| Author |
Subject |
cellochris99
Registered User
(3/1/01 4:22:36 am)
Reply |
"Playing in" a string inst.
I suppose we can all agree that our
cellos sound better as we play them consistently. I've noticed that
if I don't play mine for a couple of days, when I come back to it,
the tone is seems to have lost alot of volume and response for the
first several minutes of playing, and then it seems to come back to
life gradually. What exactly is going on in the wood, etc. that
causes this? Is it a stretching of wood from being vibrated again? I
suppose my synthetic strings tighten up when not being played too. I
haven't played my double bass in several months, and I picked it up
and it sounded like a bassoon with a sock stuffed inside,- not good.
Is this the same acivitity which is ocurring on a larger scale
with a new instrument as it "opens up" over the years? Another
words, do the physical properties of the wood also change over time
as it ages that allow it to resonate more, or is it just the effect
of being played alot over the years?
Chris
|
Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
(3/3/01 10:04:59 am)
Reply |
Re:
"Playing in" a string inst.
Very interesting!! I play all the
bowed string instruments, except for the bass, and I've never
noticed such a thing that I could not attribute to which one of a
number of instruments I'm playing and/or to the way I am bowing it,
and thus fix immediately, or to the way my ears adjust while I'm
playing.
Am I missing something? Am I a victim of bad
hearing? Or are my instruments just perfectly adjusted ( I have had
them all examined and a number resetup in the past
year)?
Andy
|
cellochris99
Registered User
(3/4/01 12:18:00 am)
Reply |
playing
in
I guess I've never really bothered
to test this theory. It's also interesting to note that my
syntesizers seem to sound better after several minutes of being
played too! Maybe it's just my perception that changes. Maybe our
optimistic standards for good playing, sub-consciously gets more
realistic as we continue
practicing!
Chris
|
DWThomas
Registered User
(3/4/01 10:27:52 am)
Reply |
It
would be neat if ...
There were some really objective way
to do spectral analysis of a series of sounds played on an
instrument and look for changes with time. I fear however that there
are just too many complexities that come together in a bowed string
instrument to find a way to do that reliably. I mean, even the
effects of humidity on rosin could enter the picture!
I have
read elsewhere of people who parked their new instrument in front of
their audio system and played music at it for hours/days/weeks to
"break it in." I am not a materials scientist, but I find it hard to
intuit a physical parameter that could be significantly changed by
these relatively microscopic vibrations. Especially since some claim
the instrument reverts to its earlier condition after long periods
of not being played, implying that the mystery changes are
reversible. (A fatigue-cracked section of wood or glue is not that
likely to heal?) I have wondered if maybe the effect is more a case
that living with the instrument, eventually one learns to get the
best out of it through some almost subconscious learning
process.
I suppose if the instrument were kept under
carefully climate-controlled conditions, one could possibly make
some measurements of various resonance amplitudes and frequencies.
Placing the instrument in a fixture, and in a controlled spatial
environment with some sort of acoustic or electro-mechanical device
could provide a repeatable means to eliminate the bow interface and
its many variables. This test could be done at periodic intervals to
look for changes after varying amounts of playing.
Hmm -
maybe an advanced degree project for a violin or cello playing
physics major!
Well, I'll go and wax my snow shovel
now......
Dave
|
cellochris99
Registered User
(3/5/01 3:10:03 am)
Reply |
playing
in
I also know people who've done the
stereo blasting at the cello thing, but I think they're missing the
point. When a cello is being played, 99% of the crucial vibrations
are being transfered from the string, through the bridge, and to the
inside of the body through the soundpost and bass bar. Somehow, I
just can't see how blasting the widely dispersed soundwaves of a
speaker at a cello is going make a new cello strike a high G# with
more focus or sonority! Maybe if they attached something directly to
the bridge that vibrates intensely at different notes, something
might happen.
Anyway, I agree with you. When I work on improving
my tone I tend to adjust my bowing arm automatically. The next day I
suppose that I'm just picking up where I left off, subconciously
remembering what I was doing.
Whewww!
Chris
|
JC2
Registered User
(3/6/01 12:40:04 pm)
Reply |
playing
in
an award winning luthier that i know
"plays in" all of his new instruments before and after varnishing by
way of a steel rod fastened to the bridge, running to the cone of a
speaker with its paper cone removed. He plays classical music from
the local PBS station through each instrument for about forty hours
and can demonstrate that the resonant frequency of the wood lowers
somewhat, which translates into the elimination of some of the
harsher overtones.
|
cellochris99
Registered User
(3/7/01 4:58:13 am)
Reply |
g and c
strings
I've noticed that when I play long
tones at a loud volume,-particularly on the lower strings in higher
positions(4th & higher), it seems to almost immediately benefit
the health of that same note on the other higher strings. For
instance, I've had a sort of tinny sound around open A, Bb, B, then
I went up the G-string and C-strg and played loud, long, and full
A's,B's, Bb's for several minutes, over and over. Those notes on the
A now are noticably fuller and warmer with no more squawk. I don't
know why but it seems to work.
One other thing, sounds crazy but
try this: find someone who plays drums, ask the drummer to play
constantly. While the drummer is playing loudly close by, play your
scales at a volume where you can just hear only the resonance
projecting from the cello, surface noise drowned out. The tone you
are hearing during this is what you are trying to "pull out" of the
cello while playing with full tone. My cello sounds better after
doing this for a long time and the effect lasts!
Chris
| |
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