The Physics of the Inexplicable.
For decades, I have been inspired by the great masters of early Italian violin making—above all, Domenico Montagnana, Antonio Stradivari, and Joseph Guarneri del Gesu. I have had the opportunity to study their works in my workshop and analyze them in my acoustics laboratory.
Time and again, over the course of days and weeks, they became inspiring teachers and thought-provoking mentors at my workbench and in my sound lab.
Today I can say that I have succeeded not only in emulating their sound, but in surpassing it with the finest instruments crafted by my own hands. These are instruments whose soloistic authority and richness of timbre bear witness to my journey: learning from the great masters with reverence and humility, yet courageously forging my own path.
The second floor of our workshop building is a state-of-the-art acoustics laboratory. Digital signal processors, vibration sensors, and ball-bearing-mounted coordinate measuring tables: The laboratory reflects the acoustic processes that accompany the development of every instrument.
“If the violin maker Martin Schleske is not a modern-day Guarneri—which he very well might be—then he is certainly the most knowledgeable and scientifically minded violin maker in the world.”
Eric J. Heller and James Lawrence
Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics at Harvard University. Members of the National Academy of Sciences. Source: “Why You Hear What You Hear,” Princeton University Press, November 2012.
History
A historical examination of the connection between art and science in violin making.
Learn moreModal Analysis
Vibration Modes of Antonio Stradivari’s Violins and the Importance of Modal Analysis for Practical Violin Making.
Learn moreResonance Analysis
Resonance analysis as a powerful acoustic tool in science-based violin making.
Learn morePaint Research
The Acoustic Secrets of Violin Varnish.
Learn moreHandbook of Violin Acoustics
A growing collection of findings on violin acoustics.
About the Handbook on Violin Acoustics