Editing Stradivarius (section)

==Construction==
[[File:Geigenzettel.png|thumb|Maker's label from Stradivari]]

Stradivari made his instruments using an inner form, unlike the French copyists, such as [[Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume|Vuillaume]], who employed an outer form. It is clear from the number of forms throughout his career that he experimented with some of the dimensions of his instruments.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Violin Forms of Antonio Stradivari |first=Stewart |last=Pollens |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfUsAAAACAAJ |year=1992 |publisher=Peter Biddulph |isbn=0-9520109-0-9}}</ref> The woods used included [[spruce]] for the top, [[willow]] for the internal blocks and linings, and [[maple]] for the back, ribs, and neck.<ref name="Pollens">{{cite book |last1=Pollens |first1=Stewart |title=The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1107077805 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u7nbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT834}}</ref> Stradivari's sound is described as "direct and precise", responding to the slightest touch with refined direction and elegance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://miocannone.com/our-blog/whats-the-difference-between-a-stradivarius-guarneri-and-amatise-violin/|title = The Amazing Stradivarius, Guarneri, and Amatise Violin Characteristics &#124; Mio Cannone Violini|date = 4 February 2022}}</ref>

There has been conjecture that the wood used may have been treated with several types of minerals, both before and after construction of a violin. Scientists at [[National Taiwan University]] have detected trace amounts of [[aluminum]], [[copper]], and [[calcium]] in wood from Stradivari violins.<ref name="Tai">{{cite journal |last1=Tai |first1=Hwan-Ching |last2=Li |first2=Guo-Chian |last3=Huang |first3=Shing-Jong |last4=Jhu |first4=Chang-Ruei |last5=Chung |first5=Jen-Hsuan |last6=Wang |first6=Bo Y. |last7=Hsu |first7=Chia-Shuo |last8=Brandmair |first8=Brigitte |last9=Chung |first9=Dai-Ting |last10=Chen |first10=Hao Ming |last11=Chan |first11=Jerry Chun Chung |title=Chemical distinctions between Stradivari's maple and modern tonewood |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=3 January 2017 |volume=114 |issue=1 |pages=27–32 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1611253114 |pmid=27994135 |pmc=5224390 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114...27T |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Yin">{{cite news |last1=Yin |first1=Steph |title=The Brilliance of a Stradivari Violin Might Rest Within Its Wood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/science/stradivari-violin-wood.html |access-date=14 June 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=20 December 2016}}</ref> The traces may have come from chemical preservatives applied by loggers to the wood they sold.<ref name="Distillations"/> As well, the violin makers applied varnishes to their instruments. Potassium borate ([[borax]]) may have been used to protect against [[woodworm]].<ref name="Uhlig">{{cite news |last1=Uhlig |first1=Robert |title=Stradivari 'owes it all to worms' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1328632/Stradivari-owes-it-all-to-worms.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1328632/Stradivari-owes-it-all-to-worms.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=14 June 2018 |work=The Telegraph |date=31 March 2001}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Sodium and [[potassium silicate]] may have been used to prevent [[mildew]], rotting and insect damage.<ref name="Lemonick">{{cite news |last1=Lemonick |first1=Michael |title=The varnished truth about a Stradivarius |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/oct/14/books.guardianreview2 |access-date=14 June 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=13 October 2000}}</ref> [[Simone Fernando Sacconi]] suggested that Vernice bianca, an egg tempera varnish composed of [[gum arabic]], [[honey]], and [[egg white]], may have been used.<ref name="Feltman">{{cite journal |last1=Feltman |first1=Jeff |title=Jack Batts: An interview by Jeff Feltman |journal=American Lutherie: The Quarterly Journal of the Guild of American Luthiers |date=1987|issue=10 |pages=38–39}}</ref>

French chemist [[Jean-Philippe Echard]] and his co-workers have studied varnishes on Stradivarius violins. He reported in 2010 that even when varnish is no longer visible to the human eye on the surface of older violins, it can be detected within the top layers of cells. A lower layer of varnish is found within the topmost wood cells while an upper rests upon the wood. Echard's findings suggest that Stradivari used a mixture of common Cremonese resin, oil, and pigment as a varnish, rather than making his own. Echard did not find traces of specialized ingredients such as protein materials, gums, or fossil amber.<ref name="Distillations"/><ref name="Echard">{{cite journal |last1=Echard |first1=Jean-Philippe |last2=Bertrand |first2=Loïc |last3=von Bohlen |first3=Alex |last4=Le Hô |first4=Anne-Solenn |last5=Paris |first5=Céline |last6=Bellot-Gurlet |first6=Ludovic |last7=Soulier |first7=Balthazar |last8=Lattuati-Derieux |first8=Agnès |last9=Thao |first9=Sylvie |last10=Robinet |first10=Laurianne |last11=Lavédrine |first11=Bertrand |last12=Vaiedelich |first12=Stéphane |title=The Nature of the Extraordinary Finish of Stradivari's Instruments |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition |date=4 January 2010 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=197–201 |doi=10.1002/anie.200905131 |pmid=19967687 }}</ref>

A comparative study published in [[PLOS One]] in 2008<ref name="Stoel 2008 e2554">{{Cite journal |last=Stoel |first=Berend C. |author2=Borman, Terry M |title=A Comparison of Wood Density between Classical Cremonese and Modern Violins |journal=[[PLoS ONE]] |volume=3 |issue=7 |pages=e2554 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002554 |year=2008 |pmid=18596937 |pmc=2438473 |bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2554S |editor1-last=Grama |editor1-first=Ananth |doi-access=free }}</ref> found no significant differences in median densities between modern and classical violins, or between classical violins from different origins; instead the survey of several modern and classical examples of violins highlighted a notable distinction when comparing density differentials.  These results suggest that differences in density differentials in the material may have played a significant role in the sound production of classical violins. A later survey, focused on comparing median densities in both classical and modern violin examples, questioned the role available materials may have played in sound production differences, though it made no comment on variations in density differentials.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stoel |first1=Berend C. |last2=Borman |first2=Terry M. |last3=de Jongh |first3=Ronald |title=Wood Densitometry in 17th and 18th Century Dutch, German, Austrian and French Violins, Compared to Classical Cremonese and Modern Violins |journal=PLOS ONE |date=10 October 2012 |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=e46629 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0046629 |pmid=23071602 |pmc=3468601 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...746629S |doi-access=free }}</ref> The content of copper and aluminium is higher than current instruments.<ref name="Tai"/><ref name="Yin"/>