Bernard Richardson of the University of Cardiff is internationally recognised as a leading authority on the acoustics of the guitar.
Date: 1 May 2014
Bernard Richardson of the University of Cardiff is internationally recognised as a leading authority on the acoustics of the guitar. His research has focused on identifying the quantitative relationships between the construction of the instruments such as the guitar and the violin and their perceived tone and playing qualities.
His research in the acoustics of musical instruments stems from interests in practical music making and the manufacture of musical instruments. As a keen guitarist he started making classical guitars at an early age and became fascinated in what made each instrument that little bit different. He just kept asking “Why?” and “How?” until all the answers ran out and then realised that he would have to find out the answers for himself. This steered his career into studying Physics and taking up a PhD position at Cardiff where he started his long journey to discover more about how instruments work at a fundamental level. He is currently a Reader and head of the musical acoustics group at Cardiff.
