... My name is David Langsather. Around 1998, at age 50, I got interested in violin sound. My brother had purchased a violin for his daughter, who no longer was interested in the instrument, so he loaned it to me. I was intrigued.... this violin did not sound like those I have listened to on recordings! It was very hard to even excite a pure note with the bow. ....wonder why.
I should mention that I have always had a curious nature and 'how does it work?' , is my abiding quest in life.
My educational background is in Mechanical Engineering and four year BS degree was granted by Oregon State University in 1971 (Mechanical Engineering Technology).
My working life has been in the automotive area, first by entering the arena of car building, and since 1979, operating an auto parts rebuilding service specializing in rebuilding engine harmonic balancers.
The violin area developed from general interest, to reading and studying the subject, to interest in trying to build my first violin, to making (as a side line) and selling violins, to serious interest in violin acoustics the past 15 years of so. Currently I have completed 25 instrument with my Opus #30 the latest.
I was inspired by the sound of Itzhak Perlman's Geiseppe Guarneri del Gesu violin and wanted to make instruments that could produce such music.
My violins are inspired by Stradivari and Guarnerin and the results of my past 22 years of violin acoustical research.
To create a violin of the highest performance and timbre (violin sound quality...) is extremely difficult. Such an instrument will have each piece of wood of excellent properties and compatibility {I call this property 'Synchronous Resonance'}; and each part shaped precisely to reinforce/ transmit the vibration of the strings without interfering with overall sound.
In addition, the violin must be constructed in such a manner as to produce a sound rich in lower overtones while reducing the production of the upper overtones. {A characteristic of the finest violins, and a main contributor to superior timber.}
The following information, I believe, will be a worthwhile guide to accomplish this worthwhile goal. Right up front, I will reiterate, this is VERY difficult, and even one misbuilt component of the violin can ruin the desired result. Fortunately many of the contributing factors can be changed or corrected rather easily by an acoustical expert.
I will try and share my violin acoustical skills via this educational website and perhaps in person with prior arrangement..... David Langsather Salem, Oregon USA
Some background areas of interest to let you get better acquainted with me...(click on box:)
Car building experience
1974-1979
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Photography Interests:
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