As I learn about music, I keep running into the theory of Opening Up. It's the idea that a string instrument (and possibly all analog instruments) improves with playing.
Some people say this is baloney, it's not the instrument that is improving, but the player.
It seems that far more people believe Opening Up to be a real thing that happens. Vibrations settle into the instrument somehow, and the sound it produces improves. Some makers even have a machine to stroke the strings, giving a new guitar 100 hours play time before selling it. A lot of top musicians won't buy new instruments because they like the sound of an opened up instrument better.
In this video she plays two sister guitars. They are made at the same time, from the same wood, using the same tools. The only big difference is that one has hundreds of hours of play time, the other, maybe a dozen.
There also seems to be the idea of waking up an instrument that has been idle. I learned about this while investigating
an old mandolin . When first played after along rest, the sound is said to be dull. But brightens and resonates better after about two weeks of daily playing.
What a wonderful idea.
I'm going to choose to believe this idea to be true, it appeals to me.
But can I speed things along?
Opening up can be hastened by resting the instrument in front of a good speaker and playing appropriate music at moderate volume for several hours
source
Ah ha! If I play music at my instruments, they will improve. I like that.
And, if it doesn't work, everything I've read about learning how to learn music suggests that the most important thing is to listen to good music as much as possible.
It's worth a try.
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