this. Both violins and there respective recordings have this quality. Looking at the complexity of music instruments always reminds me to remember that we in the 21 century do not have a strangle hold on technology!!
The Sandor Vegh and Itzhak Pearlman violins recordings are very different sounding even thought both violins were made by Stradivarius. The Pearlman sound is a brighter performance recorded in a much larger space than Vegh's recording. The spectrums of the violins have many similar resonance peaks however Vegh's violin has a much stronger resonance just a few cents above middle C (C4) and D (D4). These strong resonance peaks give the performance a much deeper sound. I personally think this sound suits the contemplative nature of his performance. Pearlman's recording has a brilliance that to me suits the virtuosity of his performance. Both violins have the same resonance's just above C4 and D4 the difference is in the relative strength of these components.
Computer Musicians and Audio Engineers take note : it is easy to see why electronic simulation of the violin is so difficult. (surprising is it !!) The resonant peaks are much less than a semitone in width with 20-30 decibel peaks. This is a graphic illustration that reveals one of the desirable properties of the violin, vibrato and its tone. An electronic simulation would require a very large bank of high order bandpass filters, and note that this is only in the range of G3 - C6 there are still another 4 octaves of ever more peaks an valleys. The placement and depth of the resonance peaks and valleys also determine the evenness of the tone as a musician plays up and down the scale - the width of each resonance valley cannot be too wide and the graphs of the spectrum reveals this. Both violins and there respective recordings have this quality. Looking at the complexity of music instruments always reminds me to remember that we in the 21 century do not have a strangle hold on technology!!
Download Comparison Graph
| stradivarius-comparison.pdf |
This is a comparison of the recorded overall sound resonance (audio spectrum) of two stradivarius violins in the range of G3-O6. The vertical axis is the energy in decibel and the horizontal axis is frequency in midi notes (middle C is C4=60). These recordings are Itzhak Perlman and Sandor Vegh performances of Bach's solo violin sonata in G, the Adagio.
©1999, Nemerical Sound. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, with the prior written permission of Numerical Sound. For Information on getting permission for reprints, excerpts or further details, contact Ernest Cholakis at Numerical Sound, [email protected], 414-444-6644, (FAX 416-444-7045).
©1999, Nemerical Sound. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, with the prior written permission of Numerical Sound. For Information on getting permission for reprints, excerpts or further details, contact Ernest Cholakis at Numerical Sound, [email protected], 414-444-6644, (FAX 416-444-7045).
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