A good violin depends not only on the expertise of the
violin maker, but also on the quality of the wood that is used. The Swiss wood
researcher Professor Francis W. M. R. Schwarze (Empa, Swiss Federal
Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, St. Gallen, Switzerland) has
succeeded in modifying the wood for a violin through treatment with special
fungi. This treatment alters the acoustic properties of the instrument, making
it sound indistinguishably similar to a Stradivarius. In his dinner talk at the
1st ECRC “Franz-Volhard” Symposium of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular
Medicine (MDC) and Charité - Universitätsmedizin on September 7, 2012 in
Berlin-Buch, Schwarze reported on his research and gave a preview of what his
wood treatment method could mean, particularly for young violinists.