In a series of tests, they used optical microscopy to view the cellular structure of the samples. Now I'm seeing the more technical side of it, and it helps me understand what makes music so beautiful. While most students spent the semester working with woods, Thomas Walker, a Bay Area high school student from a Cal honors program, tested the acoustical properties of metals. There were trombones made of many different metals. I wanted to see if there was something in the materials that was behind those different sounds.
Final analyses are unfinished, but students did learn that each wood has a unique microstructure.
They saw that the coarse, open, intercellular structure of Douglas fir may dampen sound and that the dense structure of mahogany resists moisture, wicking it away in a way that could preserve an instrument s integrity. When I picked up my violin, I wasn't thinking that the material it was made of made such a difference. And Gronsky says there is more to come.