Violin makers routinely finish their instruments with a thick coat of varnish, the better to protect and preserve the wood. Now Swiss scientists claim that this varnish also plays a role in the ...

Varnish does more than just provide a protective sheen to a violin. It influences the vibrations and impulses that the wood absorbs and therefore the quality of sound the instrument produces, says an ...

What makes a Stradivarius violin sound so lively and transcendent that musicians are willing to pay up to several million dollars to own one? For years, debate has raged on what exactly the Cremonese ...

Leonardo da Vinci's oil painting "Mona Lisa" looks rather gloomy with its dark green and brown colours. It is a little-known fact that the maestro painted the picture in bright colours - so the ...

A good violin depends not only on the expertise of the violin maker, but also on the quality of the wood that is used. The Swiss wood researcher Professor Francis W. M. R. Schwarze (Empa, Swiss ...

A self-taught violin maker has been recognized for his craftsmanship in an international competition which featured almost 200 violins. When Richard “Rick” Thanem of Port Angeles entered a violin of ...

ZIAO CHEN, 9, remains focused while practicing a challenging concert piece at Flathead Valley Community College Nov. 6, 2023. (Hilary Matheson/Daily Inter Lake) ZIAO CHEN, 9, rehearses with instructor ...