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TerryM
Registered
User
Posts: 504
(8/13/01 9:41:40
am)
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Oh no not
another dumb string question!!
However, this one is a bit different and I think I can get the
answers I am seeking on this board rather than the I&E as it
relates more to playing technique than string comparisons.
I
am presently experimenting with gut strings on my second cello. I
have replaced the Larsen A and D with Pirastro Chorda pure gut
strings. I have tried other wound gut A and D strings and find them
too metallic sounding. The pure gut has a very pleasant warm sound,
rich in harmonics that is hard to describe. What I have noticed is
that they are more difficult to bow and get going and that they make
a bit of noise, a small, for lack of a better term, "chiff" sound
when you first start the bow moving. Does anyone have experience
with gut strings and what bowing techniques are best to use when
bowing them? I have gone to my lighter bow (75g), because I found my
regular bow (83g) choked the sound somewhat.
Any experiences
would be greatly appreciated. Incidentially, I tuned the cello down
to a lower baroque pitch (A=415) and this is really quite a lovely
and interesting difference. The cello still projects well, but with
a much mellower and more colorful sound than before.
Terry
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CelloBass
Registered User
Posts: 47
(8/13/01 4:05:15 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Oh no not
another dumb string question!!
Terry,
I plan to put gut or nylon strings on my second
cello, so your experiences were very interesting to me. I can tell
you some experiences I made on the bass and the violin. The metallic
sound is caused by the gut core that damps the vibrations of the
metall winding that is wound around the core to a lesser degree than
a steel core does. Those vibrations vibrate along the axis of the
string,i.e. longitudinal vibrations. Do you have microphones and
recording equipment? If yes, record yourself playing. You will see
that those metallic sounds are only audible directly at the
instrument but will be gone at a distance of a few meters. Bowing
gut strings two things are important. First, you should get a higher
bridge. Gut strings require more pressure on the bow, and if your
bridge is just right for steel strings, the angle of the gut strings
where you press them against the fingerboard is very flat. This
causes some noise because the vibrating strings rub the fingerboard,
just a few millimeters in front of your gripping finger. The second
factor is the rosin. Playing gut strings you need the stickiest
rosin you can get which helps to reduce the bow pressure. On the
Pirastro homepage there is a good article about rosins and strings.
They produce some types of sticky rosins especially for gut strings.
A good bass rosin should also work very well, I would try
Liebenzeller Gold grade V. A rosin that is hard enough to produce
rosin dust while you play is too hard. But, and that's the sad part
of the story, you will find that gut strings are always more
difficult to play than steel strings, even if your equipment is
perfectly trimmed for gut. That is one of the reasons why steel
strings became the standard for stringed instruments having long
strings, i.e. the cello and the bass. Playing Spiccato it is
important that the bow digs into the string before the horizontal
stoke starts; the spiccato should be a series of a martele strokes.
Actually spiccato should always be played like that, but steel
strings usually speak even if your bouncing bow touches the string
while it moves horizontally. On gut the bow should stop on the
string and stick to the string before the stroke is done. This
requires a change of the bowing technique, and I had some trouble
with it on the bass. But I hope that on the cello it won't be that
bad 
Horst
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rocel
Registered User
Posts: 51
(8/14/01 4:01:19 am)
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|
gut
strings
I have pirastro olives G and C on my first cello (with Lasren solo
A and D) and the same top 2 on my 2nd cello with spirocore G and C.
First thing to remember is that gut strings can take several
months to wear in. Do give them a chance.
The bow technique is
also very different, especially in attack. Vertical descents tend to
result in all sorts of interesting growls! I use a tubbs bow (84
grams) and it is great with the gut. I guess this depends very much
on repertoire though. It sounds like maybe you are using the gut for
earlier stuff. I've used mine for everything - Dvorak, Elgar,
Beethoven triple, Roccoco, Haydns ect with orchestras plus chamber
music, and I've never had a problem with projection. That's probably
also do do with having metal on the top.
I'm not being much
help... What I mean to say is that gut is not a as limited as some
people seem to think. Give it a chance and some time, and play it a
lot to get used to it. You will soon discover what you need to do in
technique to get the best out of it. It is far harder to play on gut
than metal, which is why so many people don't bother, but it really
is worth making the effort!
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TerryM
Registered
User
Posts: 506
(8/14/01 7:58:54
pm)
Reply
|
Re: gut
strings
Thanks to both of you for your very helpful responses. I am
surprised that it takes that long to play in a gut string. They sure
take a long time to stabilize, as they keep stretching a bit more
each day. I do like the mellow sound and the interesting harmonic
content, but I will have to work on adapting my bowing technique. I
will give them a good try and see how it works out with
them.
Thanks again,
Terry
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