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The Legendary Study That Embarrassed Wine Experts (2014)

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Re: The Legendary Study That Embarrassed Wine Experts (2014)

#3
Another somewhat famous study involved taking a cheap wine and an expensive wine and swapping the bottles. When people tasted the wines and the bottles were hidden, people accurately scored the wines. When the bottles were visible, people preferred the wine in the expensive bottle. All but the experts were susceptible to this effect.

Re: The Legendary Study That Embarrassed Wine Experts (2014)

#6

Now do one for Stradivarius violins.

That has been done multiple times. It is easy: just record the sound and compare acoustic signatures. And yes, Stradivarius is different. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/21/scientists-f...

Re: The Legendary Study That Embarrassed Wine Experts (2014)

#7
post #6

Now do one for Stradivarius violins.

That has been done multiple times. It is easy: just record the sound and compare acoustic signatures. And yes, Stradivarius is different. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/21/scientists-f...

This double-blind study found that experts preferred modern violins to Strads in listening tests:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/million-dollar-strad...

Re: The Legendary Study That Embarrassed Wine Experts (2014)

#8
I wonder if this is just making it clear that the words we use for describing red and white wines are fixed, and not that the students really couldn’t tell the difference in flavor between red and white wine. Does the visual information change our taste, or merely our vocabulary?

Re: The Legendary Study That Embarrassed Wine Experts (2014)

#9
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has been done multiple times. It is easy: just record the sound and compare acoustic signatures. And yes, Stradivarius is different. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/21/scientists-f...

This double-blind study found that experts preferred modern violins to Strads in listening tests: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/million-dollar-strad...

These studies are flawed in ways that every experienced musician recognizes they are: context.

It's _common_ that instruments that sound amazing in a solo context will sound poor in a larger ensemble, or might sound great in one ensemble but not another.

Personal context factors in: how does it feel, how stable is the neck, is it work in commonly stressed spots (usually good), is the design kind to your habits, etc...

Business context: prestige, visual impact, lineage, historical accuracy, marketability etc...

I could go on, but I don't think it's controversial to say that an instrument's sonic qualities alone, in a solo context, are NOT what drives value.

I know that, as of this comment, nobody has made the claim or implied it yet, but it's important not to draw conclusions about one instrument being better than another based on studies like this. Imagine if someone went around comparing generics syntax across languages to 'experts and laypeople', and the comments filled with praise for the scrappy underdog. I think the average HN commenter would spot the BS right away. For music though?

It's simply not what music is about.

Re: The Legendary Study That Embarrassed Wine Experts (2014)

#10
And still I do like my Pinot Noir a bit watery red :)

I don't really know what is happening in this context. Maybe a lot of people have not much taste, or cannot disciminate between different tastes or things?

I don't understand anything about the words that go along with wine and beer reviews. I don't understand anything about using words like chocolate or nuts in describing the taste of wine or beer.

I do know what I like in my mouth, but that is also very subjective. It also changes over time and can differ from day to day. Some days I like a bitter hoppy beer, some days a fresh pilsner. Some days I like a softer red wine, some days it may have a 'bite'.

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