If you play a stringed instrument, you rely on physics to produce sound. There are several ways your instrument responds to your playing in order to produce the sound it makes, and I’ve included a few links to articles, from the most basic principles of how a pitch is sent into the air and is heard to getting the optimal resonance from your instrument. Enjoy!
1. What are pitch and frequency?
A pitch is essentially a sine wave, which moves through the medium of air. This impulse is sent from the resonating body and impacts the air around it, transmitting the impulse to your eardrum.
A frequency is a particular sine wave. This frequency produces a specific pitch, because it has a specific pattern as it moves different from every other frequency. When you hear of a stringed instrument being tuned to A 440, this refers to the actual frequency used to tune the violin and viola A string. When in tune, every A string will produce this pitch. Frequency, since it makes a specific pattern, can also be seen as it travels through solid mediums as well (as well as air). There’s a scientific instrument called a Chladni plate, and as pitch is projected into it through the speaker below, this metal plate vibrates in the pattern of the frequency, and the sand poured onto it will show the pattern of the frequency resonance. Pretty cool, but be sure to turn your speakers *almost* off to watch this. The sound is pretty intense!
2. What does this have to do with my playing violin?
This video is an AMAZING look at what your string actually does when you run your bow across it. As you can see, the string actually moves to create the sine wave that’s spun out into the air, because of the string’s specific length from where your finger is or isn’t. The string’s thickness also determines how much it needs to be stretched in order to produce the “open string” note, and then resulting fingerings can produce the specific frequency desired.
3. So how is this sound projected louder than when I pluck, say, a rubber band?
One word: Resonance! Your instrument’s body is hollow, so as the string vibrates, it sends the vibration down into the body of the instrument via the bridge, bass board, and soundpost. The vibrations are then amplified by reverberating all around the body of your instrument, and then projected out of the f-holes more loudly than when they first went in. Your instrument’s body acts much like a microphone. Amazing, huh?
Here’s the practice mute being taken on and off, which prevents the vibrations from carrying through the bridge to the body of the instrument. What a difference!
4. How to Vary Dynamics:
How and your bow contacts the strings directly affects your dynamics. SO many variables affect your tone quality as well as your dynamics, and practicing which elements to vary in order to maintain the desired tone quality is just as important as practicing which notes your left hand is playing. Check out this excellent explanation by Fiddlerman from YT.
I hope this has been helpful- now go try it for yourself!
Comments
One response to “The Physics of Your Instrument”
[…] videos and explanations that worth the read for that very reason. The article is featured over on Amanda Wall’s blog, and the videos are really what makes it interesting – don’t miss the super-slow-motion […]