The Stradivarius Myth: Just imagine if today’s medicines remained unchanged from those of 1713, our smartphones were just the same model with few changes similar to the first Graham Bell‘s in 1892, or if the planes that took us around the globe today were identical to those flown in 1903.

This what basically what a group of scientists is telling musicians; that they should not advance to high tech music instruments.

Imagine if you had invented something centuries ago whose form and function nobody had never been able to improve?

Is 2k17 and still anyone can’t improve in Stradivarius violins. More than 300 years of technology advances and scientists are trying to uncover what makes those renowned to be special.

The twisted history of Music

But even if you have never picked up a violin and have less than a passing interest in the history of musical instruments, the story of Stradivari is a compelling one.

Woefully, we possibly won’t know the truth as the nonagenarian Stradivari took his secret with him to his grave. But if you thought scientists are wasting their time trying to uncover what makes their instruments specials, let me tell you this: the researchers have found, among other things, that the aged and treated maple wood had very different properties from that used to make high tech music instruments.

Need a hint? Environmental pollution. Who’d say that an ancient instrument could teach us about our bad earth-conservation habits?

Futuristic and high tech music instruments

So as there has been no equivalent Stradivarius for the piano, and in order to boost a groundbreaking brand, the artist Gergely Bogányi recently gave the piano a radical design, an instrument that has remained essentially unchanged in its fundamental design for 200 years, and which new version required a decade to be complete.

There’s also this 3D printed violin, the 3DVarius. Unfortunately, it seems it doesn’t impress beyond the design, not to mention that in matter of sound is not even close to the seemingly unbeatable Italian one.

But while experts do not surpass the oldest musical instrument with high tech music instruments, what are they working on in the musical atmosphere?

Robot and Drone Bands

Robot bands like Z-Machines or Compressorhead are the step forward in automatic music. To give you a little opener idea, the first one is a Japanese all-robot band created by a group of academics and engineers from the University of Tokyo which idea is: close your eyes and listen to the music without previous knowledge. Could we distinguish these robots from real interpreters?

Sure those robots are not worried about the tension or tuning of their instruments, neither the sweat of the stage nor the jet lag of the tours: they are always on top.

Another case of music made without the intervention of a central nervous system, and without a remote control that directs it, there are the drone band of the engineers and artists from the University of Pennsylvania emulating the sounds of James Bond films.

We are certainly far from giving birth to an android artist, but progress is evident and the challenge exciting and… Creepy, must I say? Or am I the only one who found it bizarre to cheer up a bunch of automatic materials and machines that sound live?

Is It Mozart’s Fault?

Mechanical music is not a new concept. The Musical Clock, in fact, is an ancient artifact. The first known was the work of Nicholas Vallin, and dates from 1598. This clock executed a different piece for every four hours and, in 1791, Mozart composed Fantasies K.594 and K.608 in F minor, for Mechanical Organ or Flötenuhr.

That did become in trend for the period quickly, as he was not the only one: Haydn and Beethoven, among others, were musical clocks composers as well.

Is it the fault in our ancient composers? Let’s just do not philosophize too much: if you’re just a music lover, get your tickets for your real bands on stage and enjoy, and if player, get to your practice room to keep working before technology can reach us, my dear musician!