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Making Matters: ‘Cryo-treatment’ of violin wood

2025-02-14T08:15:00

My chisels and gouges ready for the Cryo-treatment (1)

What effect would subjecting spruce and maple to ultra-low temperatures have on their sound quality? Oliver Radke presents the results of an informal study into the ‘cryo-treatment’ of violin wood

I had never heard of cryogenic treatment (or ‘cryo-treament’ for short) until 2012, when I first met the Austrian scientist Wolfgang Lausecker who told me that he did it for a living in the beautiful Alpine village of Stanzach. Ever since my childhood I have been interested in topics connected with science, engineering and technology, and I was fascinated to learn that Wolfgang had been using this process to treat musical instruments…

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