News

When Professors Speak Out, Some Students Stay Quiet. Can Harvard Keep Everyone Talking?

News

Allston Residents, Elected Officials Ask for More Benefits from Harvard’s 10-Year Plan

News

Nobel Laureate Claudia Goldin Warns of Federal Data Misuse at IOP Forum

News

Woman Rescued from Freezing Charles River, Transported to Hospital with Serious Injuries

News

Harvard Researchers Develop New Technology to Map Neural Connections

HEIFETZ PLAYS FOR SCIENCE AS ANALYSER SPLITS SOUND

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

Rare chords of an ancient 1700 Stradivarius and a Guarnerius met an electric test of science yesterday in the laboratory of Frederick A. Saunders, professor of Physics, in an attempt to discover whether modern technique can surpass the art of the famous Italian masters.

Using a harmonic analyser which gives a phonographic record of each sound, the scientists dissected 64 notes from the violins, played by Jascha Heifetz, world-famous musician. The artist sat in a special sound box and held each note for four or five seconds while vibrating pens wrote the delicate message on drums.

After keeping his eye on a red light which determined the length of each tone, Heifetz said, "most of the time it was too long. I hope it was all right."

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags