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Violins Made to Sound Human Many have wondered if the unique voices of violins were actually designed to incorporate speech sounds such as vowels and consonants. Now a Texas A&M University researcher, biochemist Joseph Nagyvary, has provided the first evidence that the Italian violin masters tried to impart specific vowel sounds to their violins. The findings will undoubtedly: Change how violins are valued. Help teach students how to improve the quality of their tone production. Nagyvary was the first to prove that intrument makers Stradivari and Guarneri soaked their instruments in chemicals (such as borax and brine) in order to "protect them from a worm infestation that was sweeping through Italy in the 1700s. By pure accident, the chemicals used to protect the wood had the unintended result of producing the unique sounds that have been almost impossible to duplicate in the past 400 years, and his findings were supported and verified by the American Chemical Society."

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