Slow, steady growth and a rare climate — the right balance of light, warmth and humidity — allow the Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst), which covers more than 86% of the wooded area in the Paneveggio state forest, to produce, in very limited quantities, the resonance wood used for the soundboards of the finest stringed instruments and pianos.
From the 1700s to today, luthiers the world over have come to this forest to choose the best wood for the soundboards of their prized instruments.
What makes this wood so special and so rare is a combination of anatomical, physico-chemical, mechanical and acoustic properties. It has no visible defects, no knots, and a straight, sound grain with remarkably even ring growth.
The resonance cycle
The right logs — large, over 50–60 cm in diameter, between 150 and 250 years old, and selected directly in the woods — are what give the wood its special resonance. By tradition, and to catch the plants at vegetative rest, felling is done during the waning moon. The logs are then selected again, and some are left for a few months in the running water of the Travignolo stream to improve their quality. Now and then a chosen tree reveals "hazel" figure — the small inward dips in the growth rings that give a soundboard its characteristic look, once an unmistakable mark of resonance and high tonal capacity. Stripped of bark and cut into circular sections of varying height according to the size of soundboard needed, the logs will go on to become violas and violins, guitars, cellos or double basses.
They are then split by hand along the grain into wedges and stacked in the shade for six or seven months, where the wood dries naturally. After a further selection, the wood goes into the drying kiln/xylotheque, where it stays for several years.
The resonance wood is managed and sold by the qualified forestry staff of the Paneveggio state forestry station.
The growing environment: natural woodland between 1500 and 1900 metres of altitude.
The growing season is short, and it needs plenty of water together with the cold, dry climate that underpins regular, optimal growth.
Annual harvest: 4000 m3 — about 2000 trees, of which just 1% is resonance wood, enough for 1500 violins or 600 guitars.
Lunar resonances
At Paneveggio the Norway spruce destined for instruments is chosen and cut according to the Lunar Forestry Calendar. This wood — Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst) — is called "Mondholz", Moon Wood, because it is felled in the days following the December new moon.
Some of the logs are then placed in the Travignolo stream, where the winter water will "caress them, shake them, make them vibrate and sing". In May they are lifted out and worked into "washed" boards. Luthiers prize this wood for its lightness and for the wealth of harmonic vibration it can produce and pass on to the whole instrument.
