How to make a cheap violin sound like a Stradivarius: Add fungus!

Now Prof Schwarze’s developments could make similarly good wood available for violin making today. “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,” he said.

“The unique feature of these particular fungi is that they gradually degrade the cell walls, thus inducing a thinning. But even in the late stages of the wood decomposition, a stiff scaffold structure remains via which the sound waves can still travel directly.”