NIU Professor Thomas Rossing, an expert on the physics of music, examines the world’s biggest and smallest violins.

NIU physics professor
strikes a chord with Scots

Thomas Rossing’s recent visit to the University of Edinburgh resonated with the Scots in ways both big and small.

The NIU physics professor spent five months as a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the 420-year-old university in Scotland’s capital city. Rossing delivered a series of lectures on the physics of music and conducted research on the physics of bagpipe reeds.

As a prelude to his first lecture on the acoustics of violins, Rossing visited the Museum of Musical Instruments. There he examined the world’s biggest violin, built by American instrument maker Carleen Hutchins, and the world’s smallest playable violin, made in England in the 18th century.

Rossing also lectured on the perception of musical sound as well as on the acoustics of singing, woodwind instruments and ancient Chinese bells. He is considered among the world’s top researchers in musical acoustics and has helped researchers and students alike literally see music.

Using laser beams, Rossing creates holographic images of the vibrations made by instruments.

His research has helped students – as well as scientists and instrument makers worldwide – understand how instruments make sound and how they can be improved. The NIU Distinguished Research Professor has authored more than 300 scholarly papers and more than a dozen books.

9-2-03