The Glorious Stradivari RevolutionAntonio Stradivari, a man known by many as one of the greatest violin makers of all time. The question is why? By the early 1700s, Stradivari was well known in the music world and still is. Its instruments are reproduced in order to encourage consumers to buy an instrument with the same design as a Strad. There are also luthiers who attempt to replicate Stradivari's magnificent design for their own satisfaction. Antonio Stradivari's instruments have become socially and technically popular over time due to his superior craftsmanship and, for others, his high price. Stradivari's life, affecting the way his instruments were made, changed the perception of his instruments technically and socially. Antonio Stradivari was born in Bergamo, Italy in 1644. As a youth, he lived in Cremona, Italy, where he became an apprentice to Nicolo Amati. He had married twice, once in 1667 to a woman named Francesca, with whom he had six children. His first son only lived six days. The others later became priests and apprentices of their father. Francesca then died in 1698. Shortly after, Stradivari remarried in 1699 to a woman named Antonia. Antonia and Stradivari had four children. Two of whom were dead. Stradivari bought a house in Piazza Roma; it is here that Stradivari carried out his work as a luthier, with his sons at his side as apprentices. In 1737, Stradivari died and was buried in the church of San Domenico in Cremona, where his family was from. A luthier is defined as a creator and maker of stringed instruments. Stradivari's main goal was to perfect violins, but he often turned to violas and cellos, which were much rarer to find today. Throughout its life...... middle of paper...... The shaping of the instrument was carried out in much finer detail, unprecedented for any maker at the time. Stradivari's varnish has always been a mysterious question that remained unanswered for a long time. “…Stradivarius owes much of his reputation as a genius to the northern Italian city of Cremona, where he worked” (Stradivari and the Bees, Henley 11). It was a German engineer who discovered this mystery, shortly after trying to mass produce this varnish, but without success. Scientists have experimented in many ways on Stradivari's instruments. One method, and the most common, is to perform CT scans and resonance tests. The purpose of the CT scans is to determine all the shaping done by Stradivari. Scanners measure density, thickness, shape, etc. Resonance tests are performed on the Strads to test the spectral capabilities between its violins and others..