Musical Acoustics

A recipe for a violin

Chladni patterns show the geometry of the different types of vibration of violin plates. This site has an introductory explanation of modes of vibration and a library of photographs of the Chladni patterns of the bellies and backplates of two different violins (one mass-produced and one hand-made). It also has photographs of plates with regular geometries which assist in understanding the violin modes. For some related history, see Chladni's law. For some Chladni patterns on metal plates, with sound files, see Acoustics of bell plates. To make your own Chladni patters, try this site.

See Also:

• Modern tests of the vibrational properties of the unassembled topand back plates of a violin reveal something of what violimakers do by "feel" and lead to thr making of consistently good violins by Carleen Maley Hutchins.