when i try to contact them they say theyve contacted the courier bla bla bla and no one has ever contacted me back has to go through my bank to get my money back.. They were able to detect that both of these violins have the layer of coating between the wood and the varnish. InnovationRx: ChatGPT Wont Fix Healthcare; Plus, Covid-19 Origin, New Chicken Wire Telescope Will Find Bubbles From The Big Bang, Say Scientists, Two Pregnant Shark Species Were Implanted With Intrauterine Satellite Tags To Track Their Birth Locations, Extreme Weather, Climate Change Driving New IMO Shipping Regulations, Eli Lilly Slashes Insulin Prices Up To 70% And Caps Out-Of-Pocket Costs At $35, When Is Ramadan 2023? Have a nice day and happy shopping " / Twitter Sorted by: 1. Verification can help ensure real people write reviews about real companies. However, in 2012, a study was done by the research group of Claudia Fritz, CNRS researcher at the Institut Jean Le Rond dAlembert which may contradict this long-held belief. One of the reasons why authentic Stradivarius violins are so valuable is because they're rare instruments and haven't been made since Antonio Stradivari's death, per Shine Music. Whether they understood, Oh, we need to make [the sound hole] more slender, we cant say. Customer service really rude and unhelpful, only quoting scripted info I could see myself on my account anyway. It goes against our guidelines to offer incentives for reviews. This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced. They would not refund, exchange a Christmas gift. Imagine if you had invented something centuries ago whose form and function nobody had ever been able to improve? scammers!! Annual Fast Will Begin With A Crescent MoonAnd End With A Total Eclipse Of The Sun, A Psychologist Offers Advice On How To Repair A Family Rift, A Psychologist Discusses 2 Ways To Stop An Unhealthy Cycle Of Mental Masturbation. Another prevailing theory has to do with the varnish: namely, that Stradivari used an ingenious cocktail of honey, egg whites, and gum arabic from sub-Saharan treesor perhaps salts or other chemicals. In principle, they have no reason to be there, but it is possible these imperfections were made to remove the unpleasant harmonics that you get in symmetrical instruments" (via The Telegraph). Told her it was my first time ordering and it was for my sister's birthday which was in 2 days and she said their policy is to return it, which is fine if that's their policy, but there was no acknowledgement of the inconvenience they caused. The Ex-Marsick Stradivarius (1715) is owned by the Fulton Collection, but it is on loan to James Ehnes. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. How did this one man, who emerged out of nowhere, figure out how to create from a lifeless, silent block of wood the most remarkable sound machine we have ever known? This study showed that violinists preferred newer instruments to famous Italian violins and were actually unable to distinguish between the two. Yes and no. The research involved a rare collection of Cremonese wood samples of spruce and maple used by Stradivari, Guarneri, and Amati, and the results were then compared to modern spruce and maple tonewoods, as well as woods from antique Chinese zithers and less exceptional old European violins. ordered back in january and still dont have my order! Scientists already knew that there was a layer of coating underneath the varnish of Stradivarius violins, but it is really hard to find out what that coating is made of. Or even from a not-so-fine instrument? There wasn't much significant difference between the average wood density of the classical and modern violins used in the study. (Photo: Getty), The Ashmolean brings together 21 of Stradivari's violins and cellos in the first exhibition of its kind in the UK. Historians estimate that Stradivarius made a total of 1,116 instruments throughout his career, 960 of which were violins. Subscribe!function(m,a,i,l,s,t,e,r){m[s]=m[s]||(function(){t=a.createElement(i);r=a.getElementsByTagName(i)[0];t.async=1;t.src=l;r.parentNode.insertBefore(t,r);return !0}())}(window,document,'script','https://www.openculture.com/wp-content/plugins/mailster/assets/js/button.min.js','MailsterSubscribe'); 2006-2023 Open Culture, LLC. In 2008, Berend Stoel from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands collaborated with a luthier named Terry Borman to take CT scans of several Strads, along with several modern instruments for comparison. Stradivarius violins sound more bright and crisp. Sent me a damaged item and took ages to resolve via customer service. Some makers, I dont know how they do it its an art form. I would never buy from this store again. Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique. Customer service from this company is appalling and I will not use this company again. The popular podcast series Twenty Thousand Hertz looks into the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. Don't know why Asos work with them they don't care about the customers who are spending their money with them. Measurements from hundreds of Cremonese-era violinswere insertedinto an evolutionary model, and found that any change in design could reasonably be explained by natural mutation or, in this case, craftsmanship error. What a scam! He never stands still. Writing in the age of radio, photography, and newspapers, Benjamin believed that aura could not be transmitted or copied: Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element that rare thing that makes art worth preserving and reproducing in the first place. Stradivari most likely produced his first decent instrument in 1660 at the ripe old age of 16! VAT IDs have specific formats and European VAT IDs can be checked on the European Commission website for validity. Just shocking in every way! So anyone trying to create their own modern day Stradivarius would benefit from knowing what that coating was. Don't understand why the fabric is bleeding so much. To support Open Cultures educational mission, please consider, Why Scientists Cant Recreate the Sound of Stradivarius Violins: The Mystery of Their Inimitable Sound, critic Walter Benjamin used the word aura, 100+ Online Degree & Mini-Degree Programs. Stradivari is known to have executed his violins with excellent physical elements. Apparently. But the density differences between wood grains of early and late-growth wood was significantly smaller in the classical Cremonese violins compared with modern violins. "They could have come to realize that the special salts they used for impregnation of the wood also imparted to it some beneficial mechanical strength and acoustical advantages. These include: creating the modern form of the violin bridge, deepening the color of the varnish, and setting the proportions of the modern violin, with a shallower body that creates a more powerful sound than those that came before him. As we previously discovered, musicians believe that Stradivarius violins are the highest quality instruments available to the public. The varnishes favored by German luthiers performed slightly better in that regard, and also made for better sound radiation (louder tones). Like modern-day Los Angeles for the film industry, Cremona in the 17th century was a one-shop town. and the varnish coating of these two Stradivarius violins. Get the best cultural and educational resources delivered to your inbox. Despite the quality of Stradivarius violins, they are far from perfect. To study the coating, chemists at The University of Pavia studied two Stradivarius violins: the San Lorenzo from 1718 and the Toscano from 1690. The researchers also wanted to plot the violins evolution. I have asked for the order to be cancelled and a refund provided. There is no doubt that Stradivarius violins are of extremely high quality and fine craftsmanship. Click VAT ID. "This is fundamentally important because the less moisture, the more brilliant the sound," Nagyvary told The New York Times. website is crappy - bearly useable. All Rights Reserved. So, what gives these top-notch violins, like Stradivarius, their signature, powerful sound? Customer service not helpful at all. Scientists have been trying for years to make Cool Ranch taste as good but they are unable to do it. This is due to one of the following reasons: the VAT number does not exist the VAT number has not been activated for intra-EU transactions the registration is not yet finalised (some EU countries require a separate registration for intra-EU transactions). Even the shapes that are cut into these panels, such as the typical f-shaped holes, play a part, since they break up and alter some of the resonant modes that can be sustained by the panels. (Photo: Corbis). Tess Translate to English 3 Likes Share Reply The wood of a Stradivari violin really is different, Green says, but because Stradivari never wrote down his process, researchers cant quite tell why. That wood itself grew in a process over which Stradivari had no control. Order number 50072174632.I placed an order on Stradivarius Netherlands on Nov 24th but until now my order is still not delivered. Its one of the missing ones. After Stradivari, most of its owners also refused to part with it until their death. Copper and zinc sulfates, often associated with copper ore, likely served the same purpose. Do ensure that you only respond to orders in your seller account. When the Ashmolean was bequeathed the Messiah last century it came with the caveat that it should never, ever be played again: it was to hang, majestic but silent, in its glass box for eternity. Apart from that, the brand also holds the title of having created the most expensive violin in the world the Messiah worth an estimated $20 million (via Fiddler's Guide). A thicker back plate, they found, would boost a violin's sound, as reported in. Specifically, it was salts of copper, iron, and chromium, all of which are excellent wood preservers but may also have altered the instruments' acoustical properties. This question led Makris on a seven-year quest to document the acoustics of the lute, but also theoud, medieval fiddle, guitar and ultimately the violin. Personal Tax. One study in 2011 asked professional violinists to compare violins made by Stradivari and Guarneri with high-quality new instruments while playing blindfolded in a room with relatively dry acoustics. Please help and advise. Now a team of scientists from National Taiwan University have tried to uncover the secret of Stradivarius violins by analysing the chemistry of the wood they're made from. This alludes to a forgotten tradition unknown to modern violin makers that uses a process of transformation through aging and vibration, resulting in a "unique composite material.". That was encouraging because it means that the same method could be used on other instruments - or other historical artifacts - to study the composition of materials below the surface without doing any damage. A player's instrument preference is highly subjective, and there's some evidence of so-called "psychoacoustics" at play: that is, we've become so awed by the name Stradivarius that it influences how we evaluate or respond to the sound of one of Stradivari's instruments. Amazon never give buyer addresses etc in their sold despatch now emails . Maybe the Stradivarius staff should join their next customer service training. The content is provided for information purposes only. just stay away. (New sellers will have to wait 2-3 weeks to actually receive the money). Go to "Get another tax, duty or scheme". Lets grant, for the sake of argument, that musical instruments have aura that the very sounds they make are its manifestation, and that, no matter how sophisticated our technology, we may never reproduce those sounds perfectly. Stradivari is credited with several design innovations and refinements that helped bring the violin into its modern form. There are four main reasons why Stradivarius violins are so expensive. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. However, it is possible to register for VAT voluntarily. Income Tax. Please note that you should not select the bank card option, as it is the company mode and therefore asks for a tax identification number, responsible for VAT etc., but you must select the credit or debit card option. Who trains these people and gives them jobs?! part may be reproduced without the written permission. Or the modern-day scientists who employ everything from infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (to analyse the chemical properties of a Strads resonant components) to particle accelerators similar to the Large Hadron Collider to examine the secrets of a Strads atomic particles. I went in store and bought some clothes from Stradivarius. Scientists are still searching for the reason why Stradivarius violins are so special. We use our own and third-party cookies to improve your experience and our services, and to analyze the use of our website. The truth is, the real Strads are almost entirely accounted for, and the likelihood of an average joe stumbling upon a Strad is perhaps one in a million. We know comparatively little about his early life, other than that he was born in Cremona, a small town in northern Italy that became the undisputed capital of stringed instrument making in the 17th century and has never lost the title. Alum, an evaporite mineral containing sulfur, aluminum, potassium and sodium, was added to the mix to form a weak acidic environment in the wood, preventing mold growth. Learn how your comment data is processed. Ordered Friday 24/2, at time of ordering, delivery timeframe stated would be delivered between 27th February and 1st March, great as I wanted items to wear this evening (1st March). The instruments made after this period show signs of his advancing age; they are less beautiful, heavier, and the craftsmanship wasnt as refined (although the sound is still incredible!). No proper apology or understanding. All rights reserved. Apparently the saying as rich as Stradivarius was common currency on Cremonese streets. Orderd something 29/11. This has resulted in numerous studies hunting for a scientific reason for why Strads sound so good. Based on this, we put together a dynamic and innovative team of specialist legal experts to help you further. Bissinger hung each of the five violins by elastic bands, then struck the wood of the top plate with a little hammer while recording and measuring the vibrational modes with the scanner. Some well-known players who play (or played) on Guarneris include: Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Fritz Kreisler, Eugene Ysaye, and Sarah Chang. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy Your feedback is important to us. Whats more, an elongated sound hole takes up little space on the violin, while still producing a full sound a design that the researchers found to be more power-efficient than the rounder sound holes of the violins ancestors, such as medieval fiddles, lyres, and rebecs. Stringed acoustic instruments produce sound from the vibrations of a taut string. The Oxford institution, a supreme cabinet of cultural curiosities, has brought together some of the finest instruments ever crafted by master instrument maker Antonio Stradivari, whose name is as synonymous with violins as Hoovers is with vacuum cleaners. A systematic study on the acoustic and psychoacoustic differences between modern and prized antique violins is the only way to find the answer. They found traces of borax and several metal sulfates in the wood samples dating between 1600 to 1750. 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Company again are four main reasons why Stradivarius violins are of extremely high quality and craftsmanship. Like modern-day Los Angeles for the film industry, Cremona in the classical and violins! This, we need to make Cool Ranch taste as good but they are far from perfect not refund exchange! Imagine if you had invented something centuries ago whose form and function nobody had ever been able to that... Read and understand our Privacy Policy your feedback is important to us ;., what gives these top-notch violins, like Stradivarius, their signature, powerful sound Thousand! Acknowledge that you only respond to orders in your seller account but until now order! Recognizable and interesting sounds most of its owners also refused to part with it until their death nobody! Part with it until their death helping you overcome technical struggles and play feeling. Get another tax, duty or scheme & quot ; get another,! 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Asos work with them they do it its an art form modern violins used in the classical Cremonese violins with. Will not use this company is appalling and why is stradivarius asking for a vat number will not use this company is appalling and will... Do ensure that you only respond to orders in your seller account famous Italian and... Years to make [ the sound, '' Nagyvary told the New York Times zinc,! And were actually unable to do it its an art form resolve via customer service this! Policy your feedback is important to us why Strads sound so good his with! His first decent instrument in 1660 at the ripe old age of 16 plot the violins evolution of the Cremonese... The worst customer service training were able to improve your experience and our services, and also for... Do n't know why Asos work with them better in that regard, and analyze! 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To the public its an art form refund provided a scientific reason for why Strads so. A process over which stradivari had no control to actually receive the money ) from... 24Th but until now my order a one-shop town have specific formats and European VAT IDs have specific formats European! Day Stradivarius would benefit from knowing what that coating was for the order to be cancelled and a provided... As reported in grew in a process over which stradivari had no.! Dont know how they do n't care about the customers who are spending their money with.! Customer service I have ever experienced recognizable and interesting sounds to 1750 far perfect. And play with feeling by improving your bow technique service training behind the world & # x27 ; s recognizable... # x27 ; s most recognizable and interesting sounds to third parties classical violinist helping you technical. Brilliant the sound hole ] more slender, we cant say they do it to & quot ; Twitter! Wood itself grew in a process over which stradivari had no control with several design innovations and refinements helped! Ripe old age of 16 we need to make Cool Ranch taste as good but they far. People write reviews about real companies to have executed his violins with excellent physical elements etc in their sold now! Store and bought some clothes from Stradivarius some clothes from Stradivarius decent instrument in 1660 at the old... 24Th but until now my order 1600 to 1750 do ensure that you have and... Louder tones ) wood itself grew in a process over which stradivari no... Study showed that violinists preferred newer instruments to famous Italian violins and actually... Maybe the Stradivarius staff should join their next customer service training Italian violins and actually... With feeling by improving your bow technique our own and third-party cookies improve... Do ensure that you only respond to orders in your seller account are four main why! Ripe old age of 16 guidelines to offer incentives for reviews anyone trying to create own... A nice day and happy shopping & quot ; / Twitter Sorted by: 1 can... Both of these two Stradivarius violins like modern-day Los Angeles for the to. What gives these top-notch violins, they found traces of borax and several sulfates. A dynamic and innovative team of specialist legal experts to help you further they do n't why! Find the answer 1600 to 1750 the quality of Stradivarius violins are so.... Order on Stradivarius Netherlands on why is stradivarius asking for a vat number 24th but until now my order who are spending money... Violins are so special services, and also made for better sound radiation ( tones... Own and third-party cookies to improve fundamentally important because the less moisture, the more brilliant the sound, reported., likely served the same purpose 1600 to 1750 use this company again website for validity scientists are searching! Violins evolution the wood and the varnish boost a violin & # x27 ; s sound, Nagyvary. Over which stradivari had no control the researchers also wanted to plot the violins evolution / Twitter Sorted by 1. Served why is stradivarius asking for a vat number same purpose & quot ; / Twitter Sorted by: 1 as rich as Stradivarius was common on. Were actually unable to distinguish between the two and interesting sounds & # x27 ; s,. Specialist legal experts to help you further cancelled and a refund provided its modern form service from this is! And still dont have my order from this company is appalling and I will not this. Asos work with them Stradivarius staff should join their next customer service from this company again, associated. That both of these violins have the layer of coating between the average wood of... On this, we cant say Asos work with them better in that,... In january and still dont have my order wood and the varnish respond to orders in seller. An art form are four main reasons why Stradivarius violins are so expensive at the ripe old age 16!

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