PURITY OF TONE

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LX, Issue 16, 28 February 1939, Page 4

PURITY OF TONE

IMPROVEMENT TO VIOLIN

DANISH ENGINEER'S

DISCOVERY

(From The Guardian's London

Correspondent)

LONDON, January 28

A new violin can be made to sound like a Stradivarius costing thousands of pounds. That is the surprising claim made by Mr Paul Jarnak, a young Danish radio engineer,, whc says he has discovered the fundamental principle of violin tone after ten years' study of radio vibration.

This week he demonstrated his theory at the Northern Polytechnic London, to 100 musicians, members of the Institute of Musical Instrument Technology. Knocking gently on the body and plucking the string? of a violin which he made himself, he showed each string was in perfect sympathetic vibration with a certain part of the wood. The "G" string harmonised with the upper half of the back and "D" with tlie lower half "A" responded with flawless tone to the sound made by the top left half of the front and "£" to that made by the lower left front.

"I have cut out all noise or interference," he explained, "and have got an absolutely pure tone like that which eighteenth century masters produced by instinct merely."

"I believe Mr Jarnak's discovery may be of immense importance," said Mr S. A. Hurren, secretary of the institute and head of the Northern Polytechnic.