I remember reading a fascinating article in Scientific American back in the early '80s about sonic investigations into violins. The researchers vibrated existing antique violins and used a variety of means to record the results, including (if I recall correctly) scattering filings and photographing how the filings organized along wave patterns. Using this information, they were able to drastically improve the quality of some factory-made "blank" violins. But I did a search yesterday to see if this research had progressed further, and apparently the "scientific" approach still hasn't passed the skill of expert luthiers, who hand-shape the different plates in a violin by tapping them to hear the tone of each plate. The human ear (including the brain that does the processing) is still best at the kind of recognition needed to produce truly fine instruments. Here's an interesting review:
http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/13/4/8
@CommanderROR, hopefully the famous violinist will lose interest or decide he has enough fine instruments already.
