aComputational acoustic modeling laboratory, CIRMMT, McGill University
bInstitut d'Alembert - LAM, Sorbonne Université / CNRS
Abstract :
This experiment explores how changes in soundpost height
affect the perceptual qualities of the violin and whether there is
a threshold of change below which players do not perceive
differences. A violin installed with a height-adjustable carbon
soundpost was employed. The experiment was designed as a
sequence of playing tests. An experimenter was present to
change the soundpost height. Thirteen professional violinists and
six luthiers participated. The experiment involved two phases.
During the first phase, subjects played and described their
feelings about the violin with different soundpost settings in
order to find their optimal soundpost height. During the second
phase, the experimenter randomly increased, decreased or did
not change the soundpost height in ten trials within a range of
approximately ±0.1 mm around their optimal height. Subjects
were asked to play the violin for each trial and compare it with
the previous setting, to decide whether they were the same or
different. Initial results indicate that each subject’s optimal
soundpost height varies within an interquartile range of 0.3mm
and the smallest height variation that could be recognized
above chance level is about 0.04mm.