Lutheries-Acoustique-Musique Team, Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert UMR 7190, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, 75005 Paris, France;
Joseph Curtin Studios, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 May 23;114(21):5395-5400. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1619443114. Epub 2017 May 8.
Old Italian violins are routinely credited with playing qualities supposedly unobtainable in new instruments. These qualities include the ability to project their sound more effectively in a concert hall-despite seeming relatively quiet under the ear of the player-compared with new violins. Although researchers have long tried to explain the "mystery" of Stradivari's sound, it is only recently that studies have addressed the fundamental assumption of tonal superiority. Results from two studies show that, under blind conditions, experienced violinists tend to prefer playing new violins over Old Italians. Moreover, they are unable to tell new from old at better than chance levels. This study explores the relative merits of Stradivari and new violins from the perspective of listeners in a hall. Projection and preference are taken as the two broadest criteria by which listeners might meaningfully compare violins. Which violins are heard better, and which are preferred? In two separate experiments, three new violins were compared with three by Stradivari. Projection was tested both with and without orchestral accompaniment. Projection and preference were judged simultaneously by dividing listeners into two groups. Results are unambiguous. The new violins projected better than the Stradivaris whether tested with orchestra or without, the new violins were generally preferred by the listeners, and the listeners could not reliably distinguish new from old. The single best-projecting violin was considered the loudest under the ear by players, and on average, violins that were quieter under the ear were found to project less well.
古意大利小提琴通常被认为具有新乐器无法达到的演奏品质。这些品质包括在音乐厅中更有效地投射声音的能力——尽管在演奏者耳边听起来相对安静——与新小提琴相比。尽管研究人员长期以来一直试图解释斯特拉迪瓦里声音的“神秘”之处，但直到最近，研究才开始解决音色优越性的基本假设。两项研究的结果表明，在盲听条件下，经验丰富的小提琴手往往更喜欢演奏新小提琴而不是古意大利小提琴。此外，他们无法以高于随机水平的能力辨别新琴和旧琴。本研究从音乐厅听众的角度探讨了斯特拉迪瓦里小提琴和新小提琴的相对优点。投射和偏好被视为听众可以有意义地比较小提琴的两个最广泛的标准。哪些小提琴听起来更好，哪些更受听众欢迎？在两个单独的实验中，三把新小提琴与三把斯特拉迪瓦里小提琴进行了比较。在有和没有管弦乐伴奏的情况下都对投射进行了测试。通过将听众分成两组，同时对投射和偏好进行评判。结果是明确的。新小提琴的投射效果无论是否有管弦乐伴奏都优于斯特拉迪瓦里小提琴，听众普遍更喜欢新小提琴，而且听众无法可靠地区分新琴和旧琴。投射效果最好的小提琴被演奏者认为是在耳边最响亮的，而且平均而言，在耳边听起来更安静的小提琴投射效果较差。
