Neapolitan Wood Craftsmanship of the 18th Century: Discovering Ancient Technologies in Lutherie

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会议名称:“2022世界木材日”研讨会暨第四届国际林联(IUFRO)林产品文化研究组讨论会
会议时间:2022年3月22日

报告嘉宾:Martino Quintavalla
嘉宾简介:米兰理工大学音乐与声学研究员


摘要

Musical instruments construction is a tradition that lasts since many centuries in Italy. Golden-age Neapolitan lutherie of XVIII century in particular, is one of the most representative for plucked stringed instruments such as the modern mandolin and guitar. Iconic 1700’s instruments are very sought after to play again but the very rare original ones are fragile objects whose use is a risk factor for their conservation and the actual trend is that of making accurate copies that are played in the place of the originals. A drawback of this approach however, is that an accurate reproduction of the geometry does not guarantee per-se the same sound. The large variability of the mechanical properties and density of wood in fact, implies that two instruments sharing the very same geometry can show a very different
acoustic response.
In our research, we have investigated the making techniques and technologies in use in the 18th century and their implications in the design and manufacturing of mandolins. Based on the analysis of some original instruments, we began to realize a philological reconstruction of the 1784 Filano mandolin of the collection of the Castello Sforzesco di Milano, a rare example in good state of conservation. Our work is supported by advanced nondestructive techniques such as x-ray tomography, acoustic radiation and accelerometric measurements, as well as elemental analyses on the surface coatings. These analyses will allow to identify the wood species and their density, as well as to perform dendrochronology analyses and infer 60 their mechanical and acoustical properties. By means of this approach, we aim at realizing a faithful replica that recovers not only the original aspect and geometry, but also the acoustic response of the original instrument. Once finished, this replica will be available to musicians and researchers interested in ancient music.

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