The science of string instruments

Thomas D. Rossing String instruments are found in almost all musical cultures. Bowed string instruments form the backbone of symphony orchestras, and they are used widely as solo inst- ments and in chamber music as well. Guitars are used universally in pop music as well as in classical music. The piano is probably the most versatile of all musical inst- ments, used widely not only in ensemble with other musical instruments but also as a solo instrument and to accompany solo instruments and the human voice. In this book, various authors will discuss the science of plucked, bowed, and hammered string instruments as well as their electronic counterparts. We have tried to tell the fascinating story of scienti?c research with a minimum of mathematics to maximize the usefulness of the book to performers and instrument builders as well as to students and researchers in musical acoustics. Sometimes, however, it is dif?cult to “translate” ideas from the exact mathematical language of science into words alone, so we include some basic mathematical equations to express these ideas. It is impossible to discuss all families of string instruments. Some instruments have been researched much more than others. Hopefully, the discussions in this book will help to encourage further scienti?c research by both musicians and scientists alike. 1.1 A Brief History of the Science of String Instruments Quite a number of good histories of acoustics have been written (Lindsay 1966, 1973; Hunt 1992; Beyer 1999), and these histories include musical acoustics. Introduction / Thomas D. Rossing -- Plucked Strings / Thomas D. Rossing -- Guitars And Lutes / Thomas D. Rossing And Graham Caldersmith -- Portuguese Guitar / Octavio Inacio -- Banjo / James Rae -- Mandolin Family Instruments / David J. Cohen And Thomas D. Rossing -- Psalteries And Zithers / Andres Peekna And Thomas D. Rossing -- Harpsichord And Clavichord / Neville H. Fletcher And Carey Beebe -- Harp / Chris Waltham -- Burmese Arched Harp / Robert M. Williamson -- Plucked String Instruments In Asia / Shigeru Yoshikawa -- Bowed Strings / Thomas D. Rossing And Roger J. Hanson -- Violin / Joseph Curtin And Thomas D. Rossing -- Cello / Eric Bynum And Thomas D. Rossing -- Double Bass / Anders Askenfelt -- Bows, Strings, And Bowing / Knut Guettler -- Viols And Other Historic Bowed String Instruments / Murray Campbell And Patsy Campbell -- The Hutchins-schelleng Violin Octet After 50 Years / George Bissinger -- Hammered Strings / Thomas D. Rossing -- Some Remarks On The Acoustics Of The Piano / Nicholas Giordano -- Hammered Dulcimer / David Peterson -- Electric Guitar And Violin / Colin Gough -- Virtual String Synthesis / Nelson Lee And Julius O. Smith. Thomas D. Rossing, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-10 Plucked Strings....Pages 11-18 Guitars and Lutes....Pages 19-45 Portuguese Guitar....Pages 47-57 Banjo....Pages 59-75 Mandolin Family Instruments....Pages 77-98 Psalteries and Zithers....Pages 99-122 Harpsichord and Clavichord....Pages 123-143 Harp....Pages 145-166 Burmese Arched Harp....Pages 167-171 Plucked String Instruments in Asia....Pages 173-195 Bowed Strings....Pages 197-208 Violin....Pages 209-244 Cello....Pages 245-257 Double Bass....Pages 259-277 Bows, Strings, and Bowing....Pages 279-299 Viols and Other Historic Bowed String Instruments....Pages 301-315 The Hutchins–Schelleng Violin Octet After 50 Years....Pages 317-345 Hammered Strings....Pages 347-352 Some Remarks on the Acoustics of the Piano....Pages 353-370 Hammered Dulcimer....Pages 371-392 Electric Guitar and Violin....Pages 393-415 Virtual String Synthesis....Pages 417-455 Erratum to: Plucked String Instruments in Asia....Pages E1-E3 Back Matter....Pages 457-470 This book will be a non-technical book on string instruments that includes some technical information as well. The emphasis will be on the practical understanding of string instruments, with the interests of performers and instrument builders in the forefront. Authors of the chapters will be musicians, scientists, and instrument designers and builders with practical experience. The mathematics will be kept as simple as possible by translating ideas from the language of physics (mathematics) to non-mathematical language. Considerable emphasis will be placed on the design and construction of str