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LECTURE I
THE SIMPLE PHYSICS OF THE VIOLIN STRING-
devis~
which sup-
plies the force which in turn causes the violin box to move.
The
fr~m
E of
the
wav~
ra~iator
is
(1)
(2)
Let us assume
sho~~
below.
g~---~
Fig. 1
Furthermore, assume that the tension T does not vary with small
deflections of the string (this is a good approximation for
elastic flexible strings under small amplitudes of motion).
Suppose
we consider the forces on the left support and replace the string
'
...
''
(2
Fig. II
The component
F~
(3)
In fact, it is this
--
- - - ---.~ --~--
---
--~--=-_-_
- ---- -
-~
----
--
- - -- -
(3
1)
2)
d~fined
4)
approximately true.
Next, imagine that we have a string infinitely long--so
long that if we disturb the
st~ing
If
A snap shot of
il
I
"
...
----~--
4)
t~e
On the violin
wave which
standing
r~
perties of a string.
The type of motion of a string that is the most important
is a periodic motion:
Furthermore a
This type of
motion is called "harmonic motion" and is the simplest to understand and the most important for strings.
does occur.
Non-harmonic motion
.5)
pr~sent.
tHe
frequ~ftcies
wav~1ength 11 to
b~t~eerl
points
the
dt equai
for exafuple
pliy~ica1
sttihg at
in time.
shape of
Bne instant
Figtite V
The symbol A (lambda) will be used to denote
The condition fdr resbri~fice
of a
tHe
wa~~i~ngtH.
stfirt~ of i~hgth
t is that
some number of half waveierlgths (A/2) will fit irt this leftgth 1.
= vi~
the
wav~length.
r--""
---6)
The
~owest
wave~ength
-----
---
-------->:
~-
mode 1
(mode means.a way
in which it moves)
Fu;.vll,~Z
- --
,. ,
y;
or A
21 gives
This frequency f 1 i.s the lowest frequency and called the fundamental of the string.
&
mode 2
L = A
Figure VII
Using Eq. (1) again we find the
(3)
,;
7)
_ _ _ __J
~.,-
Figure VIII
or L = 3/2 A. 3 or A. 3
f
giving
.,. -~/A. 3
.
v/(2/3 L)
= 2/3
= 3(tr) = 3f 1
(4) .
PY
freq~ency
tG
This is why
h~rmonic!
= .ff7P
(S)
is the density
-..-
--- -----8)
~y
12
'
= 1.414:
~A 2
(7)
Pz
(8)
Since they have the same frequency the tensions will be different and in fact the ratio of tensions must be the same as the
ratio of densities
Tl
rz
pl
Pz
(9)
9)
that we have assumed equal excursions for the two strings which
may not be met when comparing strings of different densities.
Our next consideration will be to look into the effects which
occur when the conditions of a string do not satisfy the conditions
of an ideal string.
PROBLEMS
1)
(What
3)
A)
B)
Draw the physical shape of the string for the 3rd mode of the
m'
rn
pond to?
4)
The E string and the G string on the violin have the same
tension.
Explain.
1(,
LectllH~
N~n-tlar~?ntp
Before
the meaning of
~everal
''m.s.illi''
me~ns
fundamenta~); made~
and
freque~tly
~armoniFsof
clarify
used interchange-
a s.tring.
it US.l..l<llly is
~tring
h~gher mode~
mode
etc.
~hould
fQ: a striP~
of qn object:
1 (the
~o~es, py~rtanes
The term.
Strinas
~e
qbly pamely;
lJ
overton~ nxr~
nqt be
ine
fi~st
~q ~~~~~
qt
''f~l~~H.
O:p.ly a
mental by in~es~JS.
The ~a:rm9:~rics.
integral
harmonic~
Cl,Z,l,
.
of t-l\e
relat~Qnsnips.
qre
th~ ~aw~
~lfl
.
to the
as
f\.lnda~antal~
FPr
t~~ p~ertq~es.
stripg~
iii
I!
~
Ill
,,
u'
Ill'
I~:
:11
""
.~
tl.'
-2-
String
Shape
fregucncl
Mode
Number
Overtone or
Ilarmonic
Name
No. of
Nodes
Fundamental
fl
f =2f
2
1
1st overtone
1st overtone
2nd overtone
octaMe plus
a fifth
3rd overtone
2nd overtone
NOTE':
~,
Figure IA
F.igure IB
..
~-----------------~------lllllfj---------
-3dr~ t~d fdtc~s
There
seg~ent 1~
fbt~e
!'
to the ieft
equ~l
ta
~he
magnitude
tR..
cutvatur~
of the stfifig.
Thee
tortes
~erttsf
"'J.,aU f.
F
-:r~- .t:t..
.:tant
'"~1'
this
l8~ti1t~fit Part~
(PR)
i' tfi~
:fofse whieh
11
ptd1~a
the 'tfi11g
~gffleht
t~ward
1:HU:k
fofc~
upmi th(:! terls idft, li:tld t:fi~ ~ul'tratut o:t tHe s tfiti~ ~ Tit@
curvature depehds upefi tlie afflpiittide 6f th~ tfiffg~ Thi pfoPoftionality ~~~ be tttie if tfi~ st~ina is to bs hurffioffic.
Now ~@ ate t~df ~a i&&k at a tffng wnich has sd~e stiff~
depends
I'
~ l'.
I
ir
J
ness.
h~nd
it;
T6
_,help us think about t1ie pt~biem suppose we s~bsti tude iin :i.ttJti tHtf
rl6ti~flexih1e
strittg),
Now
~sstime
that tHe
bar is not
undbt teftiod ~tit 6Hiy tl~pdtt~d ~t h6tB
.
. ffd~ il bti~
were to pusH ofi the bat irt the midaie it wouid bend ~nd fofees wauid
be set up itt t&a bAfl
'
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:.4-
Figure III
'
and enlarge it one would find that the forces at the ends would
be something like that shown below:
Figu:e IV
j
these forces depend not only on the curvature but also increases
with frequency, making these forces greater for each successive
overtone.
smal~
lP
t~p
Figur~
a tr~quency
ttf __,
ment..
t=
1st !)vertpne
Fundamental
in
of
Af,
f'
(is
~r4
2Jl4 Overtone
ln~reQses
~o4er
sll$'H<~ 1
G~neral:}.y
v:j.o~in
Pv.ertone
q.lmost
a yip:J,i,n. is
lflS~ru.7
~f
~as
the
'
'
'I'
~
as
'lfie.q.RJI.
inJpossi~~e
t).ln~d
~I
~I
'
j
'(~1
f~~qu~n~ies
effe~t
;I
i'
t~e
t-1,
'11,
;f~
Tlli?
This is illustFated by
v.
differeq~e
pfeyiqys one.
:~f
Anoth.~f }'!~
ea~h
2~~
~~
,I
I
~
A String
ill'
E String
-.:--
-6-
~ea~
get zero
overt~ne
Now to
how hard you try you can never tune the string to eliminate these
beats.
The
-l-
F i _g u rt' V I 1
'
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Ideal String
>$Ftll
String Loa.tl
at Cehter
the
**
e .
.I
ttd
"
'
,. u,.
l.,
f.,.
~-
w uu-
e .,l
.,l..
y .,
t
I
way,
ott~ ~ore
eaSel a
~tring
o~ th~ furtda~enta1
Cl~~t1y
and the
this weight
.,,..,_
i~t 6V~ttan~
.
'th@
sttittg is
magni~Ud@
~omplid~t~d
1)
.....
con~erttiona1
Cortsidbt
. .. I .
'
2f1
fl
Cl~a:rly
.'
'""
~rtl
ovettone a one
other~
high~t
stting is
"
~Od
c.p.s.?
'I
.,..... r.
-8-
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2)
4th mode?
3)
'i
LECTURE III
Forces on the Violin Box
The box of the violin is subject to many forces which can be
thought to be divided into two types; namely, (1) the forces which
oscillate and make the box vibrate at frequencies on the string
causing sound to radiate and (2) forces that are constant resulting
from the tension in the string and tend to distort the box.
The
t:
il
1:.
your thumb.
forces.
However, if
you separate the two surfaces that are in contact and draw the force
on each, it does describe more clearly what is happening.
'I
A force
can be represented by an arrow whose direction indicates the direction of the force, and its length, the strength or magnitude of the
force.
~vMII
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r
....
~...........
---- _
..,. -..,.
_,_.,._
--
2
!
k
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The force FR (directed to the right) pulls on. the left segment
and FL (left) pulls on the right segment.
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Wood strengths
diffe~
for
Now let us return to the violin Box and look at the forces
Suppose we simplify the boX ~nd,
s
consider the neck, top, back, bass bar and sound pojt, as its main
that are involved in the box.
Tlfll-
GuT
~~J>
~PtAI
Fig. IV.
Figure IV Forces on Neck Block
, I
FT is the
is a vertical
Ii
'.
The
..
to remain stationary) .
FB
An
example
IS
(1)
FB
They
FTOP
~the
Since
neck
block applied by the top must be greater than the tension of all of
the strings T.
portant for the back than for the top because the top is under
compression and "buts" up against the neck block supplying the
compressive force FTOP by being in physical contact not requiring
the transmission of the force by a glued surface (If glue is
inserted between the edge of the top and neck block, the joint is
under compression.
static forces that are supplied by the ribs of the violin and
consider the forces which arise from the neck block, bridge,
.5.
~::---------~_-:....-:...-:....-::.
--
--~ ~-~---,.,.--=-------
The fnrn' F
JHl.l't~.
011}'
into two
011
t'lJII:II
the top
above the bass bar and one half to the right foot near the sound
post.
top by the sound post is nearly equal to 1/2 Fb applied by the bridge
foot next to it.
f:'
I
7:2...
..
The forces on the top at the far right in Figure VI arise from
two sources; namely
r1
and
r2
F,
.,
j
~~
ll
The net
r~sult
li
F~r
...
4j,_
'F'
I
fv
fore~s
are applied at a point below the centra+ height of the top, tend
to cause the top to "buckle" raising the centra:j. part of the top.
However, the force from the bridge Fb tends to indent the central
part of the top with the net result that the top tends to deform as
shown by the dotted contour lines in Figure IX.
The distortion is
of course exaggerated.
Figure IX Distortion of Top
.. .
tAidtlt &,
CAR.IIEJ> 5HA'i'E
are the neck block, the sound po/t and the end block.
The force
The force F1 makes the neck block-back glue joint under tension
while -FB make this joint under shear. For both types of forces 1
glue is not very strong, particularly for tension forces.
The
\,\
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~ ~
II'
It I
::" ~
Figure
~'
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lv
'
This
top begins to distort under the forces that are applied, there are
forces in the ribs which become important just in the regions of
maximu1n distortion;namely in the curvature of the upper and lower
bouts as indicated in Figure XII.
This is why
II
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--
--
--
- -
- - - - - - -- -
LECTURE IV
Acoustical Motion of the Violin Box
In the last chapter, the static forces on the violin box
was discussed because of the importance of understanding the
mechanical stresses that the box must withstand.
ln this section
It should be
pointed out that the static forces are very, very large compared
to the vibrational forces (several thousand).
vibrational forces are miniscule in comparison.
Ihdeed, . the
The
amplitude
~he
@~
c
Figure I.
the force FH lowering the right foot and raising the left foot.
----~-
~n
if
time
i1
li
_,
____ ..._-
-~
~here
angul~r
it makes an angle
deflection
a~
one instant of
This
!r
.,;
.,
.
'
'
'
clockwise.
e at the bridge.
of
"~
Figure II.
c~J.~'I'Ls.re
~r~tltl&-
side~way
force
'
'I
iI
(or mode) in which the violin top and back move, is the goal
area of the top to the square of the wavelength. The top of the
2
violin has an area of about 300 cm . The wavelength for a fre- .
quency of 250 cps is;
A
or 120 em.
= rv
300
=ISO=
1.2 meters
The wavelength
square~
(1)
is then
'
area Top
A2
which is a small number.
300
1. 4 X 10
(2)
.021
jl
Ill
'I
moti9n of the top alone, the sound intensity for the low frequencies
woulq be quite low.
To overcome this basic deficiency, the violin
~employs"
diag~am
...
rd
'~.I
~~~~~'I
~
II
II
~i
d''!~
111,
H
I'
I"
.:
1"
I
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Figure III.
The sideways force F from the string will cause the bridge
to
r~tate
post.
Since the bass bar is rigid most of the area of the top
downward.
to increase with the result that air flows from the outside
:l
area of f holes) X 2
area of top
(3)
The reason for the factor of 2 is that the back also moves
(we assume its motion is the same as the top).
This irtcreased
velocity makes the energy in the air motion greater and increases
the radiation.
of the bottle constitutes a mass and the air volume inside the
bottle makes a spring.
sonating frequency.
the f holes is the "weight" and the "spring" is the air enclosed
in the box of the violin.
This asymmetry in
the driving point would lead to a motion which would cause the
back to "rock" rather than make a piston-like motion.
To comI
i
I'
pensate for this asymmetry, the Italian makers made the thickness
variation asymmetrical in order to compensate for the asymmetry
in the driving point.
..,,
depeft~
(less than about 1000 cycles/sec) but for higher frequencies this
,,
motio~
is almost
il
~
II'
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'II'
1",
~~
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The sound
.~
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,D
6'f
po$t is placed near ... but not directly under the right foot of the
.I
Figure IV.
.
because it also is rather mass1ve.
frequencie~
'"'- ,
th~
right foot of the bridge driving the top in a reeking motion about
!
the
~ound
post as a fulcrum.
(tow~rds
I
the E string).
<.
8. -
top in the upper region of the right f hole as can be seen from
the following argument.
Meanwhile,
the rocking motion causes the lower part to raise but the upper
part of the top to go downward, which from the breathing action
alone would have gone upward.
The
r~gion
In fact,
heavier the back the more soprano the violin because the cross1
over frequency occurs at a lower frequency etc. Not only is the
mass of the bass bar critical from the standpoint of its inertial
properties for high frequencies, but also its length.
The
..;
II[':'
I
,.!-
......
point and the distance between the end of the bass bar and the
end blocks (the effective length of the spring).
~or
.I
a small area around the sound post between the f holes and the
bass bar.
of ne~rly 300 years ago must not only have understood many
some fashion many other problems that we are unaware of.at this
time.
How exciting it would be to be able to go backward in time
through centuries and walk unexpectedly into the unexpectedly
into the work shop of Antonio Stradivari or Giuseppi Guarneri in
the Piazza San Domenico in Cremona and discover them talking
about the problems of violin making.
,.
I
'
--l:O
using?
How
~gnorant
a few questions.
The realization that a handful of Italian craftsmen living
three centuries ago managed, not only to solve an enormous
number of complex acoustical problems, but also developed an
esthetic judgement as to sound quality and constructed instruments to create these sound which after three centuries, we
still agree to be the apex in tonal quality; constitutes one of
the greatest and humbling challenges to modern acousticians.
!
I
'
''
LECTURE V
ACOUSTICAL MOTION OF THE VIOLIN BOX PART II
In the last chapter the mechanical motion of the violin top
and back was descri,bed in terms of various "modes" of motion.
The
..
'
the box I have called the breathing mode. 'This breathing mode
increases the radiated sound, mainly because it exites an impprtant
air resonance of the box.
,,,:
'''I:
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The
In the Helmholtz
I '
..
th~
or
n~ck
the bottle.
(1)
the density of
much like the formula for a spring and weight where f 0 = /KlM).
In the violin, v is the volume of air enclosed in the box, a is
the effective area of the f holes.
Equally important
is the width
an~}s
~~
A larie' fraction of the energy loss comes from the
'
both the placement of the resonance and the width of the resonance.
A large f hole opening decreases the sharpness and amplitude of
the resonance but increases the frequency range over which the
resonance is important.
Returning to the overall properties of the breathing mode,
one can ask, "What determines the amplitude and frequency range
for which the breathing mode is important?''
th~
For
be neglected and that the motion of the back and top are determined
by the magnitude of the force, their stiffness (considered as a
spring) and by its mass.
To digress for a moment, consider a somewhat analogous system
consisting of a mass supported by a spring and driven 'by an oscillatory force F as shown below in Figure 1.
I
I
:II
'.1
1
Figure 1.
,I
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(2)
X = F/k
Case I
For this
are important for they affect the net air displacement for a given
'
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~.
------~~~-"
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..
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I
In the frequency range between Case I and Case II, the phenomena involves a resonance and is more complicated.
In general, at
The
tl
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F,J&,
rk
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A
~--~----/
4.
\\
?.
~
....
~
~
,'
})JflJ!.l!Nr
1.
1 \
tU)-!be?'s.
,5'f1l JAIGG
1,
/ !
\
-~-(
,IQ(.)A./....
"
~ ~
j'
1
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.fA
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Feefi' v & AI c. Y
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Figure II.
i:'
.,
Similarily, the amplitude of motion of. oscillators with different masses is shown in Figure III.
~SIJ/H.,..
]),~~ellevr
5"PJAI65
UHs5
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Figure III.
depends upon the back stiffness (and how the stiffness varies
throughout the back which in turn is governed by varnish, arching,
thickness, etc.).
--~--
l
I
tive" mass is used to indicate that it is not the total mass of the
back that is important.
the result that the mass near the edge, for example, contributes
very little to the effective mass because of its relatively small
motion.
The stiffness
For all
II
I~
..
,.
Figure IV.
I~
Figure IV.
is shown.
'u
T3
'V
(4)
:-4
L
This leads to
!,
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a general statement which is; "to make a violin more soprano increase the thickness of the back, and increase the length of the
bass bar".
..
This type of
bass bar does not move, leaving the right foot to move.
Also the
lever action, created by the sound post and right foot of the
bridge can only operate effectively if the sound post does not move.
For this reason, the onset of the rocking motion is determined by
the mass of the bass bar and back respectively.
The inertial property of the bass bar for rotation is determined mainly by the mass near its ends.
the bass bar is shaped so that most of its mass lies near the
center and tapers off towards the ends as shown in Figure V .
..
Figure V.
rocking mode as well as the upper frequency limit for this mode.
At frequencies above about 5000 c/s the inertia of the bass
bar is suffiently high that this type of rocking motion (driven by
the sound post
10
The ampli-
.~
I
.'
LECTURE VI
'
II
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mode, the rocking mode I which involves the bass bar, and the
,,I
..,,
rocking mode II which involves only a small zone around the sound
post.
will utilize the vertical center line as one coordinate and the
right foot of the bridge as the other as shown in the diagram
shown in Fig. I.
II
if
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below the back surface of the right foot of the bridge and the edge
of the sound post will be called XT.
the back will be call XB.
cut into the top just at the point where it is narrow, their position determines the symmetry of the top to a large extent.
Most
best when the sound post is approximately equal distance from the
center line as the bass bar.
the left f hole 'to the bass bar should be approximately equal to
the edge of the right f hole to the sound post.
'This is only an
'.
In principal, there is
only one correct position on the back for the sound post.
Because
the back acts like a driven, flexible membrane, the total air
displacement is a maximum if it moves like a piston as opposed
to a rocking motion. 'For a given thickness variation, arching
and shape there is only one point on the back where it should be
driven.
This
.
generally more
acoustfc~l
~T'
YT' XB, YB
will be discussed.
There are two characteristics that depend critically
1)
inc~eased
ness increases.
As
the voicing is increased and the brightThe term "brightness" of sound refers
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increase in the amplitude of the rocking mode I as compared to the breathing mode amplitude.
The explanation
I,,
this force depends among other things upon the separation between
the sound post and the bass bar because this is the lever arm of
The amplitude of
r.w.~tee
/.,eFr
Yr
$" v Ill)
-f}, c;;T
Ftzo-..,
~ooT
tJF
"8/liDG!-,1;
.)Pfl.IK(J.
C1J~/E$P,A11> 141(,..
To b~
STIF~I/1!.>$
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Fig. II.
;,
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t - /.
Increasing YT results in a
for a fixed force FR.
The
It is critical because XT is a
~,~shrillness"
(frequencies around 1000 to 3000 c/s) and (b) decrease the fundamental frequencies.
As
Xr
overall voicing of the instrument decreases with a general deterioation of the quality because of an excess of overtones in the
shrill region.
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.,.
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(sw.-~
"P11sr
r:toiVf
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f~ ~.,
IIIEAI(.
S'/>R.IAI&-
Ft.,p.r IDP
=>Pre,v t,-
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..Fig. III An analogous spring system is shown to illustrate
the dependence of the motion of the sound post on the distance XT.
1
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II
I
. 7
For a given stiffness of the back kB and top kT the sound post
will oscillate the most when XT is zero (bridge sitting on top of
it) and as XT is increased its motion will decrease.
Graphically
the change in the amplitudes of motion of the modes B.M. and R.M.I.
with.changes in XT is illustrated in Fig. IV.
rt,l!~,~r'
v,;
AJ,p L I TIID ~
IF
A./Oil f) 41
~T
till
3
. , . ...._ .
Clearly,
~here
Because of the relatively large mass of the bass bar and corresponding relatively high moment of inertia, there becomes a point where
it is easier to flex the top in the region around the .. sound post
than it is to vibrate the bass bar (in either a vertical motion or
in a rocking motion).
YB.
the string.
The acoustical tension should not be confused with the normal
usage of the term string tension.
The acoustical
.
,
'
It is true that
one of the
This type of
val~es
their values would also be different for each player . The ultimate choice of these optimal values of X and Y can only be
determined by "feeling" the response of the violin and listening
to the sound it creates.
..
LECTURE VII
l
[.
ties even though the bridge is probably the most single critical
component affecting the tone production and dynamic response of the
violin.
Arching
./.
Let us
IIl
1~.I.
'
2.7 mm.
'
t:"
ljl
II'I . '
d'
iJ
Although a value of S of 3 mm
seems small, it is enough to
make the G string height about
5 mm higher than the E string!
The arching may not follow a
constant radius curvature but
the departure is usually less
than 0.3 mm in radius R from
sl-
In general, the
percentage variation in S is
greater than in R from one
3. 9
R = 4.0
$ = 4.1
R = 4.3
s
s
s
s
= 3.3
R = 4.1
2.25
R = 4.0
= 2.8
3.8
R = 3.8
s
s
s
s
= 3.1
= 2.3
= 2.1
= 2.6
nent of the static force from the E string larger than from the
G string, resulting in a tendency for the bridge to move sideways.
also not true for the cello where the separation between C and D strings is intentionally made greater than between the other
'
There is
If the radius of
c~rvature
is small, the
string spacing can be made smaller and still maintain the same
height of one string above the two adjacent strings.
A change of
follows.
A photograph of
In carving
==g
-Ita.
I"
I"
"
such a way that the bridge makes an angle with the top so that it
nearly bisects the angle made by the string over the bridge.
This
It is crucial
--
In
The blanks
constan~
by either cutting the "ankle" above the feet from the outside or
from the inside as shown in the diagram below.
~ul
/-IIUt.E
rp
1-f" ll.TYAf
cvr
HEK.t:
To I~CJ(,/!/r6E.
LeN~TH
!,
distance from the bass bar to the center of the violin (increasing
1
the voicing).
Most blanks
blank.
problem.
j.,-:-
I'
j,,
''I
I
t
In
i'rf -1
- 6
As will be
discussed later, the total amount of wood in the foot and "ankle"
is critical even though it would seem to be very small.
No matter how well one tries to fit the contour of the foot
to that of the top, on the microscopic scale, the entire surface
may not be in contact.
s~und
the back edge of the right foot and the front edge of the sound post
is considerably less than the width of the foot.
If
PosT
To
~EMtJVIJD
F#ilt 6P
7JR.t7>U
~1/P'PE!tS 1/)E)
TlJ ])J!PfH
.-u
V.
Height of Bridge
The height of the bridge is dictated by the height of the
to be higher ow lower, some compensation for the acoustical consequences can be made by the adjustment of the stiffness of the
"springs" in the bridge.
following chapter.
VI. Bridge Thickness
The bridge blank comes with a thickness at the feet of 5 mm
and a thickness at the top of 1.2 mm at the center.
The nominal
In
or
LECTURE VI I I
THE VIOLIN BRIDGE:
A CRITICAL FILTER
~trings
th~
comple~
str~ng
frequency dependence.
where the
In the
the bridge which will form.the bulk of the material of this chapter.
Aside from (1) the frequency filtering property of the bridge
(2) it also introduces a controllable amount of energy loss which
dampens the overall string-box system, as well as (3) decoupling the
string from the violin box.
the filtering property.
resonances.
box, these resonances would unduely control the property of the string.
In an extreme
cas~,
'"I
' '
A good example of such a phenomena is a half
note on a viola or
violincello.
"
of the string from the box is essential in order that the string not
be controlled by the acoustical properties of the box.
The under-
One
It has a weight
C5C.
t FI>R.CE.
In this
case of a spring alone, the force applied to the spring at one end
is transmitted to the other end and there would be no "filtering"
action.
The
----
II.
FK.I! tt . IN CPS
Now consider the other extreme; high frequencies.
At high
If this inertial
force is much greater than the force from the spring, then the
vibration of the mass is determined by the frequency and its mass
by the expression
X
2 2
= Fapplied/M(2rr) f
(1)
Fwall = (F applied
(2)
The important point is that the force on the end of the spring
compared to the applied force diminishes rapidly with
increasing
-- ---- ______
..........
This
fo = 2rrlk?M
(3)
.J
This
In
the system has many masses and many springs with many resonances
corresponding to the different sets of springs and masses.
An
For low
At higher fre-
IJIDLIIJ
rr;P
left and right springs may differ in stiffness but to the first
approximation we can assume them to be equal.
s2, s 3
Areas labeled
and
s4
s 21
s 2R will
Springs
be under
s 31
and
s 3R
A typical example of
s 41
and
s 4R
are similar
,Ct~
--
JL!.L
VII.
I
.l
It
l~
The
n ,c "tt e.
N;l(.
UIAV
k is
rtl 'S
.~
Hft:rll ~ 6
Vr11
(4~
stiffnes~
is more sensitively
dependent upon the length and height, than upon the width.
This
However, the two effects are not equal for removing wood
fact that a force tending to bend these springs causes the fibers
to want to slide one over the other (this is called shear).
The
will not only reduce the mass of M3 but also weaken the spring
V.
A Typical Resonance Curve of a Violin Bridge
s3.
If you have followed the arguments up to this point, you probably have come to realize that the bridge must be very complicated.
In order to illustrate this, a typical resonance curve of a violin
bridge is shown in Fig. X.
This
The
Many
The
depends upon what is desired from the violin and no set of fixed
parameters would be suitable for all violins.
tant lesson to learn is how to vary the springs and masses so that
the desired filter action is achieved.
VI.
In general,
certain energy loss introduced into the filter system of the bridge.
The energy loss is necessary to minimize the effects of the resonances of the box and to make the excursion of the string sufficiently
large so that its properties are determined by the string and not
the box (decoupled).
s2
and
s3.
s2
and
s3 .
.\
'
'.Jiii.AA.It..A.AtA.AAollll...it.Aa.A
LECTURE IX
The Violin now:
Mechanical Properties
I.
Nearly
and principles are almost identical for each style of bow, only
the values of parameters differ .. Throughout the text typical values
for violin bows only will
b~
'
mystery that has developed around the bow, probably because there
seems to some unexplainable or rational explanation
f~r
an almost
I,
This
-------------
This
It is a type of
introduced into France several centuries ago and among many uses,
was used by the
dyi~g
industry.
alle~gic
reaction if inhaled.
in
violin
making~
Near.fy
all of the great yiolin bows that are extant today were made by
Fre~ch
indicated by the high selling price of his bows at the present time.
Some have sold for as much as $15,000.
The physics of the violin bow falls rather naturally into
two categories; those mechanical properties which describe how the
bow "feels" when it is used on the violiJ1. and those acoustical properties which control and describe the sound production by the
bow.
For
Also
some of the mechanical properties may be correlated with the acoustical properties.
Th~
and.toler~n~es
found for
their variation.
For some considerations, the bow can be considered as a solid
rigid object.
When
Mass
Aviolin bow of
gra~s.
1:
II
li
and at the
~urface
(At
the surface of the moon, the mass would still be the same but its
weight would be less, just in case a violinist gives a concert on
the moon.)
"f~e1s 11
the mass
A heavy
M=
where
(1)
pv
(2)
~YA~15
'
=
Figure I
The bow is held at the frog with the thumb inserted near the
indent of the leading edge of the frog.
appl~ed
tom
th~t
~11
lengths
wil~_~e
meksured
A typical value
Fig. II
Torque
~he ~roduct
of the mass
(2)
The torque is the "twist" that must be applied by the handin holding
it horizonal.
Sometimes
Lcm would be shortened, the mass of the bow increased but the
product, which is the torque would remain constant.
A.. typical
l
1!
~
(4)
Moment of Inertia
The difference in
pressure on the string from a clockwise to counter-clockwise rotation is related to the moment of inertia of the bow:
The moment
of inertia depends upon the mass of the bow, but more importantly
on the mass distribution.
A typical value of I of
Radius of Gyration
It is useful to have a constant which describes the mass distribution as it affects the moment of inertia but which does not
depend upon the mass and therefore the.density.
is the radius of gyration.
Such a quantity
other out of light wood, would have the same radius of gyration if
their mass distributions were the same.
Propert~es
/I7M
(3)
of a Bow
"
t'c;
' )'
As the screw on the frog is tightened, the tension in the hair applies
a torque to the curved section of the stick which increases the displacement between the hair and the stick.
c~ost
f~rce
Fig. III
,?\'
~~--~~~-----
---
-~
...
(7)
sl~ghtly
different
b~cause
Jn fact, the
kH by as much as 30%.
Most bows have w less than h so that kv/kH generally has a
value of about 1.2.
This implies
Hair Tension
v~rtically
./
(7)
Length of Tang.ency..LT
The force than can be applied to the string without having the
hair touch the wood of the bow depends upon many things in a complicated way such as; the string position along the bow, the shape
of the camber, the hair tension, and the vertical spring constant.
The interrelationship of all of these variables is complicated.
One
------
LT
=~
'-...
'
Fig. V
(10) Camber
All woods have the largest Youngs Modulus (stiffpess) for
forces applied parallel to the wood fibers, and the lowest modulus
for forces perpendicular to these fibers.
essenti~l
perpendicul~r...,
10 .
1i
I
l!'
rr
'
t~on
II
The varia-
Bernardel.
ul
magnified.
11
"~
~
'~
.:1
~I
3.0
t: ~
~k
_, ~
~
..J
J:.
~ ~
..
'
""
. .. ..
.. ..
{.a>
'II ~
(.:\
I(}
.$"t1
tAl CM.
..
LECTURE X
The Violin Bow:
I.
Acoustical Properties
lik~
by
drawing-a bow
a very complicated
Another general'*'way of
excita~ion
move one over the other (static friction), the force that can be
applied before the surfaces slide, is
grea~er
'
I.
I
'
,,
I
I
friction~
string then starts to slide (backward) causing the force to decrease until it reaches the opposite displacement; again getting
"caught" by the bow and travels along with the bow.
An attempt
"~
~
". ~
~
I
The
't
~,_ ,N
t.IIAITA.e.r W1nl
IIIII H,t-1 It
'
s~'J)'N~-o
I)N ~"' !lAIIt.
(A)
~
0
(B)
!
~
4
(c)
string still remains in contact with the bow hair but it slides in
the opposite direction.
point on the string where the string is in contact with the hair
while at the center of the string these two velocities are equal.)
The fact that the velocity is constant between B and C is due to
the effect of standing waves on the string and not the frictional
properties between the string and the hair.
to be
gleaned'f~om
this
long-~inded ~icussion
that the acoustical properties of the bow can influence the motion
of the string is to (1) change its amplitude and (2) determine
the sharpness of 'the kinks at po'in'ts B an'd C.
In fact the
The turn around time is clearly less than 1/20 of the period of
the wave.
lkJ
4!o rilm=
l'
frequen~ies;
greater
Il.
the separation between the hair and the wood (increases x).
The
If
It is the
Now suppose
4-->
Fi;te,.c.E"
FU~~-t
Srlfl.,IVG-
Fig. II
The curvature
:"""---~,
------
Once
agr~es
such a small distance that their effects are small, unlike that
of the violin.)
At
h~gher
node~
and anti-nodes is
di~ferent
Returning
v/f...
(2)
The
mined by
v
= IT7P
(3)
For a
string is constant.
approximate
(4)
at one frequency;
I
I
equa~iDn
This results
tq)~
1)/snt-NC.E-
BDW
ht:- Ttl
BeAI~R,J)J!t
;4-L/JN C-
Fu,u
liP ~F 8fJIII
~
nodes is not a~- constant. ---Thes'ep'arafio:n-rs "'l.argeriiea-rt1i'e--ftog'' -----than at the tip as would be expected from the taper.
A larger
This
attenuation decouples the mass of the major part of the stick from
the head.
Thi~
problem has not been worked out by me at the time of this writing.
It is interesting to know that the mathematical formulation is
similar to
th~
The ampli-
Fig. IV
'
i'
height of the head, the mass distribution of the head itself as well
as the height of the head, all enter into the high frequency acoustical response of the bow.
Even though all of. this sounds complicated, "the reality" is
'
e~~ire
. ,I~
.'";
In principle, they
equ~tions.
v.
The curve
~
illustrates the many resonance
\
features of the bows' high
!~
~
~~
frequency response.
,,.,
. ).'
....
...
..
..,.,(( fii&N~'I
Fig. V
->
~--89~3~~3~6
-,
11~~~~~11111~1111