3D printing is making it easier to create a lot of stuff in a cheaper manner. The materials that have been printed with a 3D printer differ from replacement bones for human jaws, tissue material for skin damaged by burns, to things like blocks to use for building a canal house. There sheer potential of 3D printing is mind boggling.

The new item to be 3D printed is a musical instrument. The violin is a classical instrument which has traditionally been constructed from the finest sourced wood. The vibrations from the aucoustic violin require the wood to be a certain complexity of grain structure to give the best sound possible.

Does this mean that it is not possible to print any musical instrument? Not really. In fact an electric violin actually converts the vibrations of the strings into an electric signal which then is amplified into a musical sound.

In this set up there is no need for a resonating chamber. Needless to say a 3D printed electric violin will work just as well as a regular electric violin. The resonances and harmonics from a 3D printed violin are currently being tested by professional violin players to check if this science project has a commercial future!