Carleen M. Hutchins
Morton A. Hutchins
Catgut Acoust. Soc., 112 Essex Ave., Montclair, NJ 07042
Edwin R. Fitzgerald
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD 21218
Desirable mechanical properties of density, vibrational damping, Young's modulus, velocity of sound, and the ratio of velocity to density for spruce tops and maple backs of violins have been fairly well established [I. Barducci and G. Pasqualini, Nuovo Cimento 5 (5), 416--466 (1948); J. C. Schelleng, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 35, 326--338 (1963); F. Rocaboy and V. Bucur, Catgut Acoust. Soc. J. 1 (6) (Ser. II), 21--28 (1990)]. However the longitudinal to cross grain ratios of Young's modulus and the shear modulus, as well as their relationships in both spruce and maple have not been studied extensively. This work is concerned with the extent to which these ratios can vary and still make possible the optimum plate tuning of modes #1, #2, and #5 in violin top and back free plates. From a 1975 shipment of commercially available German spruce and maple, ten sets of violin top and back flitches were built into 10 normal violins. The plate tunings of six sets of these will be charted and discussed in relation to their mechanical properties.