Just read this on Bobby Owinski blog bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com about fungi influencing the sound of our instruments. He states the sound of centuries-old musical instruments seems to surpass the tones of new constructs. The Center for Molecular Medicine has now discovered the cause: fungi. During the 17th century, wood used for instrument-making was infected by fungi, which altered the density of the wood, resulting in the highly-sought vibrations of old musical instruments. However, in modern times, wood is treated to kill microorganisms. From a musical perspective, this creates inferior material. The good news: new violins can be infected deliberately with fungi to bestow a grander sound.
If you want to know if fungi really create vintage sound then read this article:
http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/2012/09/get-that-vintage-sound-from-fungi.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BobbyOwsinskisBlog+%28Bobby+Owsinski%27s+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
