In a double-blind test (i.e., neither testers nor testees knew which instrument was which until after completion of the test), could seventeen seasoned professional violinists, by playing the instruments effectively blindfolded, tell which of six violins — two Strads, one Guarneri, and three modern instruments (none of which three modern instruments was "the latest $50 lacquer from China" as reported by one perennially unreliable "professional music journalist") — were the old Italian instruments?
Apparently not, mostly. When the dust cleared, the scorecard read:
⚫ Couldn't identify which were the old instruments: 7
⚫ Misidentified which were the old instruments: 7
⚫ Identified the old instruments correctly: 3 We're not the least surprised. Over the past couple decades or so, we've heard live (but not handled) some modern fiddles that, aurally, were virtual paragons and in every way the equal of fiddles produced by the old masters. Please note, we said "the equal of", NOT, "the same as". Every fiddle worth the playing has its own special character aurally and it's not a matter of best but of personal preference. Oh, and BTW, we guessed wrong on the two audio clips. We chose the one where the fiddle sounded best to our ear (the first clip) and assumed arbitrarily that was the old instrument.
⚫ Misidentified which were the old instruments: 7
⚫ Identified the old instruments correctly: 3 We're not the least surprised. Over the past couple decades or so, we've heard live (but not handled) some modern fiddles that, aurally, were virtual paragons and in every way the equal of fiddles produced by the old masters. Please note, we said "the equal of", NOT, "the same as". Every fiddle worth the playing has its own special character aurally and it's not a matter of best but of personal preference. Oh, and BTW, we guessed wrong on the two audio clips. We chose the one where the fiddle sounded best to our ear (the first clip) and assumed arbitrarily that was the old instrument.
It's The Music, Stupid!
Peggy
