Medical Science Is Uncovering the Secrets of the Great Makers
What CT scans reveal and how it can help make better modern violins
I met Steve Sirr shortly after I opened my violin shop in Los Angeles in 1986. I had graduated from the Violin Making School of America, which was directed by Peter Paul Prier, who learned violin making in Mittenwald, Germany. Sirr is a physician, amateur violinist, and a radiologist. Little did I know then that his training would help unlock some of the longest-held secrets of the violin trade.
Here’s how it started.
One day, Sirr brought his violin to work at the hospital, and was practicing between patient visits when he thought, “I wonder what my violin would look like if I scanned it?”
So he did.
He brought the resulting CT scans—an X-ray image sometimes called CAT scans or computerized tomography—into my shop, put them on the counter, and asked if I thought they were interesting.
I did.
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