|
The Catgut Acoustical Society Library |
| File #: | B1260 |
| Name: | Backhaus, Hermann |
| Dates: | 1885-1958 |
| See also: | A7670 - Arns, Ulrich; M5140 - Meinel, Hermann. |
| General Information: |
| Worked in Germany for many years on the acoustics of the violin, first at Greifswald and later at the |
| Technische Hocschule in Karlsruhe. His unique contribution was the first mapping of the vibrational |
| modes of the arched top and back of the violin, vibrated with an automatic bowing device at main |
| resonance frequencies. His most important conclusion was that a strong tendency exists among the best |
| instruments for the inward and outward motions of the top and back plates to be in phase over a large |
| area of the violin at some frequency near 700 Hz. At lower frequencies he found far more subdivisions |
| to occur. Backhaus' pioneering work together with that of his student, Hermann Meinel, has provided |
| investigators with much basic information. See Backhaus papers in Benchmark Papers in Acoustics, |
| Volume 6, Dowden Hutchinson and Ross 1976. |
| File Contents: |
| B1260 | -- | 101 |
| Correspondence: (3) about Backhaus (1972-1973); to & from Springer-Verlag and CMH; from |
| Hermann Meinel to CMH (translated by J.C. Schelleng) |
| Key Words: |
| B1260 | -- | 102 |
| Miscellaneous: (2) Obituary notice of Backhaus (1958); other miscellaneous biographical material. |
| Key Words: |
| B1260 | -- | 103 |
| Technical: 9 papers from 1925-1938; some have abstracts. See Tech Summary. |
| Key Words: | Bowed string | Wolf-tone | Radiation properties | Nodal patterns | Violin acoustics |