|
The Catgut Acoustical Society Library |
| File #: | M5140 |
| Name: | Meinel, Hermann |
| Dates: | 1904-1977 |
| See also: |
| General Information: |
| One of the foremost acousticians in violin research who came from a family traditionally centered in |
| music and musical instruments in Germany near Markneukirchen and Klingenthal. Early trained as a |
| Master Violin Maker he soon recognized the narrow limits of constructing violins on an empirical basis |
| and entered the University of Leipzig eventually obtaining his doctorate under H. Backhaus in |
| Greifswald. Meinel's interests and abilities placed him in an excellent position to relate the fast |
| expanding knowledge of acoustics of the early 1930s to the study of the violin. In 1934 his essay on violin |
| acoustics won an award from the Prussian Academy of Sciences. His research and writings on the |
| violin continued until his death in 1977. Several of Meinel's papers are reproduced in the Benchmark |
| volumes 5 and 6, which indicate the scope of his work on stringed instruments. He emphasized the great |
| importance of wood thickness compared with other factors in violin making with respect to modes of |
| vibration, volume, and timbre of sounds produced. He studied the properties of outstanding violins, |
| methods of evaluating tone quality and performance, the effects of varnish, arching of plates, and |
| properties of the wood used, radiation patterns of violins, as well as the vibrational modes of the |
| complete violin. His paper "Regarding the sound quality of violins and a scientific basis for violin |
| construction" (in English) JASA 29(7) 817-822(1957) gives a good idea of the overall scope of his work. |
| File Contents: |
| M5140 | -- | 101 |
| Correspondence: (1935-1978) involving Meinel, Verlag Hirzel, Verlag Springer, Backhaus, CMH, |
| Dowden Hutchinson & Ross and (Frau) Elisabeth Meinel. |
| Key Words: |
| M5140 | -- | 102 |
| Miscellaneous: (10) Biographical material (CMH work on Benchmark; "Acoustica" article; |
| "Lebenslauf" translation by Schelling); abstract of paper given at Budapest ICA; paper (& trans.) by |
| Baumgartner; description of translator R.K. Walter; 1936 German newspaper describing Academy |
| Prize; 1960 Markneukirchen Festival Program; Synthetic fibre from automatic bowing machine. |
| Key Words: |
| M5140 | -- | 103 |
| Technical: (17) Meinel's bibliography plus 16 papers from 1936-1974 . The file contains a bibliography |
| of Meinel's work and some English translations. See Tech Summary. |
| Key Words: | Response curves | wood thicknesses | varnish | tuning | violin design |