Fungivarius Beats $2 Million Stradivarius Violin

Fluffeh writes "Violins made by the Italian master Antonio Giacomo Stradivarius are regarded as being of unparalleled quality even today, with enthusiasts being prepared to pay millions for a single example. Stradivarius himself knew nothing of fungi which attack wood, but he received inadvertent help from the Little Ice Age which occurred from 1645 to 1715. During this period Central Europe suffered long winters and cool summers which caused trees to grow slowly and uniformly ideal conditions in fact for producing wood with excellent acoustic qualities. Now scientists are turning to fungi to recreate some of these amazing sounding instruments."

Comments

Violins

[Spazztastic]

Any time I see someone playing a violin I ask if they can play "Devil Went Down to Georgia." I usually don't get positive responses...

Re:Violins

[Anonymous Coward]

Any time I see someone playing a violin I ask if they can play "Devil Went Down to Georgia." I usually don't get positive responses...

That's because you're too stupid to tell the difference between a violin and a fiddle.

Re:Violins

[gardyloo]

Huh. In that case, I've got two fiddles right here.

Re:Violins

[Anonymous Coward]

Q: What is the difference between a fiddle and a violin?

A: The cost of the lessons!

Reminds me of

[Monkeedude1212]

Hatori Hanzo and his amazing swords.

As interesting as this is, I still think I'd rather watch Kill Bill then listen to classical music.

Re:Reminds me of

[Anonymous Coward]

I still think I'd rather watch Kill Bill then listen to classical music.

So, which classical pieces do you intend to listen to after you've watched Kill Bill?

Re:That's becaues it's more mythology than reality

[Mr. Slippery]

You see this in other high end audio all the time. Cables would be the best example.

My favorite example: Denon's AK-DL1: "Ultra Premium", a $499 5-foot Ethernet cable. It's so premium that "signal directional markings are provided for optimum signal transfer" -- presumably the electrons read the markings to figure out which way to go, because moving under a voltage is just so out of style.

Re:Blind Sound Test.

[Subm]

there appear to be no characterizing differences between the perceived sound from well-made orthodox instruments on any age when played by a skilled player

That's because they used the wrong speaker cables and missed out on the warm sound only pure gold provides.

Re:That's becaues it's more mythology than reality

[ArsonSmith]

When you're stuck carrying around large piles of cash, of course things sound better when a company like monster unloads some of that from you.

Re:Blind Sound Test. - Doesn't matter....

[Joce640k]

A Strad is the best available. If you've got a Strad you can relax and stop worrying whether your neighbor's violin might be better.

Play that Fungi music!

[Anonymous Coward]

... sorry