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A good violin depends not only on the expertise of the violin maker, but also on the quality of the wood that is used.

Swiss wood researcher

has succeeded in modifying the wood for a violin through treatment with special fungi

making it sound indistinguishably similar to a Stradivarius

discovered two species of fungi

which decay Norway spruce and sycamore – the two important kinds of wood used for violin making – to such an extent that their tonal quality is improved

Normally fungi reduce the density of the wood, but at the same time they unfortunately reduce the speed with which the sound waves travel through the wood

unique feature of these fungi is that they gradually degrade the cell walls, thus inducing a thinning of the walls

, a stiff scaffold structure remains via which the sound waves can still travel directly

the wood remains just as resistant to strain as before the fungal treatment

Before the wood is further processed to a violin, it is treated with ethylene oxide gas. "No fungus can survive that

mycowood (wood treated with wood decay fungi

on September 7, 2012 in

reported on his research and gave a preview of what his wood treatment method could mean, particularly for young violinists

In 2009 the violins were played in a blind, behind-the-curtain test versus a genuine Stradivarius from 1711

Both the jury of experts and the majority of the audience thought that the mycowood violin that Schwarze had treated with fungi for nine months was the actual Strad

Currently Professor Schwarze is working on an interdisciplinary project to develop a quality-controlled treatment for violin wood, with successful, reliable and reproducible results

cessful implementation of biotechnological methods for treating soundboard wood could in the future give young musicians the opportunity to play on a violin with the sound quality of an expensive – and for most musicians unaffordable – Stradivarius