Bowed String Research Articles

Research on the Academic Inheritance of the Traditional Performance of Hilgasan Khuur

Shen Kuo, a scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote in Mengxi Bi Tan: "The Hilgasan Khuur follows the Han Dynasty, and the music still complains about the Chanyu." This is the earliest record of the term Hilgasan Khuur in history books. Hilgasan Khuur refers to bowed string instruments made of Hilgasan and carried by northern nomadic peoples. It originated from the Xiongnu and has been passed down to this day. The traditional Mongolian bowed string instruments such as the Morin Khuur, Khorchin Choor, Chahar Hiil, and OirdsYekel all belong to this category. As a bowed string instrument that has been passed down for thousands of years and carries a profound historical and cultural heritage, the inheritance and protection of the traditional playing method of the Hilgasan Khuur faces the impact and challenges of the development of modern music. This article summarizes the artistic characteristics of the four tuning methods, four playing methods and related traditional repertoires of the four instruments of the Hilgasan Khuur. By analyzing the history and current situation of the academic inheritance of the Hilgasan Khuur, it reveals the advantages and challenges of the academic inheritance. It emphasizes that under the background of national policies and the protection of intangible cultural heritage, promoting the academic inheritance of the traditional playing method of the Hilgasan Khuur has far-reaching significance for protecting the musical diversity of the Hilgasan Khuur and promoting national traditional culture.

Variation of the acoustic response of Karadeniz kemenche due to the size and geometry of the sound holes

This study deals with the changes in acoustic response caused by variations in the geometry and size of the sound holes in the Karadeniz kemenche, a bowed string musical instrument. Starting from a 3D scan of the instrument, a finite element model is built. The structural model is verified with the results of an experimental modal analysis study, followed by a model update procedure implemented by frequency optimization. The acoustic cavity is simplified to a rectangular geometry to analytically verify the acoustic cavity modes. Before analysing the variation of the sound holes, a verification of the structure-borne noise of the musical instrument is performed. The variation of acoustic response depending on the size and geometry of the sound holes are studied using the verified vibroacoustic model. The various geometries are inspired by shapes chosen for both ancestral and contemporary bowed string instruments. The normalized loudness levels attributed to each variation are computed and examined to see if a relationship could be found to evaluate the variations.

VIOLA CLASS AT THE TCHAIKOVSKY NATIONAL MUSIC ACADEMY OF UKRAINE: SCIENTIFIC VECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

To write the article, the author studied numerous dissertation researches devoted to various issues of viola performance, carried out by teachers and students of the department of the bowed string instruments at the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. It was found that, despite the colossal potential of timbre and expressive possibilities, the viola for a long time remained in the shadow of its closest relatives from the string-bowed family - primarily in the aspect of solo performance. The path of the viola to recognition as an equal solo instrument is described, which began during Romanticism in the second half of the 19th century, gained rapid momentum in the first half of the 20th century, and, in fact, continues today. It is emphasized that the introduction of viola issues into scientific and musical circulation is one of the means of cultural propaganda of the instrument, along with its performance presentation. The presence of scientific potential among viola players is indicated, because in the period from 1971 to the present day, 9 candidate theses were defended in Ukraine, devoted to various problematic issues of viola performance, of which 5 were carried out by teachers and students of the viola class of the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. The author provides information on the biographies of viola musicologists and characterizes each dissertation research. The relevance and progressiveness of the research topic, which is often ahead of its time, is noted. The importance of the further continuation of scientific research in the field of viola performance is emphasized. It has been proven that the department of bowed string instruments of the P.I. Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music of Ukraine today is not only a quantitative, but also a qualitative leader in the field of viola performance research.

Experimental assessment of playability limits during bowed string attacks

The playability limits in the bow force and bow acceleration parameter space (usually visualized as a Guettler diagram) define the conditions for establishing Helmholtz motion during bowed attacks in bowed-string instruments. Despite few theoretical and numerical studies, there is little empirical validation of these limits. The experimental scanning of a Guettler diagram is a tedious process, as it requires the use of a bowing machine to control the bowing parameters. This study proposes a method for collecting and analyzing data to produce measured Guettler diagrams. Experiments were conducted using a cello string in a monochord arrangement with fixed terminations. The string was excited using a robotic arm that allows control of the playing conditions by changing the bow force and bow acceleration. Each set of measurements contains more than 900 data points to obtain high-resolution Guettler diagrams. In addition, the measurements are repeated in reverse order and after dismounting and remounting the string. The results are compared with existing literature, with particular attention to theoretical limits. The experimental results suggest that the static and dynamic friction coefficients vary with bow force and acceleration, modifying the playability limits. [Work supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (P34852-N).]

Towards reproducing bowed-string instrument transients using physical modeling

Physical models of bowed-string instruments can forecast various aspects of bow-string interaction. However, accurately replicating transient waveforms of string oscillations remains a challenge. In this work, measured transient behavior of the bowed string is compared with predictions from a simulation model. Fixed boundary conditions are assumed and a finite-width bow, bow-hair compliance, torsional string motion, and an elasto-plastic friction model are incorporated. The latter links relative velocity and friction force through a differential equation, and therefore, exhibits hysteresis behavior. Simulated Guettler diagrams are then compared to measured ones obtained from a robot bowing a monochord. The general shape of the playability region is successfully predicted, but some details in the measured time-domain waveforms are not reproduced by the model. Employing inverse modeling, parameter values for the elasto-plastic friction model are derived, demonstrating the ability to generate reliable reconstructions of the measured transient signals. These results emphasize the need to account for variable friction coefficients in order to reproduce measured signals. This observation aligns with prior findings indicating that static and dynamic friction coefficients vary with bow force and bow acceleration. [Work funded in whole or in part by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (P34852-N).]

A method for the reproduction of cello bow kinematics using a robotic arm and motion capture

Numerous experimental and theoretical methods have focused on the bow–string interaction in bowed string instruments, including several artificial bowing setups. The current research aims to present an experimental approach to reproduce bowing techniques using a robotic arm. First, optical motion capture is used to track the 3D kinematics of the bow. The cello bow and corpus are equipped with reflective markers. The cello is mounted on a playing platform. The recorded 3D trajectories of the bow markers are used to control the motion of the robotic arm. This process requires converting the 3D data between the coordinate frames of the two systems. This conversion is described in detail in this paper. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, an experienced cellist was asked to play an adapted piece on the cello, which was then repeated using the robotic arm. The robotic arm is capable of accurately reproducing the bow velocity, but even minimal variations in position can compromise proper bow–string contact. To illustrate this, the study compares two similar robotic situations and discusses the challenges of adapting the robot’s coordinates as a function of a given playing parameter or the sound produced.

Формы взаимодействия народного песенного творчества и инструментальной музыки (на примере традиционного сольно-группового пения кавказских народов)

The article examines the interconnection of the vocal-choral and instrumental music in the traditional solo-and-group performance among the different peoples throughout the Caucasus (the Adyghians, Abkhazians, Osetians, Balkars and Karachays). The present problem range has not yet become a topic of special academic comprehension. In this connection,the aim of the article is to draw the attention of specialists towards studying it and defining the role of the instrumental strata within the standard texture of broadly disseminated song performance in the Caucasus region. The traditional regional type of texture of song composition includes two main strata: the solo declamatory presentment of the tune and the choral (i.e., ensemble) accompaniment existing in dialogic interaction with each other. Frequently, we can find a third stratum, as well — the instrumental, as a rule, existing in performance on a traditional bowed string instrument. As living folk music practice confirms, its participation in the solo-and-group singing is not a mandatory factor. The place and the role of the instrumental stratum in the examined folk musical material is determined in this article. The author highlights the main functions of all the textural strata, the parity of the first two lines of the song texture and the forms of their interaction, in which the traditional standard and self-sufficient structure of characteristic polyphonic singing of the peoples of the Northern Caucasus is reflected.

Study of the interaction of bowed string instruments with two rooms from the listener’s perspective

A Acústica é uma área da Física com fortes ligações de diversas áreas, como: Música, História, Matemática, Direito, Arquitetura, Medicina, dentre outras. O seu caráter interdisciplinar pode e deve ser aproveitado no ensino de Física, como motivação e para um melhor entendimento de diversos fenômenos. Por estar presente no cotidiano, seu ensino pode facilmente levar a uma aprendizagem significativa. A avaliação acústica da sala pode ser feita por meio de parâmetros objetivos (mensuráveis por meio de aparelhos ou por simulações) e subjetivos (avaliação feita por testes de percepção). Os principais parâmetros são o tempo de reverberação, a claridade, o fator de força e a razão de graves e agudos. Os parâmetros subjetivos relacionados a esses parâmetros objetivos são, respectivamente: reverberância, clareza, nível sonoro subjetivo e timbre ou equilíbrio da sala. A avaliação subjetiva pode ser feita no local ou por meio de simulações. Com o uso de dois cordofones friccionados, um violino e uma viola, foram obtidos, através da acústica virtual, alguns parâmetros acústicos, em duas salas, avaliados com o recurso da auralização, levando em conta o ponto de vista do ouvinte. Vimos que com algumas modificações os espaços poderiam se tornar mais adequados para uso em apresentações musicais.

Two-dimensional playability maps for single-reed woodwind instruments

One method to analyze musical instrument playability is by visualizing a two-dimensional subspace of the musician's control parameters. This hasbeen widely used in the form of Schelleng diagrams for bowed string instruments. There, it is possible to identify regions within the bow force—bowing position subspace where Helmholtz motion is achieved. Such diagrams may be populated either on the basis of experimental measurements, or via physical modeling. In fact, physical modeling is particularly suited to this task, since playing parameters can be directly controlled. It has been recently suggested (Woodhouse, in Proc. SMAC 2023) that similar diagrams may be used for analyzing wind instrument playability. This study aims at exploring this direction using a physical model which has been previously validated against experimental measurements. Initially, an informed decision is made on which parameters should be chosen for plotting an equivalent playability diagram. Subsequently, various diagram versions are generated, focusing on different aspects of the generated tones. As already pointed out by Woodhouse, similarities appear between the diagrams for bowed-string and woodwind instruments. It remains to examine how valuable information regarding woodwind playability may be extracted from such studies.

Music perception, sound production, and their relationships in bowed string instrumentalists: A systematic review

La percepción musical y la producción de sonido son habilidades muy importantes en la formación de músicos que tocan instrumentos de cuerda frotada. El propósito de esta revisión bibliográfica es resumir el conocimiento de estas habilidades y la relación entre ellas. Se ha realizado una revisión sistemática de la literatura utilizando el protocolo PRISMA. Los estudios se extrajeron de Sage, Scopus, WoS y JSTOR utilizando los términos: música, afinación, entonación y percepción. Se encontraron un total de 1819 estudios y se seleccionaron 29. Los estudios analizados abarcaron el período de 1937 a 2019 y los niveles desde la escuela primaria hasta los instrumentistas profesionales. El análisis aplicó seis categorías predeterminadas a los datos extraídos de los estudios seleccionados mostrando, en el mejor de los casos, una relación moderada entre ambas habilidades. Los datos podrían confirmar un aumento en la relación entre las dos habilidades debido a factores como el aprendizaje y las etapas de desarrollo. No obstante, estas etapas están relacionadas con la automatización de esquemas psicomotores y el desarrollo cognitivo, así como con el desarrollo de la expresión musical de los estudiantes. Se discuten varias tendencias aparentes relacionadas con la percepción musical y la producción de sonido.

The modal behaviour of a violin corpus

Violins incorporate numerous interfaces and anisotropic behaviour due to natural materials. Hence, the modelling of these instruments is extremely complex. The present work investigates the structural dynamics of a specific violin corpus (violin resonant body) with the aim of using numerical modelling to accurately understand the modal behaviour of the violin using a novel stepwise approach. In the first step, an inverse material parameter identification via experimental and numerical modal analysis of the raw woods is performed to obtain the material parameters of the individual woods. In the second step, an experimental modal analysis of the violin substructures is performed using 2D scanning laser Doppler vibrometry and building finite element models based on accurate 3D scans of the parts manufactured by a luthier. The experimentally obtained modal parameters of the individual parts are compared with the numerical results. In the third step, the whole violin corpus, i.e. the resonant body of the instrument, is assessed. The good agreement between the numerical and the experimental results demonstrates that the application of standard techniques of modal analysis on a very complex mechanical system, the violin body, is possible. Our methodology offers a novel approach to analysing individual components of bowed string instruments, facilitating a comprehensive vibrational analysis with implications for broader musical research, including luthier optimisation tools, digital reconstruction of historical violins, and advancements in instrument design for improved playability and tonal quality.

Vibration analysis of a bowed string involving dynamics of a soundbox and neck and its application to a Chinese traditional bowed string instrument "Erhu"

Vibration analysis of a bowed string involving dynamics of a soundbox and neck and its application to a Chinese traditional bowed string instrument "Erhu"

Heavenly sonatas, heroic rivers and demonic dancing

The days of believing that 18th-century musical texts should be taken literally in performance are long over. Instead, there is widespread agreement that they should be understood as musical serving suggestions, including in choices of instrumentation. For example, in 1906 musicologist Edward Dent proposed that some of Domenico Scarlatti’s (1685–1757) sonatas were not written for a single keyboard instrument, but were in fact intended for the violin and keyboard. Dent was talking about sonatas k.73 (l.217), 77 (168), 78 (75), 81 (271), 89 (211), 90 (106) and 91 (176), all of which are transmitted in ‘Libro XIV’ of a Venetian manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, dated 1742. However, it was to take almost 40 years before Lionel Salter, Dent’s student, published them for this instrumentation—see his collection of Sonatas for violin and clavier (7 vols., London, 1940–50). Further examination of the Scarlatti source materials revealed that another 16 sonatas had similar characteristics to the seven identified by Dent. These characteristics include a four-movement structure (slow–fast–slow–fast), often with a figured bass, with the ‘right-hand’ and ‘left-hand’ voices separated throughout; the right hand contains wide chords that are unplayable with one hand, but can be performed on the violin; and dots and slurs in the upper part suggest articulation with a bowed string instrument. Due to the numerous violinistic passages, it is widely agreed today that several of the sonatas from the manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana were indeed designed to be performed by more than one instrument. There is no consensus on how many works meet these criteria, though, and this is reflected in their recording history. In 2008, for instance, Tedi Papavrami recorded his transcriptions of 12 keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti for solo violin (Aeon, aecd0644, issued 2008); in 2012, violinist Paolo Perrone, harpsichordist Alexandra Nigito and members of Capella Tiberina performed movements from Dent’s pick of continuo sonatas, experimenting with various scorings (Brilliant Classics, 94325, issued 2013); and in 2022, another reading of sonatas k.81 and 88–91 was published, this time on YouTube, with Debra Fast (violin) and Sandro Ivo Bartoli (organ) (see https://tinyurl.com/3w3uyvcc).

Examination of the static and dynamic forces at the termination of a bowed string

In bowed-string instruments, the force exerted by the string on the bridge may be used for analyzing the excitation process. This force is caused by the vibration of the string due to the musician's bowing action. The dynamic component of this force has been investigated in the relevant literature. In this study, focusing on a monochord, an approach is proposed to simultaneously measure both the static and the dynamic components of the force exerted by the string on a rigid support. The use of a robotic arm to excite the string via a linear bowing action permits to measure this force under controlled excitation conditions. The static and dynamic components of the force are analyzed in the transverse plane to the string at several moments of the bow stroke, as well as for selected bowing positions and bow velocities.

Проявление скрипичного исполнительства в пространстве российской и зарубежной архитектуры и скульптуры

The author determines that violin performance finds its vivid embodiment and implementation in Russian and foreign architecture and sculpture. It is scientifically substantiated that modern architects have created a huge number of works of art in which violin is the main object. The study proves that world architects involve this bowed string instrument in global projects to provide a new picture of the world, demonstrating the ability of the violin to implement unprecedented cultural experiments. Thus, the author comes to the conclusion that violin art is becoming more and more visual. Each of the architects analyzed in this work tried in every possible way to embody in monuments and sculptures exactly that feature of violin art that they wanted to express, as well as to perpetuate the issues and contradictions that turned out to be the most relevant and topical. In terms of architectural and musical art, the sculptors sought to demonstrate various hypostases of violin art starting from the tragic and patriotic themes. The paper established that at present one needs to talk about the conceptual nature of violin visualization, its polyfunctionality, as well as the global synthesis of musical art with architecture and sculpture.

Vonós hangszerek Afrikában

A survey of the available historical data allows one to show that the appearance and adoption of bowed string instruments in the different cultural regions of Africa took place in different periods and owing to different influences. After this instrument category had appeared in Central Asia in the 9th century, it spread to the eastern lands of the Arab world (Mashriq) in the 10th century, and thence to the western lands of the Arab world (Maghrib) in the course of the 12th to 13th centuries. The so-called rebab fiddle type (carved of a single piece of wood and provided with a body made of a coconut shell) was modified by the peoples of West Africa so that it had a body made of the locally abundant large calabash, while the peoples of northeastern Africa adopted various relatives of the kamanja fiddle type (having a box-like body), such as the Ethiopian masenko and the Eritrean wat’a. Contrastingly, the Swahili cultural region adopted the fiddle type having a pipe-shaped body, characteristic of the Far East and Southeast Asia, from the Chinese merchants and explorers of the early 15th century, an instrument type later carried by Swahili trading caravans into Central Africa and the southern parts of East Africa. Although the southernmost portion of South Africa is home to seemingly very archaic bowed string instruments, European cultural influences have been a definite factor in this region since the mid-17th century. It is unsurprising, then, that an etymological analysis of ostensibly archaic string instruments reveals the impact of European bowed instruments through stimulus diffusion, i.e. the local adoption of the idea of a bow and its adaptation to indigenous instruments previously played with hitting the strings or rubbing them with sticks. In comparison to other instruments of West Africa, bowed instruments have barely survived modernization and, obsolete as they now are, play little role on the stages of world music. This process was exacerbated by the influence of the Islamic reform movements of the 19th century that deemed them barely tolerated or even prohibited instruments because of their associations with the pre-Islamic era; this had already gradually reduced their use in the two centuries preceding the modernization of the 20th century. The use of bowed string instruments has also declined significantly in eastern ands Africa. It is only in the North African region that bowed string instruments enjoy continuing popularity. For example, they are still used widely by the rural folk orchestras of Egypt, while in Morocco the rebab has been modernized for classical Arabic music by adopting certain parts of the European fiddle (e.g. tailpiece, bridge, fingerboard). The European fiddle was also adopted wholesale in North Africa; so that European and traditional instruments are now employed simultaneously by many Algerian orchestras. (image 22) It is remarkable that European fiddles are played in a vertical position in this context, a playing technique usual for folk fiddles; the potential playing techniques inherent in the shape of the European fiddle are thus not utilised at all.

Меланхолия и ностальгия в британском прогрессив-роке

The article studies the role of such cultural phenomena as melancholy and nostalgia in artistic and “ontological” aspects of rock music. The relevance of this study is due to a high frequency of occurrence of these phenomena in numerous types of modern art (there have been several research dedicated to this issue), as well as the growing popularity of “melancholic rock” in a wide audience. Of particular significance for the author in scientific understanding of the proposed topic were the works by S. Boym, V. Medushevsky, J. Starobinski, V. Syrov, T. Tsaregradskaya, W. Everett, K. Johannison and other researchers. The study of melancholy in rock music was based on British psychedelic and progressive rock, with a detailed review of several vivid examples of compositions by Pink Floyd, Barclay James Harvest, King Crimson, Genesis, Marillion and Steven Wilson. The main purpose of this work is to reveal the characteristic musical and stylistic features, means of expression, and thematic patterns of “melancholic rock”. Among them the most important (in the author’s opinion) are the following: the prevalence of slow tempo (non-typical of rock in general), ostinato, “lack of aspiration” (according to V. Medushevsky), distinctive modal and intonational features (minority, polymodality, lamento intonation complex), folklore and early music influences, special appeal to the “nostalgic” timbres of bowed strings, organ, and wind instruments (both in live performance and electro-mechanical playback or electronic samples), and “flickering” acoustic guitar sounds. A wide range of emotions and moods are presented, from light sadness to deep sorrow, the themes of loss, loneliness, “lost childhood”, etc. The article stresses the role of melancholy, its “emotional modus” and specific sound that overcomes the intellectuality of progressive rock (sometimes excessive), its “calculated” character. At the same time, the “lack of aspiration” can be counter-balanced by the intense dramatic development, typical of progressive rock.

The stages of formation of the department of bowed string instruments of the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music

The paper analyzes the stages of formation of the department of bowed string instruments of the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music. The importance of the continuity of generations, of artistic and educational achievements is emphasised. The main milestones in the evolution of different schools of play on bowed string instruments, which during the 20th century were formed at the department, are given. Particular attention is paid to the work of prominent Ukrainian bowed string performers, the evolution of their art and scientific and methodological concepts. Today, the department actively works on the development of scientific and methodological manuals, educational, as well as professional, which deal with the performance on bowed string instruments in the context of higher professional education. At the same time, the systematic concert and performance activities of students and professors of the department gain wide popularity.

A comparison of the emotional characteristics of western orchestral sustaining musical instrument families with different pitch and dynamics

Recent research has shown that the emotional characteristics of the bowed strings and brass change with different pitch and dynamics. This work compares how pitch and dynamics influence their characters in the western orchestral sustaining musical instruments. We conducted listening tests where listeners gave absolute judgements on the sounds over ten emotional categories and analyzed the data with logistic regression. For pitch, the categories Happy and Heroic had an arched shape that peaked at C6. Romantic, Calm, and Shy increased until C4 and decreased afterwards. Comic and Mysterious did not shown a clear common trend with pitch. Angry and Scary had a U-shape that was slightly stronger at the highest pitch, while Sad decreased with pitch. For dynamics, Happy, Heroic, Comic, and Angry were stronger for loud notes, while Romantic, Calm, Mysterious, Shy, and Sad were stronger for soft notes. For Scary, loud and soft notes were about the same. In the bowed strings and woodwinds, pitch and dynamics had about an equally important effect on the emotional characteristics, while pitch had a more important effect than dynamics in the brass. For the bowed strings, brass, and woodwinds, the particular instrument was more of a secondary factor though still important.

Uncovering the differences between the violin and erhu musical instruments by statistical analysis of multiple musical pieces

The violin and erhu are two of Western and Chinese music’s main bowed string instruments. Recent work has compared the different emotional characteristics between the violin and erhu on the Butterfly Lovers Concerto. In our study, we examine several hypotheses to investigate whether the previous studies’ results hold generally. Four musical excerpts were extracted from four famous Chinese and Western classical pieces, and the excerpts were divided into four emotional categories: Happy, Sad, Agitated, and Calm. Based on the Butterfly Lovers results, we expected that: (1) the violin has a more Happy emotional characteristic than the erhu, while the erhu is comparatively more Sad, and (2) the violin is better at conveying high-Arousal excerpts. We used the Bradley–Terry–Luce (BTL) paired-comparison model to obtain the ranking scores and identify statistically significant differences between the two instruments. The erhu was consistently perceived as sadder than the violin for all Sad excerpts, while the violin was generally calmer and more agitated for those categories. Further study with more listeners and excerpts is needed to verify whether these results generally hold and at a statistically significant level.