Why violin-makers adopted the f-shaped hole

[lucpet]

http://boingboing.net/2015/03/09/why-vi ... d-the.html

Why did violins slowly develop f-shaped sound-holes? Because it makes them more acoustically powerful than their ancestors, which had holes shaped liked a circle -- as a team of MIT scientists recently concluded.
Back in the the 10th century, the makers of European stringed-instruments were building "fitheles" -- the ancestor of the modern violin -- but they used round holes. By the 12th century, they'd started using half-moon shapes, and a century later they'd refined it to a sort of C-shaped hole. Then in the 15th century they pioneered little circles at the ends of the holes, which, by the 17th century, had become the modern f-shaped hole.

[charangohabsburg]

I'll stick with my theory that they originate from a luthier who peeled a tangerine or two this way.

Interesting paper though (the real link is this one).

[charangohabsburg]

Interesting paper though

And here an interesting comment.

[needsmorecowbel]

but Markus he has a friend that is an expert...an Expert, Markus

Stu

[charangohabsburg]

Stu, I was referring to the comment of his friend, the expert, not to the comment of the expert's friend who posted the expert's comment.

[needsmorecowbel]

ah ok it snapped to a particular comment so I figured that was the one haha