INTEGRATIVE PROCESS WORKSHEET - leah epting



INTEGRATIVE PROCESS – Music, Chemistry, Business

Leah Epting

Step One: Identify a complex phenomena

For generations the violins of Antonio Stradivari have been considered the perfect violins. All others since have been constructed the same way, but very few have come close to the beautiful sound quality produced by these rare instruments, produced in a singular time and place, with methods and materials long since lost. There are only 700 in the world today and as a result, these remarkable instruments are incredibly valuable, often owned by foundations and museums, and played only by the most gifted professional musicians at the top of their craft.

Step Two: Formulate an Interdisciplinary Question related to the phenomena.

Much research has been done to unlock the secrets of these instruments, some of which has focused on the chemical composition of the wood itself and also on the apparent treatment of the wood with borate and various mineral salts. While it is believed that these treatments were meant to prevent damage from pests and fungi, there may be a correlation with their beautiful sound. Using chemical analysis and experimentation, might it be possible to come up with a treatment process for the wood used in new violins that might improve their sound quality? And more importantly, could such a method be cost-effective for mass-produced instruments?

Step Three: Identify and list the relevant disciplines needed to study the problem.

Music is perhaps the most relevant discipline to the problem in that the subjective but overwhelming beauty of the instrument is observable to a musician without any sort of complicated formula. A violinist need only play a Stradivarius and a cheap, mass-produced violin to immediately tell the difference.

Chemistry offers insight into the problem of what is chemically different about a Stradivarius and whether it can be duplicated reliably.

Business offers insights with respect to feasibility and marketability of the proposed chemical treatment.

Step Four: Consider the problem through the perspectives of each discipline, one at a time.

Musicians have two major and somewhat conflicting considerations within this problem. The Stradivarius violin is a work of art in itself and maintaining its integrity and mystery holds some value for purists who see the music made on them as its own sublime expressive work. However, many musicians and music educators would love the opportunity to have more readily available the kind of awe-inspiring instruments that only the very rich and accomplished professionals can afford.

Chemistry considers the chemical properties of the wood and the treatment the wood of the Stradivari violins received. While several variations have been observed, leading researchers to conclude that there was no single recipe for the treatment; a few variations could be duplicated along with a treatment to reduce the hemicellulose content of the cell walls to be consistent with the Stradivari wood. Chemistry sees a problem of analyzing and reproducing the same material.

The business perspective on the problem would center upon whether there is a market for this process and whether it would be profitable to produce.

Step Five: List the insights that may be gained from each discipline.

Music offers the principal insight as to whether the end result of the chemical process has been successful. If the mass-produced instrument has not become substantially better in sound quality, then the goal has not been reached.

Chemistry offers substantial insights by way of the analysis and manipulation of the wood in the instrument. It can offer correlation between some of the observed compositions of chemical treatments in Stradivari and their sound qualities, as well as suggest chemical alterations to the wood's density, one of the few characteristics consistent to all of the violins.

The major insights offered by Business and its related subdisciplines are market analysis to assess the market for the process and the new instruments that would be created with it and cost-benefit analysis to assess whether the process can be applied profitably. It would alter the current model of pricing in that it would likely create another tier and possibly replace the bottom one while being a little more expensive. A real Stradivarius is unobtainable, but excellent copies with comparable sound quality are available. However, they too are far out of reach of most people and certainly of students, schools, and educators, the very people who would like to inspire new musicians. So the affordable instruments, ranging from $500-$2000 and often rented to beginning students are cheaply mass produced and of poor quality.

Step Six: Evaluate each insight.

The chief insights offered by music will be highly subjective but still likely repeatable enough to base a conclusion and strategy on. Even violinists who don't have access to a Stradivarius often feel that a high quality instrument made by a master luthier is a necessity, so overcoming a bias toward high priced instruments and the notion that restricting access to them is a positive may be difficult. Whether this would present a conflict with the basic business proposal of mass-produced, high-sound-quality instruments remains to be seen, and is dependent upon whether the testers are also motivated by a concern for educating a greater number of musicians.

Instead of overlap, the distance between chemistry and music is more likely to cause some difficulty. Chemists are very good at precise measurement and execution of formulae and having the results of their work evaluated on the subjective terms of music may be challenging. It could certainly prove challenging if the chemistry has to be “fine tuned” to match the discriminating tastes of musicians and a direct correlation between certain properties is difficult to establish.

From the business perspective, the greatest potential conflict comes from the possibility that one or both of the other disciplines might produce answers that are unprofitable in terms of mass production. The musicians can’t afford to be too picky and the chemists need to come up with a relatively inexpensive process.

Step Seven: Develop an Interdisciplinary Response to the question.

The ultimate interdisciplinary response would be a mass-produced violin that sounded, if not like Stradivarius, then at least notably closer than the cheap, mass-produced instruments available today. It would also include a recipe the chemical process to treat the wood for said violin that could be replicated with relative ease. Its development would require a business plan, an experimental model, and a set of standards to judge the end product.

Step Eight: Confirm or disconfirm the proposed response/solution to the phenomena. (Note this may require going through the process again to fine tune it).

Confirmation of this solution would require its execution and it’s safe to say that it would be a challenge. Efforts to replicate the Stradivarius have been ongoing and some have been successful in terms of quality, but not in terms of mass production and affordability. A $32,000 violin is just as far out of reach for the average student as a Stradivarius. So true cost effectiveness will likely be hard won. The hope expressed in this interdisciplinary model, which would need to be borne out by the experimental model, is that a chemical process can be found to allow for the mass production of instruments that sing to the soul in the same way a Stradivarius does.

References

Callaway, E. (2009, January 29). Recipe for a Stradivarius may include pest proofing. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from New Scientist website: proofing.html

John R. Waddle Violins, Inc. (n.d.). The Betts Project. Retrieved from

Roth, K. (2012, June 5). Chemical Secrets of the Violin Virtuosi. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from Chemistry Views website: Virtuosi__Part_1.html

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