VSA Oberlin Acoustics Workshop

The start of the VSA-Oberlin Acoustics Workshop this week is a great way to launch my Violin Acoustics blog. Eight years ago, I was asked by the Violin Society of America (VSA) and the Catgut Acoustical Society to organize an acoustics workshop. The goal was to bring together acoustics researchers and violin makers to advance the understanding of how the violin works. I knew I needed to team up with a respected violin maker, so I asked Joseph Curtin to be my co-director. I remember his initial skepticism at whether anyone would show up since there was traditionally so much indifference and even hostility to the idea that violin makers should be interested in violin acoustics. Nevertheless, a dozen or so makers did show up at that first workshop and this week, over 40 researchers and makers have arrived at Oberlin College for our eighth annual workshop and a week of presentations, projects and spirited discussions.