The end of the video alluded to the possible answer. I'm more than certain that it has a subconscious effect on the musician such that it brings out the that certain je ne sais quoi in the music. They are respectful of the instrument's history and origin as well as its inherent quality. Thus they play with a respect and a sense of confidence as well as perhaps a willingness to push the envelope.

Vox So You made a video questioning if there really is some God like quality to Strads but couldn't dare to tell that it is all bullshit based on evidence You found out? Nice!

Vox if you’re going to do anything science of sound/music video, I’d like to see what you could do with a short comparative study of pop vs classical singing techniques as they relate to natural resonances vs artificial amplification. Or a study on the history of the microphone and it’s influence, by extension, on the music industry as a whole. Maybe a whole series on the science of sound/music/acoustics. :)

Vox finally a video that’s not trying to divide the American people. This is a good quality video vox. Of course it’s only a matter of time before you go back to whining about trump and republicans

CybershamanX, exactly. I can't believe I'm the only person to have liked your comment.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

hahahha

@Keeling Charles Twoset

Why can I never escape twoset?

A Salad an intellectual.

Renan da Silveira Santos unfortunately many are, but most often they are loaned to professionals to play while they are in someone’s collection

Renato, played for a niche audience and its ok that 90% of the world doesn't care. Niche instruments survival relies of prestige alone.

Many violins are in museums, but are played at least once a month to keep their voices fresh and lovely :)

Auntie Christina , a voice tho loooool!

All instruments have a voice, I stand by what I said 😂

Jeep kid *s t r a d a t a r i o u s*

these are the best comments i have seen in a long time, cheers

Basically saying why the player is more or equally important than the instrument.

@@s_ame1135 I think the player is more important. If my sister was given a 30 dollar Amazon violin and I had a stradatarious she'd still play better than me.

Skillz

Who?

That's very... I N T R E S T I N G

Yeah they do

40 hours a day I'm haunted my TwoSet comments

Ling Ling likes this comment.

Elite Royalty wow

why didn't he lock it up in a vault, like a bank and just play a regular $2000 violin?

@@elysium8131 he was severely paranoid that some bank employee would damage it so he just kept it himself

@@icmenich bank employees don't have authorization to access your belongings. it's illegal. the bank is a place designed to store money, the most important thing on earth. it's secure, and your belongings in one are private only to you. i don't get why what he did was necessary.

@@elysium8131 he was really, like REALLY paranoid. He never let the violin out of his site in the 20+ years he had it. Not onxe

😂😂😂

Ha!

SSSSToP😂

👏👏👏👏👏

haha

"Ah, yes, shallow and pedantic"

Through my Huawei cellphone mono speaker every Tone is silvery...

Indeed, all of this is just snob bullshitery

@@blac_iso Did you watch it? I mean yeah a good portion of it does seem to be snobbery but these violins seem to be better than the majority of violins made today and considering the age that at least suggests a better design, that's probably worth talking about in itself. The example of her not having to sacrifice quality for a more powerful sound seems quite significant for a musician. You're talking about the difference of one violin from another the differences aren't exactly going to be major are they? What were you expecting when you clicked on the video?

@@cardamundo295 didnt that double blind study just say that elite violinists couldnt even tell the difference and actually preferred the newer violins?

Yep, way to bust the flowery stuff.

Flowery? I find it rather sad that all it takes is a million and people are willing to open their souls ha

That's called a brain

40 HRS

40 HRS fam

Whatever violin ling ling touches becomes a strad

PRACTICE LING LING

I see you're a man of culture

The point of the video is that nobody can tell the difference between the Stradivarius and new instruments. People like it because it's a piece of history, but the "dense grained wood" means nothing in terms of producing sound, according to the research study.

The 'unique sounds' comes from the imaginations if the musicians. And in the tests they preferred the sound of new violins.

Thank you!!! A lot of folks do not know the environmental history of why those violins sound so well.

a synthetic one can be built with the same qualities.

The tone is in the fingers

Legends say Ling Ling can play all those remaining 450 Strads at the same time, 40 hours a day.

WHO is ling ling hahah??????

even the strad violas???

And on the 650, I wonder how many still have a perfect sound suitable for a solist. Its almost impossible to a 300 years old instrument to survive without any accident.

Some were buried with their owners.

Two set violin

Ling ling would be proud

But viola king on the other hand...

Oof

if that's a viola then that woman must be 8'5"

Daniel Navarro Ever heard of Ciresa in Trentino? That's exactly the wood they use.

That’s what I’ve heard too! Sad they didn’t mention it but I guess this perspective was also quite entertaining.

If that's the case, shouldn't all violins made from that era and area sound similar to a Strad? It shouldn't matter if it was created by Stradivari or not, right?

@@Trisha_Yuu But Stradivari made them better.

The video failed to mention that because it is irrelevant; if professional musicians prefer the modern violins to Strads then the source of the Strads' wood is only of historical interest.

He played chacoone to a bunch of people rushing to work which is just not gonna attract them. If he played some pop music I bet more people would be impressed

becausr every one enjoys classical music.

all this tells me is that people have to get to work.

I got to see Joshua Bell play the weinaiwski violin concerto no. 2 in March and I can tell you that the sound of that instrument is simply magical. We need more appreciation for classical music smh 😤😤

if you've ever lived in DC you'd know that we have some REALLY good buskers, I've actually seen a classical violinist myself at a station. But if its rush hour, NOBODY is gonna stop and listen nobody has time for that.

First comment

@@shivpatel7506 I think it is called a reply

strings

Facts

I literally unliked to like it again.

That... was Strad-hilarious 😋

Jonathan Cooper Lol! I think we can string out some more violin puns before we bow out.

Alex Ball I prefer not. We should go Bach to normal.

Pablo López I've got a long Lizst of these. Not sure you can Handel them.

God Of Madness1 Priceless in a way where 90% of the population perceive it as such.

God Of Madness1 I think when they say "priceless" they mean that there isn't a set price, which is why these things are auctioned and people bid (essentially creating a price that they're willing to pay). It has worth (which is a pretty high amount) and value; but no set price that is agreed upon by everyone... Then again that's just a theory

HarryIsTheGamingGeek Actually, the older a violin is, and especially the more it’s been played, the more the wood has been vibrated through sound, effectively “opening” the instrument and bringing out more overtones and a richer color. Newer instruments are obviously made of newer, less flexible wood, and are usually far less expensive. This newer wood has not been vibrated as much, and therefore produces a less colorful and rich sound than the older strads (or older instruments in general)

yeah but most people cant tell, only 3 able to guess it right in double blind study, and it may just a lucky guess. Also if you want to vibrate the wood just blast it with sound for full years, should make up for it.

OMG you missed out viola Racism

Yes

Yeah, placebo does wonders for one's playing 😉

ahahahaha, best comment so far! Its probably not really better than the others but puts your charisma on max.

Not really better but all the newbies need one to call themselves good.

Can we just get a slow clap for the pfp

hmmm, your pfp is... how do i describe it

OFFICIAL AznBoiSamuel wanted to see if anyone mentioned it. It is really...something

That might be true for a lot of things in life! It's still great that there are instruments played live that predate basically every concert hall existing.

Exactly.

This is probably a false story.

Then the musician wasn’t adequate. Anyone can tell wether or not an instrument costs 100$. Even I as a pianist should be able to

@@chung4256 - It's a well-documented scientific/psychological phenomenon. It's *why* double-blind studies exist. And why the study mentioned here proves that Strads aren't really worth more than regular violins apart from story and prestige, same with wine.

It's not entirely the case. It can be also just marketing. Pretty much of the stuff from Italy were valued very high by the way, and it's often that in the same field there're a bunch of the good masters, but you'll probably hear about few of them or even about one. It even works today, in the Internet era, where there is kinda all possibilities for everyone to be known. So, I don't say anything about Strads, but basically that there were probably more masters that we don't know. They're just not rated. It's like it was with J. S. Bach until the certain time or Van Gogh while he lived. How many talents we actually missed?

old strats are also overpriced and don't sound better

Another reason that Leo Fender was s genius.

yes

Stradocaster

@@caleb428 That should be a thing

Why is it the coolest name ever?

A Long Yellow Thing 😂😂😂😂

E coli

No, it's billy bob joe.

Joe mama is a cool name

Yes, I'm sure the way she plays is all down to talent and that she hasn't dedicated tens of thousands of hours of her life to practising violin.

thanks David, talent is an illusion.

fivezeroniner Well, maybe not completely... There's no denying that some people have more natural aptitude for any given task than another person, but no-one's born automatically able to do anything better than the best. My objection is not denying her inherent abilities, but rather taking issue with the ignoring of her dedication and willpower by reducing a lifetime of work to (mere) "talent".

@@flumpyhumpy im sorry that my statement didnt sound right to you, its just that: ITS WHAT I SAY TO MYSELF to avoid myself making excuses. Because while others are in awe with one great performance, I always go deeper and imagine the countless hours of hardwork and practice a person put in to get where he/she is w/c, to me, is more impressive than the one time performance.

No worries. I wasn't disagreeing with you. :-)

And his french DJ years as Hey Ma Ma.

DW agrees

Terrible.

Dormammu?

At what point do we stop?

they are junk, not superior in any way but inferior.. they use nails... I mean really????

i like blind test....

But it is about quality tho. Their blind test are not even between strads and normal violin. They are between old and new violins. Strads are good not because they are old, it is because they sound far more superior. You can't just say because old is not better, strads are old, therefore they are not better

Its prevention. Just like paintings that go for millions.

@1978ajax @1978ajax The test only shows that old violins are not better, but strads are not good because they are old. It's the wood, the design, the build quality. They didn't test strads and that is EXTREMELY DIFFERENT than any old violin

Well you see kid when you watch a video about a topic youtube think you like it so it recommends you another video about that topic it works of an algorithm.

Robert Ri "it has a sweet taste" LMFAO 😂 it's just hype and demand that makes expensive af.

"here's a $2M antique violin, better play REALLY CAREFULLY"

the value is more in its history and age imo

Maby the violin has an influence on the player and he plays different

Just like how some people would pay a premium to have some premium headphones, sometimes it's how the headphones make you feel more than how the headphones actual sound like. Source: I'm one of those people lol.

Most are owned by in a collection and loaned to players

Siegfried3203 there is a huge difference between 25k and 16 million

RT-Viz Rich people sometimes buy stupid expensive stuff like paintings and these violins as a compact way of storing (and sometimes laundering) their money

wishuhadmyname true true

Um...if you’re a violinist, for example?

vict0ri4_-0- I totally remember lol

Omg my first thought was that Arthur episode and realizing now just HOW wealthy Muffy was. I knew she was rich, I didn’t realize she was $16 million violín rich

Muffy has an expensive violin? I’m gonna break it!

AnimalsAndReports Isn't saying a placebo affect is subconscious unnecessarily repetitive.

X Marks did you watch the video? It was pretty much proven in the study shown in the video that it's a placebo.

Well, in the end all that matters is the sound, so if the placebo makes someone play better, then yes, it's worth it.

conscious placebo huh

I've heard a Strad being played in comparison to a $50 Aldi-branded violin. There is a difference between the handcrafted Strad and the mass produced Aldi, but it's no different to my ear than any other quality hand crafted violin. Besides, actual Baroque period Strads are a showcase of how _dismal_ manufacturing was back then. They use nails -- NAILS!!! -- to secure the neck. Modern violin construction uses a dovetail joint which is more secure and easier to tune since it's less prone to warping of the neck. I like Strads from a historical standpoint, but the actual instrument is nothing more than a very early "modern" style of violin, albeit still with almost archaic construction techniques.

Nope, because the point is that none of that makes any impact: professional musicians can't tell the difference.

@@Symbioticism I beg to disagree. The video is entitled, "Why Stradivarius violins are worth millions" and Vox's answer is "due to historical importance, not sound quality." This answer, to be construed accurately, would've required two explanations, respectively. They debunked the sound quality argument by saying that professional musicians can't tell the difference. That serves as one explanation. However, they neglected the second explanation, which should've been about WHY the Stradivarius is so historically significant, for points such as what Ccmusic mentioned. "It's historically significant because it's old/passed down for generations," doesn't cut it. My mom's wedding ring has been passed down for generations, doesn't mean that it's revered worldwide.

@@alyssab.5605 When did people start talking about the mini-ice age producing good wood? Do you really think that is why stradivari became so expensive???

@@Symbioticism I think it's a combination of factors and not just one. From anecdotal experience, different woods sound different when playing guitar (something about the way it resonates) so I assume the same would be true for other string instruments. I'm not a tree expert, but I don't know if there's a lot of truth to the mini ice-age thing because tree farms produce the same result in terms of even rings for the most part. That's because the livelihood of lumber companies rely on dependability of wood being able to grow at a rapid and even pace, which they normally don't in the wild due to seasonal changes. However, I'd assume that ice-age tree rings are narrowly spaced and even, while tree farm rings are widely spaced and even. So maybe that changes things. All speculation here!

They never seem to make a full research.

frigus Hey! Don’t accurately call me out!

even with high quality headphones, the vast majority of people have trouble differentiating between 192kbps and cd quality.

I mean... the double blind study was live with professionals.

I love when people think they're so smart by simply stating the obvious. Humans are dumb.

the classical 'youtube compression' blame that doesn't hold true since 2015 at least. youtube compression is one of the best in the industry. fact is, these are NOT worth the money purely on the acoustical quality. however, they are worthwhile for historical significance and maybe even as an investment piece.

PowersXD lol so true

except it doesn't even feel good. you'd be overly cautious lest you drop it on the floor. with a few hundred dollar modern item, you can put your heart and soul and fully express yourself on the instrument without being terrified of damaging it. I'd argue you'll make better music that way because you'll actually focus on the music.

Yep. Perfect

"Better" is subjective

Nice comparison

Brayden K. thanks

Thank you!!

Meditation de Thaïs, by J. Massenet

Yes..and you can watch Kim Yuna skating to this wonderful piece..

@@ma.luzpuyat8870 ah yes I saw that video yesterday! Lately I have been obsessed with figure skating

Don't worry, it's ok to be American

Same. Well, to be fair, even if I listen to violin and classical music, I didn't care enough to know about the instrument brand they used to play.

@@tiberiu_nicolae hahaha nice one

Except that Valyrian steel is actually better than normal steel

Isn't Damascus steel are better steel in general?

@@TrevorXStrydeR Hi. That's actually a joke, Valyrian steel is a fictional Kind of metal from Game of thrones book series. And Damascus is not necessarily better, it's a "blend" of alloys that can actually ruin the blade if its not made with expertise. today it's used because of its artistic value . in the past it was a parameter of good steel, but that was due to the quality of alloys available for forging. blacksmiths from middle east and India (mogol empire as the Portuguese called them) used that because it was beautiful and improved certain characteristics. (sorry for my bad English, I am a blade collector from a country that doesn't speak English) Hope I helped with something, Have a nice day

@Defsuz your thinking of orichalcum

@Defsuz maybe greek fire ? I know they lost that recipe and cannot replicate it

just the first 10 things that come to my mind that Stradivarius´ success has been attributed to: 1) rafted woods 2) high trace element concentration in the soil due to volcanic activity 3) low pollutant concentration in the air due to pre-industrialization time 4) all kinds of special oils in his varnishes 5) goat blood in his varnish 6) underage virgin menstrual blood in his varnish (no joke) 7) very rare bone glue used in the joinery 8) secret and unknown solvent used for his shellac 9) unknown and super rare locally sourced subspecies of spruce used for his soundboards 10) special honey based pre-finish treatment step of his woods that we don't do nowadays. At least once a year somebody writes an article about "uncovering the secret of Stradivarius luthiery", but also twice a year a new study or meta study that shows there is not even a secret, because they basically sound not that much different to other violins once you stop telling people what instrument they are hearing. Its called bias.

TheVergile I am seriously in love with you for this comment!

*Jazz Music stops*

Dank Matter wtf lol

Never expected such a light switch moment in the comments of a Vox video. P.S.: me me Big boy

ME ME BIG BOY

plays in an orchestra alexander violin

The point of the video is that professional musician's can't tell the difference i.e., the tone isn't impossible to recreate.

Yes indeed the late 1600s was a cold period called the Maunder Minimum. So there is a possibility that the denser wood used is impossible to replicate; unless we go into another cold spell or Grand Solar Minimum.

@@OfficialPhambo couldn't you just put the violin in a refrigerator?

@@doppled lmao no no no. The cold made the trees that the instruments were made of more dense. A violin would likely be damaged if exposed to cold

not relevant

@@papermachevolcano1480 Vai atormentar outro, desocupado

BRILL

😄

Some Guy brought 4r4

Was thinking same thing

It is nonsense. It doesn't have superior sound. And if it is expensive just because it is old. Then why the stones on our city are worthless

@@soneryusifov5529 there are 650 strands in the world and billions of stones and pebbles in our city’s. One has been an active part of history and the other has just lain there on the ground.

Right? :)

True.it's probably not that expensive

Cinnamon saw him his and his strad play Mendelssohn last year 😤

That has literally NOTHING to do with it being a Stradivari instrument or not. It has to do with the role of the concertmaster vs. the role of the soloist. The concertmaster may well own or have a Strad or Guarneri on long term loan him/herself, but not use it because it doesn't perform well for the role of the concertmaster. You can't have the loudest instrument on stage and be the concertmaster, it doesn't work like that. They need to have a certain sound in their instrument for the ensemble to work well together, and let the soloist "pop". Also, of the 650 Strads left, only about 400 are good enough for soloist work, the rest are violins that would work better in an orchestra pit together with other violins, in other words, nothing special. And almost all of them had to be more or less completely rebuilt to be able to sound loud enough for soloist work. Truth is, the Stradivaris you hear Joshua Bell and other play on aren't actually Stradivari's instruments. They are 50% Stradivaris work, and 50% the work of which ever luthier rebuilt them in the 19th century. So to actually hear what a REAL Stradivari sounds like, you can't do it by listening to Strads played by famous players. In fact, I think there is only 1 or 2 Strads in existence that are close to original (rebuilt, but then rebuilt back into original form). Not even the Messiah (never really played) is Stradivaris original work.

Hi, thanks for your extensive answer! I would expect a violist to choose an instrument that matches his or her role in ensemble playing, that produces a preferred tone quality and that 'speaks' to him or her as a close partner. I think what you say is that there are plenty other instruments less famous (and less expensive) that perform as well or better than the Strad in that particular role. I am not sufficiently knowledgeable in this matter to disagree (or, for that matter, agree) with you with assurance. I'll leave the choice to the actual musician. All I can say with certainty is that I heard the difference in tone character. And, of course, the supreme musicianship of Jansen who was able to make Britten sound like a hot, exciting composer!

It was a joke X Marks

David by no means a

@X Marks I agree. A Stradivari violin is a very high quality instrument. It is able to stay in shape and in its beauty.

Kevvy Kim Did you not watch the video of the test they did

that's always the reason why there are things having a price so unreasonable

omg

That’s a cello cleft I think. Above it is the lines that singers would sing and violins would play

yes and no. yes in the sense they had prestige no because valerian steel had undeniable qualities over normal steel: harder, could be made sharper and didn't rust i think, but those advantages would not compensate for skill and would not be useful in most scenarios.

gavin kemp shut up

no u

gavin kemp yea just shut up

Am i the only one who gets uncomfortable how both the comments forget it's Valariyan Steel not valerian steel

Generic Name $3 violin is a toy violin

BIG MARVEL!!! HEBEH

spinakker strads sounds better than a cheaper violin but youtube wont allow the sound of how good it is

Cheap violins can sound like absolute crap. Unlike most other instruments, that can sound passable with a $100 version, Violins need to be a LOT more expensive before we get a diminishing return in sound quality. Violins often need to cost $1000+ before they're actually able to make a decent sound.

Nicholas Alvarez No surprise, she's Asian after all

FILIPINO REPRESENT!

lara beldia Is she really? I didn't notice

she was hard on the violin

she's korean

Oh noo, is that a stock image from the 20th century?😂

I think it is the way he varnished it. Im sure it is refurbished every few years as well to preserve the wood

varnish and well dried wood

Toigbo That’s Some really vintage hypebeast then🤔

Yes. An excellent film.

Physics Only this!

Yes I agree the sound is more rich

Same

Asif Talpur No. They are.. another kind of exceptional violin

midi ftw, whachu on about

Just like a Stratocaster guitar would make a rock musician play better​.