Resonant spruce. Resonant wood or the secrets of musicality

The secret of the great Stradivarius and his famous violins lies, undoubtedly, in the master’s ability to find and use resonant wood that is unique in its properties.

Since time immemorial, wood has been used by man everywhere, in all spheres of his activity, since it is not only quite easily obtained, but also a completely irreplaceable and unique material, and manufacturing musical instruments- not an exception. There are many different materials, which have excellent acoustic properties and surpass wood in the strength of their sound. But none of them is capable of touching the hearts of listeners with that extraordinary tenderness and special timbre of sound that wood provides to the instrument. It was this effect that such great masters as Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri sought to achieve when creating their world-famous masterpieces.

What is resonant wood? Resonant wood is the type of wood that is used to make musical instruments, or more precisely, their main sound-emitting part - the soundboard.

But it is not entirely correct to call such wood resonant in the usual sense of the word. As is known, in physics, resonance is a phenomenon consisting in the fact that at a certain frequency of the driving force, the oscillatory system turns out to be especially responsive to the action of this force. Therefore, resonance has nothing to do with music. But translated from French resonanse or from Latin resono, this word means “I sound in response.” Therein lies the solution: when making soundboards, the acoustic responsiveness of wood in a wide frequency range is especially valued, thanks to which the musical sound acquires the timbre coloring inherent in this particular material.

The problem is that not every tree is suitable for making musical instruments. And the presence of dendroacoustic properties is not even determined by the species - within the same species there are both completely ordinary trees and trees whose wood has musical properties, “sounds in response”, of which, of course, there are very few. The situation is aggravated by the fact that there are still no methods and technical means for objective express diagnostics of standing wood as a potential resonant raw material, and the lack of qualified specialists and investments in the industry producing musical products also affects it.

It is generally accepted that the dendroacoustic properties of wood are mainly influenced by the species and growing conditions of a particular tree. But it's not that simple. In addition to the above indicators big influence also have such characteristics as macrostructure, microstructure, color, shine, wood texture, etc. We will talk about this below. Thus, the quality of wood in terms of its resonant properties depends on the species, on where and under what conditions a particular tree grew, on physical properties and internal structure of wood, and a large number of factors can influence them, but first of all - individual feature a certain tree. The presence of resonant properties is a genetic predisposition. Such trees should in no case be perceived as a special “resonant” form of tree species, no matter where they grow.

The craftsmanship of violin instruments reached its peak of perfection during the heyday of the Bresciana and Cremona schools in Italy. XVII--XVIII centuries. The most striking examples of instruments of that time were created using resonant spruce And various types maple growing in Italy. But to this day, spruce is considered the species with the best dendroacoustic properties. Standards for resonant timber allow the use of Caucasian fir and cedar, but still spruce is superior in quality to other species. For example, spruce, unlike cedar, improves its sound after drying out. It is this breed that best meets the basic parameters on which the pure, beautiful sound of the instrument depends.

Resonant spruce

As the forest scientist G.A. wrote. Plowman, who published an article “On the suitability of Russian spruce for the production of resonators” in the magazine “Lesopromyshlennik” in 1911, until 1907 Russian music factories used timber of foreign origin. At that time, only such sources of resonant raw materials were known as the Carpathians, Tyrolean and Bavarian Alps. As a result of the research, it was found that “from Russian spruce it is possible to obtain resonant wood, the quality of which is not inferior to foreign ones.” Head of the Department of Wood and Environmental Certification, Mari State Technical University, prof. In his works, V.I. Fedyukov calls resonant spruce a “gold-bearing rock” for a reason. After all, real resonant wood with dendroacoustic properties discovered with the help of modern instruments is of great interest to the world. music industry. The cost of such wood is significant, and it is very important to correctly and timely detect this valuable wood, because, unfortunately, large reserves of it remain in the forest, disappear, or are used for other purposes. One can imagine how negatively the inability to correctly select it, so to speak, at the root, has a negative impact on the procurement of resonant wood and the development of the music industry, because in Russia the exact habitats and reserves of resonant spruce have not yet been identified.

It is known that there are very few trees with the best acoustic properties. The genetically determined biotype of spruce with resonant wood is found not only in mountainous conditions, but also on the plains. The results of comprehensive research under the guidance of prof. Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology of the Forestry Institute (currently Faculty of Chemical Technology of the St. Petersburg Forestry Engineering University), specialist in the field of forest technology N.A. Filippov, showed that taiga forests have not yet lost their importance as a source of resonant raw materials. This fact is confirmed by employees of workshops - laboratories for the production of musical instruments, who independently harvest wood.

The targeted selection of resonant spruce in the forest is of great importance. In addition, forestry specialists should think about reproducing potential stocks of resonant spruce on a selection and genetic basis during plantation cultivation. Targeted forest growing with specified acoustic properties of wood is extremely important in modern world, including in Russia. It is directly related to both environmental conditions and gigantic volumes of both legal and illegal logging, which can ultimately lead to the complete disappearance of the resonant spruce gene pool.

In the Czech Republic, in 1976, a national program “Resonant wood and its production” was implemented. The main advantage of this program was a comprehensive solution to the problem of rational use and renewal of resonant raw materials in natural plantings. Such experience must first be adopted by Russia, the main forest country in the world. But we don’t have such programs yet. It is believed that the problem of growing resonant spruce should be solved, starting from the stage of forest management and silviculture. But it is necessary to understand that methods aimed at obtaining large volumes of wood do not always help in this case.

If we take into account the fact that large reserves of spruce are concentrated in waterlogged soils, due to which this wood is almost never exploited, as well as the fact that it is in the conditions of swamp plantings that the acoustic properties of wood are largely formed, then the proposal of Prof. IN AND. Fedyukov about the targeted cultivation of resonant wood. This method is based on the cultivation of resonant raw materials by combining drainage reclamation with targeted forestry. A necessary condition is to maintain the drainage network in working condition. As an option, we can consider the creation of archival-mother plantations of resonant spruce, created on the basis of the use of vegetative methods of propagation with the participation of selected valuable forms of tree species, which in modern conditions contributes to the preservation of its gene pool in our forests and the introduction of cell selection using tissue culture. But, by and large, the issues of targeted cultivation of resonant raw materials remain unresolved.

Currently, indirect methods for diagnosing resonant wood are known: by general appearance and the condition of the tree, by the structure and color of the bark, as well as by the appearance of the wood (its macrostructure, color, shine, texture, smell).

Appearance. Concerning appearance and state, it is known that a spruce tree must be absolutely vertical, with a symmetrical, narrow and pointed crown; the trunk must have a zone (at least 5-6 m long) cylindrical, on which there are no knots or visible damage. These requirements are dictated primarily by technological and economic considerations, the purpose of which is to obtain the maximum output of the business assortment. Research aimed at identifying relationships between the acoustic characteristics of wood and the specified wood parameters has not yet been carried out.

Some individual craftsmen are of the opinion that descending branches are a sign of resonant spruce. When selecting a resonant tree for craftsmen, it is also important that its trunk does not “twist”.

Structure and color of the bark. Craftsmen pay attention to these morphological characteristics both when selecting standing trees and when selecting round assortments. But here, too, there is no general agreement on any specific characteristics. French masters are of the opinion that the bark of the resonant spruce should be gray and consist of rather small and smooth scales. Kostroma scientists who studied the selection of resonant spruce by phenotype, S.N. Bagaev and V.O. Aleksandrov, claim that the best resonant properties of smooth-barked, narrow-crowned spruce trees of both European and Siberian species. In Romania, it is believed that trees with dendroacoustic properties should have oblique branches, and the bark scales should be rounded and concave. Author of the article “Variability of the resonant properties of Norway spruce wood against the background of varying anatomical and morphological features within a population,” published in 1972 in the collection scientific works Moscow Forestry Institute (now Moscow State University forests), N.A. Sankin came to the conclusion that preference should be given to scale-barked spruce, as it has the greatest genetic plasticity.

Macrostructure. Such indicators of macrostructure as the width and uniformity of growth rings, the content of late wood in them are included in the standards different countries as the main criterion in the selection of resonant raw materials. General requirements to the macrostructure: the width of the growth rings is 1-4 mm, the latewood content is 30%. Particular attention is paid to the uniformity of tree rings. Wood with narrow layers gives the instrument a harsh sound, while wood with wide layers gives it a muted sound. Representatives of the Old Italian schools often used wider-grained wood to make top decks. And among the craftsmen of the Cremona school, a variety of wood called Haselfichte (“Leshtar” spruce, or “leshtarka”) with thick layers and a bright shine, with frequent twists like knots, the so-called twisted wood, was in demand. This spruce is interesting because it never grows in large groups, single trees can be found in Czech and Bavarian forests, as well as in the Alps. Measurements confirm that spruce wood with uneven growth rings is superior in strength properties to wood with even rings.

Russian craftsmen distinguished three types of resonant spruce wood by their macrostructure on a radial section: flowing, flamed and red-layered. Flowing wood has a slightly wave-like shift of wood fibers within the straight growth layers. Such wood is elastic, produces pure tones and is most valuable in the manufacture of soundboards. Fiery in structure resembles flames and has a beautiful pattern. In red-grained wood, the zone of the late part of the growth ring stands out sharply with its red color. The density of such wood is higher than that of the first two varieties, but it is less valued.

Opinions vary greatly about the color of resonant wood. Some craftsmen prefer spruce wood in light, white tones, while others prefer yellow.

One of the methods that craftsmen have long used to recognize high-quality resonant material is by its shine. Spruce of the Russian northern type with a delicate, silky shine and, at the same time, clearly defined thin layers, gives the timbre of the sound tenderness and silveriness, and wood of the Haselfichte type - strength, intensity, and sometimes roughness. German craftsmen prefer spruce with sharp and large sparkles, the so-called Spiegel (“mirror”). In addition, shine also plays a purely aesthetic role in instruments. It is the texture of the wood that provides the decorative value of the material.

Some craftsmen use the smell of wood as a diagnostic sign. In this way, they determine the resin content of the material, because resinous substances are known to negatively affect the acoustic properties of wood.

Microstructure. Not much information has accumulated regarding the microstructure of resonant wood. The important thing is that resonance wood can only be recognized by a combination of micro- and macroscopic diagnostic methods. It is known that in the manufacture of musical instruments, preference is given to spruce due to the clearly defined growth rings of its wood, in contrast to other species with similarly high elasticity (birch, beech, etc.). Modern scientists believe that important role In the anatomical structure of resonant wood, the interpermeability of the systems of cells located along and across the axis of the trunk, that is, tracheids and medullary rays, plays a role. The Czech scientist Rudolf Ille made a great contribution to the research of the biological and technical features of resonant wood used by Italian masters of the 17th-18th centuries. According to Mr. Ille, it is extremely important that the wood has as many permeable colon-shaped pores as possible, especially in the early tracheids, through which sound waves penetrate the entire thickness of the board, passing in both longitudinal and transverse directions .

In addition to indirect ones, there are also direct methods for diagnosing and selecting resonant wood. They are based on measurements of its density, elastic modulus, speed of sound, damping and amplitude of vibrations, and the amount of energy loss due to internal friction. If the results of such measurements are available, the acoustic characteristics are determined by calculation, and then the suitability of the material for the manufacture of musical instruments is determined.

Technological factors play a major role in managing the quality of resonant wood - time and place of harvesting, transportation conditions, drying and storage conditions, etc.

Many Russian masters They prefer to harvest resonant wood in the first half of winter. French craftsmen believe that a tree should be cut down either during the last quarter of the full moon or on the new moon.

Previously, it was believed that resonant trunks are more often found in high-aged plantations over 150 years old, growing on the northern slopes of mountains with harsh climate and prefer poor rocky soils. However, studies have shown that it is possible to obtain resonant raw materials in lowland forests, including on excessively moist lands.

Transportation of raw materials used to directly depend on local conditions and the level of technology development. In Europe, logs were floated down mountain rivers, which even improved the mechanical and acoustic properties of the wood by washing out excess resin from it. Nowadays, resonant spruce is transported mainly by road and rail.

Proper drying and aging of the wood is of great importance for the quality of the instrument. The fact is that over time, wood becomes more and more resistant to temperature and humidity changes in the environment. Many foreign companies even withstand resonant wood in industrial mode for at least three years, and artisans even longer - from 5 to 30 years. Often, material is used that is found at the site of the demolition of old buildings, in which it was kept very long period time. Artificial drying of wood is used mainly in the manufacture of musical instruments industrially. Turning to the results of research by NIIMP (the now defunct Scientific Research Institute of the Music Industry of the RSFSR), we can say that artificially dried wood is not inferior in acoustic parameters to wood dried naturally. But many craftsmen, especially when making custom instruments, do not trust artificial drying. In Russia, until 1935, wood was dried while standing; this method was otherwise called biological withering of the tree, which was carried out using ringing by debarking, as well as cutting the sapwood at the base of the trunk. There is information that still in Ancient Rome the method of ringing trees was used to obtain “fresh dead wood”, and it was this kind of wood that they worked with violin makers.

Resonant spruce wood has its own characteristic structural features, its own properties and qualities that distinguish it from ordinary wood of this coniferous species and predetermine acoustic parameters. I would like to note once again that resonant wood is a material in acute shortage throughout the world. The Russian timber industry has a weak scientific and technical base and an insufficient number of qualified specialists to address issues of conservation and targeted use of resonant timber. One of the main ways of rationally targeted use of this unique natural raw material is rapid diagnostics and non-destructive selection of promising specimens of standing trees, that is, at the stage of forest growing. It is necessary to reconsider the methods of assessing resonant assortments and introduce mandatory certification, first of all, of exported spruce timber in round or sawn form.

Russia needs a program that brings together scientists and specialists in the forestry sector, the music industry, as well as standardization and certification specialists. Due to the fact that our country completely lacks such programs (unlike, for example, the Czech Republic), and the need for them is great, this task should become one of the most important for domestic figures and specialists in both the forestry and music industries. Reserves of resonant spruce are rapidly declining both in Russia and abroad. Forestry industry professionals have a lot to think about. We must preserve for our descendants the unique gift of the forests - resonant wood, so that future Stradivarius can surpass their predecessors by creating amazing musical instruments, the sound of which will be admired by millions.

Anton KUZNETSOV, Ph.D. biologist. Sciences, lecturer at St. Petersburg State Forest Technical University,
Maria KRINITSYNA

The mighty trunk of the spruce bends, as if thinking, then falls. Forestry manager Jiri Soukup is worried. It is always painful for a real forester to destroy a forest beauty. Moreover, the spruce is resonant: you can’t guess in advance whether it was cut down on time and what it is like inside.

Lumberjack Bogumil Maresh over thirty years of work in the forestry, he has knocked down more than one such giant saws off a thin circle of wood for analysis. Only after this will it become clear: the noble tree will sound in the hands of musicians or will be used for building materials. On the cut, experts noted especially valuable, clear, thin resonant layers those that had formed over the last half century, during the ripening period, when the tree was evenly overgrown with “muscles”. However, the most important thing for resonant spruce cannot be determined by eye: the specific gravity of the wood and its elasticity. This time the material turned out to be dense and elastic: instruments made from it will have a gentle, silvery voice.

Forests occupy a third of the area of ​​Czechoslovakia, mostly coniferous. Spruce is often planted at felling sites; it grows faster than other species. But the scientists at the tree nursery in Kamenica na Lipa are not only interested in early ripening. Here they study resonant spruce trees and grow material for musical instruments. In fact, from each smooth and dense trunk you can make soundboards for violins, cellos, or resonance shields for pianos. But it is no coincidence that violin makers carefully select trees for their future creations that can respond to the lightest touch. From time immemorial it was believed that the only place in Czechoslovakia where suitable spruce trees grow was the slopes of the Šumava River. But it turned out that a “musical” forest can also be grown on the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, but for this you need to take special care of the trees.

The Kamenice nursery has half a million seedlings in one experimental plot alone. All Christmas trees are taken from local forests, because for normal growth there is no better soil than native soil. And when they grow up and get stronger, they are moved to permanent place residence, at an altitude of seven hundred meters above sea level. But Christmas trees, like all children, grow differently. Once every ten years, the plantings are thinned out so that the remaining trees stretch straight towards the sun, without bending. After forty years, if the tree is healthy, if its trunk is straight and rounded evenly, branches begin to be cut off from it so that layers of wood grow without knot nests.

Previously, they cut branches manually, but now they have come up with an automatic saw with remote control, which climbs up the trunk itself. The forester can only fix it on the tree and then pick up the fallen spruce paws. The cut points will heal over time, and then dense, undamaged wood will ripen along the entire length of the trunk up to the crown. When the period of rapid growth has passed, the spruce will “grow fat” slowly and completely imperceptibly by tenths of a millimeter per year. And the closer the annual rings are located to each other, the more valuable and uniform the wood will be.

The spruce must live one hundred and forty and one hundred and fifty years, only then it will be possible to make tools from it for which the master will not have to blush. Unusual for modern life pace! But so far no one has been able to make nature work faster. Therefore no human life not enough to grow a small Christmas tree to a fully grown, resonant age. And forester Jiri Soukup knows that he will not see the seedlings that he recently moved into the forest together with the pioneers from the neighboring Kamenice school growing. But he is sure that his forest will always have loyal and inquisitive friends like these kids. Many of them, after graduating from school, work in forestry. Others are still studying, but some of them will become a forester. And he will also teach children from a neighboring school. Generation after generation and the spruce planted by your great-great-grandfather grew. And each of the guys hopes that it will be resonant.

Even at first glance, this forest differs from an ordinary coniferous forest. Almost all trees are the same age. Slender gigantic spruce trees branches remained only at the very top make the forest transparent. The smell of fresh resin and the light rustle of the crowns can be heard freely. It seems that if the wind blows a little stronger, the trees will sound like organ pipes, and the forest will be filled with a solemn melody. Music of the future.

Wood, which is used in the production of soundboards for musical instruments, is called resonant, which means French sounds like resonance, and in Latin – resono and translates as “I sound in response.” This is due to its acoustic responsiveness over a wide frequency range, which gives the musical sound a special timbre that is characteristic of this material.

Problems in choosing wood such as resonant
Not just any wood is suitable for making musical instruments. Even within the same species, both ordinary trees and those with resonant wood can be found.

In addition, to date there are no technical means and methods that allow for objective express diagnostics of wood directly on the root as a potential resonant raw material. There is also a lack of qualified specialists and investments in the industry that produces musical instruments.

Factors influencing such properties of wood as acoustic
Whether a tree has resonance properties or not is determined by genetic predisposition. Acoustic properties are influenced by indicators such as:
wood type;
growing conditions;
internal structure;
physical characteristics.

The quality of such wood also depends on such technological factors as the place and time of harvesting, drying and storage conditions, and transportation conditions.

Choosing a wood species
The best material, which is used in the manufacture of soundboards, is considered to be birch and spruce wood, as well as maple, pine, Siberian cedar and Caucasian fir. The best acoustic properties are characteristic of spruce, which has the most wide application. This type of wood, when compared to cedar, improves its sound after drying.

Taking into account growing conditions
Resonance trees usually grow in mature stands, more than 150 years old. They prefer northern mountain slopes and rocky, poor soils. However, it has now been established that similar material can be found in forests growing on the plain and on soils with excess moisture.

Diagnostics of resonant wood: indirect methods
In the indirect diagnostic method, the following indicators are used:
appearance and condition of the tree;
bark color and structure;
macrostructure;
microstructure.

Appearance Features
Resonant spruce has a vertical trunk with a cylindrical shaped area, devoid of knots and noticeable damage. The length of this zone is 5-6 meters. The crown of the tree should be pointed, narrow and symmetrical. First of all, these requirements are determined by economic considerations, when it is important to obtain maximum product yield.

Bark color and structure
There are different opinions about the color of the bark. Some craftsmen choose wood that is lighter in color or almost white, while others use yellow wood.

There is also no consensus on the structure of the bark of the resonant spruce. According to scientists V.O. Alexandrova and S.N. Bagaev, who were engaged in the selection of resonant spruce by phenotype, it is better to choose forms with smooth bark. Another domestic researcher N.A. Sankin believes that scale-barked spruce trees are preferable because they have the greatest genetic plasticity. Romanian craftsmen note that the bark should consist of rounded and concave scales. In France, it is believed that the scales should be small and smooth.

Macrostructure
The main criterion for selecting resonant wood, which is included in the standards of different countries, is the growth rings, characteristic features which are:
width;
equal layering;
the presence of late wood in their composition.

Wood with wide layers gives a muffled sound to the musical instrument, while narrow layers give it a harsh sound. As for the width of the growth rings, the optimal parameter will be considered a limit from 1 to 4 mm. Late wood in the composition of annual rings should make up 30%.

Certain types of resonant spruce wood are distinguished depending on the macrostructure on the radial section.
Flowy, which is characterized by straight annual layers with a slight wave-like shift of wood fibers. Such wood is elastic and produces pure tones. It is of greatest value in the manufacture of decks.

Fiery, which has beautiful pattern and its structure is similar to flames.
Red layer, which is characterized by the red color of the late zone of the annual ring. It has the highest density, but its value is less than that of the first two varieties.

Microstructure
By revising anatomical structure Such wood takes into account the importance of the interpermeability of cell systems that are located across and along the axis of the trunk, these are the medullary rays and tracheids, respectively. An important indicator presence is considered large quantity permeable pores shaped like a colon. This is especially true for early tracheids. It is along them that sound waves propagate throughout the entire thickness of the board, passing in the transverse and longitudinal directions.

Other indicators
High-quality resonant wood can be identified by its shine. Spruce, growing in the north of Russia, which has a silky and delicate shine, as well as with well-developed thin layers, gives the sound a silvery and tenderness. German craftsmen prefer wood with large and sharp sparkles.

In some situations, the smell of wood is used as a diagnostic indicator, by which its resin content is determined. It has been established that resinous substances have a negative effect on such properties of wood as acoustic properties.

Diagnostics of resonant wood: direct methods
For these purposes, the following wood indicators are measured:
density;
elastic modulus;
sound speed;
amplitude of oscillations;
the amount of energy lost due to internal friction.

The obtained measurement results are used to calculate the acoustic properties of wood. The next step is to determine the suitability of raw materials for the production of musical instruments.