Old Italian violins, violas and cellos have long been held to be THE BEST. Many people have pondered why instruments made by makers like Stradivari or Guarneri sound better. Is it the wood? Is it some secret of the varnish? Well, it might just all be in our heads – this study found that, in blind tests, violinists couldn’t tell older instruments apart from newer ones.
Non-Stradivari and cat ("you're not going to play that thing, are you?")
grey particulate matter 