Effects of bow‐hair compliance on bowed‐string motion

Abstract

Bow–hair compliance is likely to have a strong effect on bow–string interaction. The first line of evidence comes from analyzing experimental results presented by Cremer [L. Cremer, The Physics of the Violin (MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1985)] of the reflection and transmission behavior of transverse waves on a string incident on a bow at rest. The second line of evidence comes from simulations of the bowed string taking into account the finite width of the bow. The nature of the ‘‘differential slipping’’ which may arise due to the kinematical incompatibility of uniform bow velocity across the width of the bow and the string velocity in standard bowed‐string motion (Helmholtz motion) is strongly dependent on bow–hair compliance. Simulations also demonstrate that suitable tilting of the bow can reduce the extent to which ‘‘differential slipping’’ is detrimental to the establishment of the desired string motion. Preliminary results of an experimental investigation of finite bow‐width effects will be discussed.