I will be at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Ohio) next week for our ninth annual VSA-Oberlin Acoustics Workshop. Violin maker Joseph Curtin and I started this workshop in 2002 and this year, 50 people will gather for a week of violin acoustics presentations, demonstrations, and projects. I feel lucky to spend each summer with many of the world’s leading violin makers and acoustics researchers and would like to introduce some of them.
Joseph Curtin is a winner of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (popularly known as the “Genius” awards) and was the first musical instrument maker to be so honored. Faculty member Sam Zygmuntowicz’s instruments are played by many of the world’s leading soloists, including the Emerson Quartet. He recently completed the Strad3D DVD, which documents the Strad3D project that we did in 2006, measuring three of the world’s greatest violins, the 1715 “Titian” Stradivari, the 1735 “Plowden” Guarneri del Gesu, and the 1734 “Willemotte” Stradivari. This DVD contains high resolution photographs, videos, recordings, acoustic measurements, CT scans, instrument data, and essays by prominent researchers, and will provide many fascinating hours of browsing.
George Stoppani is a modern Renaissance man: in addition to making modern and baroque violins, violas, cellos and basses, he makes gut strings, and has written sophisticated software which we use at the workshop to analyze the vibrations of violins. Evan Davis is the head of Boeing Aircraft's Acoustics Laboratory and is applying his expertise in Statistical Energy Analysis, a technique used to predict the vibrational behavior of complex systems (for example, airplanes), to analyze the violin. Professor George Bissinger is the principal researcher in the Strad3D project, which was the first time a 3D laser vibration scanner was used to measure the vibrations of a violin. Professor Colin Gough has turned his attention to violin acoustics after his recent retirement from the University of Birmingham and a career researching high temperature superconductors. Claudia Fritz is a researcher at the Musical Instruments, Acoustics and Music Laboratory (LAM) in Paris. Her interest is in the psychoacoustics and the qualitative evaluation of violins and the work she did at the University of Cambridge can be found here.
Bill Scott is a VSA Hors Concours winner, which means means he can no longer compete in VSA competitions by virtue of winning three Gold Medals! Raymond Schryer has won several Gold and Silver Medals at the VSA and Triennale (Stradivari Cremona) Competitions. Feng Jiang has won a Gold and Silver medal at VSA Competitions. I love to play the violins and violas from all these makers. This summer, I look forward to meeting for the first time Marko Pennanen, a young Finnish maker who won First Prize at last year’s Triennale Competition in Cremona.
In addition to these prize winning makers, we have makers from other backgrounds who were bitten by the violin making bug. They bring different perspectives to violin making and acoustics. Doug Martin is a designer of rowing shells, and introduced the use of balsa as an ultralight violin construction material, along with his method of rapid prototyping to the workshop. Ted White is an ex-biology professor who spends most of his time now to making violins, and collaborated with Jim Ham to make an ultralight cello. Tom King is a retired economist who devotes most of his free time to violin making, when he is not busy as the treasurer of the Violin Society of America.
A new participant this year is Thomas Pinstrup, acoustic engineer and string designer at Larsen Strings. I am sure we will have some interesting conversations about strings! Another new participant I look forward to meeting is Zachary Moen, a lawyer who is studying to be a violin maker, and who plans to blog daily from the acoustics workshop.
There are five other VSA sponsored programs at Oberlin this summer: violin making, bow making, violin restoration, and bow restoration. A new program is the Bass Workshop, led by acoustic workshop alumni Jim Ham, David Gage, and Jay VandeKopple. Jim is one of the most innovative instrument makers in the world, and he has begun to apply his innovative approach from basses to violins, violas, and cellos. David Gage’s bass shop in New York City is a "must visit" shop for all bass players. The bass workshop will be held concurrently with the acoustics workshop, and there promises to be lots of cross-fertilization between the two programs and participants.
These are only a few of the fascinating people that will be at Oberlin next week. They all share a passion for instruments and music, and learning how bowed instruments work. It promises to be another exciting week!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesu Project
I was privileged to be part of an international team of experts invited by Geoffrey Fushi of Bein& Fushi Rare Violins to study one of the world’s greatest violins, the 1741 “Vieuxtemps”Guarneri del Gesu. The project was organized by violin maker Joseph Curtin and the team also included violin maker Terry Borman. The three of us travelled to Chicago last month to do acoustical testing, modal analysis, CT scans and recordings of the "Vieuxtemps" and other great violins generously provided by Geoffrey Fushi.
One of the highlights was a recording session with violinist Ilya Kayler, with three del Gesu’s, two Strad’s and a Guadagnini arrayed on a table - a feast for the eyes and ears. Terry Borman has some pictures of our project at his website:http://www.bormanviolins.com/vieuxtemps_project.asp
Geoff Fushi has written in a recent Bein & Fushi newsletter that the “Viuextemps” del Gesu “..stands at the pinnacle…it is the most exciting violin I have ever heard. Even more exciting than the magnificent “Canon” del Gesu that was once played by Paganini…the "Vieuxtemps" [is] the greatest violin masterwork of all time with unmatched tonal qualities.”
My friends ask me, is the “Vieuxtemps” really the greatest sounding violin in the world? Is it really worth $18million? It is probably the best violin sounding I have had the pleasure of playing, out of the three dozen or so Strads and del Gesus I have held in my hands. Determining the “greatest”, though, is like comparing Bach to Beethoven, or Beethoven’s 5th to his 9thSymphony. As in any great work of art, each violin has its own unique character, the depth and complexity of which is revealed only with time, though greatness is apparent even from the first brief encounter. More specifically, what I heard and felt in my short time with the “Vieuxtemps” was that it had a higher limit than any other violin I have played. The more I dug in, the more it gave, seemingly without limit.
After my all too brief encounter with these masterpieces, I returned home, dreaming not of owning these magnificent instruments (I don’t have $18million…), but with the words of violin maker Joe Grubaugh in mind: “Fan, can you design strings that will make any violin sound like a Guarneri del Gesu?”
My friends ask me, is the “Vieuxtemps” really the greatest sounding violin in the world? Is it really worth $18million? It is probably the best violin sounding I have had the pleasure of playing, out of the three dozen or so Strads and del Gesus I have held in my hands. Determining the “greatest”, though, is like comparing Bach to Beethoven, or Beethoven’s 5th to his 9thSymphony. As in any great work of art, each violin has its own unique character, the depth and complexity of which is revealed only with time, though greatness is apparent even from the first brief encounter. More specifically, what I heard and felt in my short time with the “Vieuxtemps” was that it had a higher limit than any other violin I have played. The more I dug in, the more it gave, seemingly without limit.
After my all too brief encounter with these masterpieces, I returned home, dreaming not of owning these magnificent instruments (I don’t have $18million…), but with the words of violin maker Joe Grubaugh in mind: “Fan, can you design strings that will make any violin sound like a Guarneri del Gesu?”
Joe - I’m working on it! (Meanwhile, you can try the Zyex Violin Strings I designed - it should give any violin a deeper, richer sound.)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
String Tension Terminology
Players, violin makers, and scientists all use the same term tension to describe slightly different things. This can sometimes lead to confusion.
When scientists and engineers discuss tension, they mean the pulling force exerted along the length of a string. This is what we specify in our catalog and website. This force is determined by the amount of mass (material) on the string, the tuning (frequency at which the string vibrates) and the vibrating length of the string. For standard instruments and tunings, the string vibrating length and tuning are fixed. So the only variable that the string designer can change to affect the tension is the amount of material on the string. The more mass, the higher the tension.
When instrument makers discuss tension, they usually mean the force exerted by the strings on the top of the instrument. This force is determined by string tension as well as the geometry of the bridge and the instrument. For example, the flatter the string angle over the bridge, the less static vertical force the strings exerts on the top of the instrument. Most makers believe this force can significantly alter the sound and playing characteristics of the instrument. I’ll discuss this topic in a future post.
When players discuss string tension, they mean the subject feeling of the string from both their left fingering and right bowing hands. While this subjective feeling of tension is largely determined by the string tension, it is also affected by other factors including string response, string sound, core elasticity, the diameter of the string, etc.
Another confusing term is string gauge. Gauge refers to the diameter of the string, not the tension. In the gauge system most commonly used for gut strings, the diameter in millimeters is equal to the gauge times 0.05. For example, a 14 gauge string is equal to 0.70mm, or 0.0276" in diameter. For guitar strings, the gauge most often refers to the diameter in inches or thousands of an inch. So a 36 or .036 gauge string is 0.036" in diameter.
For an unwound string (or simple guitar strings with one type of winding), larger diameters lead to more mass and therefore higher tension. However, modern bowed strings are wound with multiple windings of different materials with different densities . Therefore, a larger diameter string may not be heavier tension. That is why bowed string manufacturers specify the tension rather than the diameter or gauge.
When scientists and engineers discuss tension, they mean the pulling force exerted along the length of a string. This is what we specify in our catalog and website. This force is determined by the amount of mass (material) on the string, the tuning (frequency at which the string vibrates) and the vibrating length of the string. For standard instruments and tunings, the string vibrating length and tuning are fixed. So the only variable that the string designer can change to affect the tension is the amount of material on the string. The more mass, the higher the tension.
When instrument makers discuss tension, they usually mean the force exerted by the strings on the top of the instrument. This force is determined by string tension as well as the geometry of the bridge and the instrument. For example, the flatter the string angle over the bridge, the less static vertical force the strings exerts on the top of the instrument. Most makers believe this force can significantly alter the sound and playing characteristics of the instrument. I’ll discuss this topic in a future post.
When players discuss string tension, they mean the subject feeling of the string from both their left fingering and right bowing hands. While this subjective feeling of tension is largely determined by the string tension, it is also affected by other factors including string response, string sound, core elasticity, the diameter of the string, etc.
Another confusing term is string gauge. Gauge refers to the diameter of the string, not the tension. In the gauge system most commonly used for gut strings, the diameter in millimeters is equal to the gauge times 0.05. For example, a 14 gauge string is equal to 0.70mm, or 0.0276" in diameter. For guitar strings, the gauge most often refers to the diameter in inches or thousands of an inch. So a 36 or .036 gauge string is 0.036" in diameter.
For an unwound string (or simple guitar strings with one type of winding), larger diameters lead to more mass and therefore higher tension. However, modern bowed strings are wound with multiple windings of different materials with different densities . Therefore, a larger diameter string may not be heavier tension. That is why bowed string manufacturers specify the tension rather than the diameter or gauge.
Friday, March 5, 2010
String Tension
One question I am often asked is about string tension. What is it? Why is it important? Why do string manufacturers offer strings in different tension grades, such as light medium and heavy?
The string playing tension is the force along the length of the string and is determined by the amount of mass (material) wound on the string. It is also determined by the string length and vibration frequency, but these are typically fixed for standard instruments and tunings.
String tension affects the response and playability of the string, as well as the sound. Higher tension strings will sound louder and can be played louder, but they are less responsive. They are more difficult to control, especially when played softly because they have more mass. While lower tension strings cannot play as loud as higher tension strings, they often have a larger tonal palette than higher tension strings.
Contrary to popular belief, higher tension strings are not necessarily brighter sounding. The opposite is often true. Since higher tension strings are inherently louder, players often bow further away from the bridge and use less bow pressure, which produces a less bright sound.
We offer most strings in light, medium and heavy tension grades. Other manufacturers may use terms such as soft and strong, or dolce and forte, or weich and stark. The medium tension is what works best for most players and instruments. However, your particular instrument and playing style may work better with light or heavy. In addition, your instrument may work best with a mixed set of different tensions. Don't be afraid to experiment!
There are no standards for tension, so one brand's "medium" tension can be different than another brand's medium. All of our string tension specifications are listed on our website: www.daddariobowed.com.
I will discuss some additional issues and myths about string tension in a future blog.
The string playing tension is the force along the length of the string and is determined by the amount of mass (material) wound on the string. It is also determined by the string length and vibration frequency, but these are typically fixed for standard instruments and tunings.
String tension affects the response and playability of the string, as well as the sound. Higher tension strings will sound louder and can be played louder, but they are less responsive. They are more difficult to control, especially when played softly because they have more mass. While lower tension strings cannot play as loud as higher tension strings, they often have a larger tonal palette than higher tension strings.
Contrary to popular belief, higher tension strings are not necessarily brighter sounding. The opposite is often true. Since higher tension strings are inherently louder, players often bow further away from the bridge and use less bow pressure, which produces a less bright sound.
We offer most strings in light, medium and heavy tension grades. Other manufacturers may use terms such as soft and strong, or dolce and forte, or weich and stark. The medium tension is what works best for most players and instruments. However, your particular instrument and playing style may work better with light or heavy. In addition, your instrument may work best with a mixed set of different tensions. Don't be afraid to experiment!
There are no standards for tension, so one brand's "medium" tension can be different than another brand's medium. All of our string tension specifications are listed on our website: www.daddariobowed.com.
I will discuss some additional issues and myths about string tension in a future blog.
Monday, July 6, 2009
VSA Oberlin Acoustics Workshop
The start of the VSA-Oberlin Acoustics Workshop this week is a great way to launch my Violin Acoustics blog. Eight years ago, I was asked by the Violin Society of America (VSA) and the Catgut Acoustical Society to organize an acoustics workshop. The goal was to bring together acoustics researchers and violin makers to advance the understanding of how the violin works. I knew I needed to team up with a respected violin maker, so I asked Joseph Curtin to be my co-director. I remember his initial skepticism at whether anyone would show up since there was traditionally so much indifference and even hostility to the idea that violin makers should be interested in violin acoustics. Nevertheless, a dozen or so makers did show up at that first workshop and this week, over 40 researchers and makers have arrived at Oberlin College for our eighth annual workshop and a week of presentations, projects and spirited discussions.
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