WEBVTT
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Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I help
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you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your host,
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Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is about string instruments. Today
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we have a sponsored episode from Karina. She says Happy
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Birthday to Jordan from Karina. In musical instrument classification, string
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instruments or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from
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vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, or sounds as
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strings in varying manners. Musicians play some string instruments, like guitars,
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by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum
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a pick, and others by hitting the strings with a
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light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow,
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like violins. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord,
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the musician presses a key that plucks the string. Other
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musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments,
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the player pulls a rosin horse hair bow across the strings,
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causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy gurdy, the musician
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cranks a wheel whose ros and edge touches the strings.
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Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra
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and western and classical music, violin, viola, cello, and double bass,
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and a number of other instruments vials and gambas used
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in early music from the Baroque music era, and fiddles
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used in many types of folk music. All of the
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bowed string instruments can also be plucked with the fingers,
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a technique called pizzicato. A wide variety of techniques are
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used to sound notes on the electric guitar, including plucking
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with the finger, nails or plectrum, strumming and even tapping
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on the finger board, and using feedback from a loud
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distorted guitar amplifier to produce a sustained sound. Some string
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instruments are mainly plucked, such as the harp and the
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electric bass. Other examples include the citar, riebab banjo, mandolin, ukulele,
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and buzuki. In the hornbistil Sock's scheme of music instrument
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classification used in organology, string instruments are called cordophones. In
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most string instruments, the vibrations are transmitted to the body
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of the instrument, which often incorporates some sort of hollow
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or enclosed area. The body of the instrument also vibrates
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along with the air inside it. The vibration of the
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body of the instrument and the enclosed hollow or chamber
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make the vibration of the string more audible to the
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performer and audience. The body of most string instruments is
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hollow in order to have better sound projection. Some, however,
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such as electric guitar and other instruments that rely on
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electric amplification, may have a solid wood body dating to
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a round circa thirteen thousand b c. A cave painting
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in a Tooiefaser Cave in France depicts what some believe
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is a musical beau, a hunting beau used as a
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single stringed musical instrument. From the musical beau, families of
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stringed instruments developed. Since each string played a single note,
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adding strings added new notes, creating beaux harps, harps, and lyres.
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In turn, this led to being able to play diads
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and chords. Another innovation occurred when the beau harp was
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straightened out and a bridge used to lift the strings
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off the stick neck, creating the lute. This picture of
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musical beau to harp Beau his theory and has been contested.
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In nineteen sixty five, Franz Jannal wrote his criticism, stating
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that the early ancestors of plucked instruments are not currently known.
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He felt that the harp beau was a long cry
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from the sophistication of the civilization of Western Asia in
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four thousand b C. That took the primitive technology and
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created technically and artistically well made harps, liars, ciseras, and lutes.
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Archaeological digs have identified some of the earliest stringed instruments
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and ancient Mesopotamian sides, like the lyres of Or, which
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include artifacts over three thousand years old. The development of
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lyre instruments required the technology to create a tuning mechanism
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to tighten and loosen the string tension. Lyres with wooden
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bodies and strings used for plucking or playing with a
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bow represent key instruments that point towards later harps and
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violent type instruments. Moreover, Indian instruments from five hundred BC
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have been discovered with anything from seven to twenty one strings.
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In Vietnam, a two thousand year old singularly stringed instrument
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made of deer antler was also discovered. String instrument design
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was refined during the Renaissance and into the Baroque period
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sixteen hundred seventeen fifty of musical history. Violins and guitars
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became more consistent in design and were roughly similar to
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acoustic guitars of the two thousands. The violins of the
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Renaissance featured intricate woodwork and stringing, while more elaborate bass
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instruments such as the bandora were produced alongside quill plucked
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sitterns and Spanish body guitars. In the nineteenth century, string
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instruments were made more widely available through mass production, with
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wood string instruments a key part of orchestras. Cellos, violas,
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and upright basses, for example, were now standard instruments for
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chamber ensembles and smaller orchestras. At the same time, the
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nineteenth century guitar became more typically associated with six string
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models rather than traditional five string versions. Major changes to
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string instruments in the twentieth century primarily involved innovations in
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electronic instrument amplification and electronic music. Electric violins were available
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by the nineteen twenties and were an important part of
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emerging jazz music trends in the United States. The acoustic
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guitar was widely used in blues and jazz, but as
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an acoustic instrument, it was not loud enough to be
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a solo instrument, so these genres mostly used it as
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an accompaniment rhythm section instrument. In big bands of the
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nineteen twenties, the acoustic guitar played backing chords, but it
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was not loud enough to play solos like the saxophone
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and trumpet. The development of guitar amplifiers, which contained a
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powerful amplifier and a loud speaker in a wooden cabinet,
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let jazz guitarists play solos and be heard over a
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big band. The development of the electric guitar provided guitarists
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with an instrument that was built to connect to guitar amplifiers.
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Electric guitars have magnetic pickups, volume control knobs, and an
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output jack. In the nineteen sixties, larger, more powerful guitar
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amplifiers were developed called stacks. These powerful amplifiers enabled guitars
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to perform in rock bands that played in large venues
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such as stadiums and outdoor music festivals. String instruments can
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be divided into three groups. Ludes instruments that support the
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strings via a neck and a bowed or a gourd,
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for instance, a guitar, violin or sas arps instruments, second,
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the strings within a frame, zithers instruments that have the
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strings mounted on a body, frame or tube, such as
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a gucchin symbolum, autoharp, harpsichord, piano, or valiha. It is
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also possible to divide the instruments into categories focused on
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how the instrument is played. All string instruments produce sound
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from one or more vibrating strings, transferred to the air
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by the body of the instrument or by a pickup.
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In electronically amplified instruments, they are usually categorized by the
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technique used to make the strings vibrate, or by the
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primary technique in the case of instruments where more than
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one may apply. The three most common techniques are plucking, bowing,
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and striking. An important difference between boeing and plucking is
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that in the former, the phenomenon is periodic, so that
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the overtones are kept in a strictly harmonic relationship to
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the fundamental plucking is a method of playing on instruments
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such as the vina, banjo, ukulele, guitar, arp, lute, mandolin, oode,
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and citar, using either a finger, thumb, or quills to
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pluck the strings. Instruments normally played by bowing may also
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be plucked, a technique referred to by the Italian term
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pitzicato bowing. Italian arco is a messod used in some
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string instruments, including the violin, piola, cello, and the double
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bass of the violin family and the old vile family.
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The bow consists of a stick with a ribbon of
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parallel horsetail hairs stretched between its ends. The hair is
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coated with rosin so it can grip the string. Moving
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the hair across a string causes a stick slip phenomenon,
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making the string vibrate and prompting the instrument to emid sound.
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Darker grades of rosin grip well and cool dry climates,
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but may be too sticky and warmer more humid weather.
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Violin and viola players generally use harder, lighter colored rosin
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than players of lower pitched instruments, who tend to favor darker,
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softer rosin. The third common method of sound production in
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stringed instruments is distract the string. The piano and hammered
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dulcimer use this method of sound production even though the
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piano strikes the strings. The use of felt hammers means
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that the sound that is produced can nevertheless be mellow
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and rounded, in contrast to the sharp attack produced when
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a very hard hammer strikes the strings. Violin family string
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instrument players are occasionally instructed to strike the string with
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the stick of the bow, a technique called koleigno. This
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yields a percussive sound along with the pitch of the note.
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A well known use of koleigno for orchestral strings is
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Gustav holtz Mars movement from the Planet's Suite. Some instruments
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that have strings have an attached keyboard that the player
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presses keys on to trigger a mechanism that sounds of
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strings instead of directly manipulating the strings. These include the piano,
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the clavichord, and the harpsichord. With these keyboard instruments, strings
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or are occasionally plucked or bowed by hand. Modern composers
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such as Henry Cowell wrote music that requires that the
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player reach inside the piano and pluck the strings directly,
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bow them with bow hair wrapped around the strings, or
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play them by rolling the bell of a brass instrument
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such as a trombone on the array of strings. However,
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these are relatively rarely used. Special techniques. Steel stringed instruments,
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such as the guitar, bass, violin, et cetera, can be
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played using a magnetic field. An e bow is a small,
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hand held, battery powered device that magnetically excites the strings
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of an electric string instrument to provide a sustained singing
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tone reminiscent of a held bowed violin. Note third bridge
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is a plucking method where the player frets a string
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and strikes the side opposite the bridge. A technique is
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mainly used on electric instruments because these have a pickup
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that amplifies only the local string vibration. It is possible
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on acoustic instruments as well, but less effective. For instance,
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a player might press on the seventh fret on a
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guitar and pluck it at the headside to make a
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tone resonate at the opposing side. On electric instruments, this
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technique generates multi tone sounds reminiscent of a clock or bell.
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Electric string instruments, such as the electric guitar, can also
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be played with touching the strings by using audio feedback.
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When an electric guitar is plugged into a loud powerful
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guitar amplifier with a loud speaker and a high level
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of distortion is intentionally used, the guitar produces sustained, high
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pitched sounds. By changing the proximity of the guitar to
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the speaker, the guitarists can produce sounds that cannot be
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produced with standard plucking and picking techniques. This technique was
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popularized by Jimi Hendrix and others in the nineteen sixties.
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It was widely used in psychedelic rock and heavy metal music.
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In boat instruments, the bow is normally placed perpendicularly to
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the stream, at a point halfway between the end of
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the fingerboard in the bridge. However, different bow placements can
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be selected to change timbre. Application of the bow close
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to the bridge, known as soul ponticello, produces an intense,
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sometimes harsh sound which acoustically emphasizes the upper harmonics. Bowing
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above the fingerboard sulcasto produces a purer tone with less
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overtoned strings. Emphasizing the fundamental also known as flautando's since
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it sounds less reedy and more flute like. Boat instruments
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pose a challenge to instrument builders as compared with instruments
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that are only plucked like the guitar, because on bowed instruments,
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the musician must be able to play one string at
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a time if they wish. As such, a bowed instrument
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must have a curved bridge that makes the outer strings
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lower in height than the inner strings. With such a
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curved bridge, the player can select one string at a time.
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On guitars and ludes, the bridge can be flat. Because
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the strings are played by plucking them with the fingers, fingernails,
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or a pick. By moving the fingers or pick to
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different positions, the player can play different strings on bowed instruments.
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The need to play strings individually with the bow also
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limits the number of strings to about six or seven.
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With more strings, it would be impossible to select individual
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strings to bow. Boat strings can also play two boat
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nodes on two different strings at the same time, a
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technique called a double stop. Indeed, on the orchestral string
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section instruments, four strings are the norm, with the exception
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of five strings used on some double bases in contrast
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with stringed keyboard instruments, eighty eight courses are used on
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a piano, and even though these strings are arranged in
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a flat bridge, the mechanism can play any of the
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notes individually. Similar tambrel distinctions are also possible with plucked
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stringed instruments by selecting an appropriate plucking point, although the
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difference is perhaps more subtle. In keyboard instruments, the contact
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point along the string, whether this be the hammer, tangent,
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or plectrum, is a choice made by the instrument designer.
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Builders use a combination of experience and acoustic theory to
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establish the right set of contact points. In harpsichords, often
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there are two sets of strings of equal length. These
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choirs usually differ in their plucking points. One choir has
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a normal plucking point, producing a canonical harpsichord sound, The
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other has a plucking point close to the bridge, producing
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a reediared nasal sound rich in upper harmonics. Some instruments
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are employed with sympathetic strings, which are additional strings not
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men to be plucked. These strings resonate with splayed nodes,
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creating additional tones. Sympathetic strings vibrate naturally when various intervals
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such as the unisons or the octaves of the notes
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of the sympathetic strings are plucked, bowed, or struck. This
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system is used in the sarangi, the grand piano, the
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hardinger fiddle, and the rhubab. A vibrating string struck in
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a very thick log, as a hypothetical example, would make
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only a very quiet sound, So string instruments are usually
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constructed in such a way that the vibrating string is
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coupled to a hollow resonating chamber, a sound board, or both.
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On the violin, for example, the four strings pass over
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a thin wooden bridge resting on a hollow box the
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body of the violin. The normal force applied to the
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body from the strings is supported in part by a
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small cylinder of wood called the sound post. The violin
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body also has two f holes carved on the top
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the strings. Vibrations are distributed via the bridge and sound
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post to all surfaces of the instrument, and are thus
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made louder by matching of the acoustic impedance. The correct
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technical explanation is that they allow a better match to
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the acoustic impedance of the air It is sometimes said
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that the sounding board or sound box amplifies the sound
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of the strings. In reality, no power amplification occurs because
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all the energy to produce sound comes from the vibrating string.
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The mechanism is that the sounding board of the instrument
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provides a larger surface area to create sound waves and
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that of the string, and therefore acts as a matching
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element between the acoustic impedance of the string and that
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of the surrounding air. A larger vibrating surface can sometimes
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produce better matching, especially at lower frequencies. All Loote type
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instruments traditionally have a bridge which holds a string at
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the proper action height from the fratngerboard at one end
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of the strings. On acoustic instruments, the bridge performs an
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equally important function of transmitting string energy into the sound
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box of the instrument, thereby increasing the sound volume. The
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specific design and materials used in the construction of the
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bridge of an instrument have a dramatic impact upon both
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the sound and responsiveness of the instrument. Achieving a tonal
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characteristic that is effective and pleasing to the players and
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listener's ear is something of an art and craft as
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well as a science, and the makers of string instruments
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often seek very high quality woods to this end, particularly spruce,
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chosen for its lightness, strength and flexibility, and maple of
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very hardwood. Spruce is used for the sounding boards of
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instruments from the violin of the piano. Instruments such as
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the banjo use a drum covered in natural or synthetic
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skin as their soundboard. Acoustic instruments can also be made
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of artificial materials such as carbon fiber and fiberglass, particularly
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the larger, lower pitched instruments such as cellos and basses.
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In the early twentieth century, the stro violin used a
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diaphragm type resonator and a metal horn to project the
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string sound, much like early mechanical gramophones. It's use to
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cline beginning of nineteen twenty as electric amplification through power
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amplifiers and loud speakers was developed and came into use.
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String instrument players can electronically amplify their instruments by connecting
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them to a PA system or a guitar amplifier. Most
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string instruments can be fitted with piezioelectric or magnetic pickups
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to convert the string's vibrations into an electric signal that
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is amplified and then converted back into sound by loudspeakers.
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Some players attach a pickup to their traditional string instruments
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to electrify it. Another option is to use a solid
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bodied instrument, which reduces unwanted feedback how or squeals. Amplified
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string instruments can be much louder than their acoustic counterparts,
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so musicians can play them in relatively loud rock, blues
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and jazz ensembles. Amplified instruments can also have their amplified
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tone modified by using electronic effects such as distortion, reverb,
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or wah wah bass registers. String instruments such as the
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double bass and the electric bass are amplified with bass
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instrument amplifiers that are designed to reproduce low frequency sounds.
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To modify the tone of amplified bass instruments, a range
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of electronic bass effects are available, such as distort and chorus.
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The string instruments usually used in the orchestra and often
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called the symphonic strings or string section, are violins divided
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into two sections, first violins and second violins. These sections
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play exactly the same instruments the difference is that the
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first violins play higher register lines and the second violins
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play lower register parts, accompaniment parts or counter melodies, violas, cellos,
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double basses. When orchestral instrumentation specifies strings, it often means
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this combination of string parts. Orchestral works rarely omit any
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of these string parts, but often include additional string instruments,
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especially the concert harp and piano. In the baroque orchestra
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from the sixteen hundreds to seventeen fifty, or with modern
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groups playing early music, harpsichord is almost always used to
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play the basso, continual part, the written out bass line
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and improvised chords, and often a sciorbo or lute or
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a pipe organ. In some classical music, such as the
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string quartet, the double bass is not typically used. The
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cello plays the bass role in this literature,
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Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I help
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you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your host,
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Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is about string instruments. Today
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we have a sponsored episode from Karina. She says Happy
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00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:34.759
Birthday to Jordan from Karina. In musical instrument classification, string
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instruments or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from
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vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, or sounds as
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strings in varying manners. Musicians play some string instruments, like guitars,
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by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum
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a pick, and others by hitting the strings with a
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light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow,
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like violins. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord,
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the musician presses a key that plucks the string. Other
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musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments,
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the player pulls a rosin horse hair bow across the strings,
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causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy gurdy, the musician
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cranks a wheel whose ros and edge touches the strings.
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Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra
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and western and classical music, violin, viola, cello, and double bass,
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and a number of other instruments vials and gambas used
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in early music from the Baroque music era, and fiddles
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used in many types of folk music. All of the
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bowed string instruments can also be plucked with the fingers,
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a technique called pizzicato. A wide variety of techniques are
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used to sound notes on the electric guitar, including plucking
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with the finger, nails or plectrum, strumming and even tapping
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on the finger board, and using feedback from a loud
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distorted guitar amplifier to produce a sustained sound. Some string
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instruments are mainly plucked, such as the harp and the
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electric bass. Other examples include the citar, riebab banjo, mandolin, ukulele,
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and buzuki. In the hornbistil Sock's scheme of music instrument
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classification used in organology, string instruments are called cordophones. In
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most string instruments, the vibrations are transmitted to the body
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of the instrument, which often incorporates some sort of hollow
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or enclosed area. The body of the instrument also vibrates
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along with the air inside it. The vibration of the
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body of the instrument and the enclosed hollow or chamber
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make the vibration of the string more audible to the
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performer and audience. The body of most string instruments is
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hollow in order to have better sound projection. Some, however,
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such as electric guitar and other instruments that rely on
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electric amplification, may have a solid wood body dating to
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a round circa thirteen thousand b c. A cave painting
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in a Tooiefaser Cave in France depicts what some believe
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is a musical beau, a hunting beau used as a
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single stringed musical instrument. From the musical beau, families of
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stringed instruments developed. Since each string played a single note,
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adding strings added new notes, creating beaux harps, harps, and lyres.
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In turn, this led to being able to play diads
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and chords. Another innovation occurred when the beau harp was
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straightened out and a bridge used to lift the strings
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off the stick neck, creating the lute. This picture of
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musical beau to harp Beau his theory and has been contested.
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In nineteen sixty five, Franz Jannal wrote his criticism, stating
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that the early ancestors of plucked instruments are not currently known.
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He felt that the harp beau was a long cry
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from the sophistication of the civilization of Western Asia in
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four thousand b C. That took the primitive technology and
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created technically and artistically well made harps, liars, ciseras, and lutes.
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Archaeological digs have identified some of the earliest stringed instruments
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and ancient Mesopotamian sides, like the lyres of Or, which
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include artifacts over three thousand years old. The development of
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lyre instruments required the technology to create a tuning mechanism
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to tighten and loosen the string tension. Lyres with wooden
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bodies and strings used for plucking or playing with a
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bow represent key instruments that point towards later harps and
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violent type instruments. Moreover, Indian instruments from five hundred BC
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have been discovered with anything from seven to twenty one strings.
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In Vietnam, a two thousand year old singularly stringed instrument
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made of deer antler was also discovered. String instrument design
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was refined during the Renaissance and into the Baroque period
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sixteen hundred seventeen fifty of musical history. Violins and guitars
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became more consistent in design and were roughly similar to
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acoustic guitars of the two thousands. The violins of the
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Renaissance featured intricate woodwork and stringing, while more elaborate bass
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instruments such as the bandora were produced alongside quill plucked
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sitterns and Spanish body guitars. In the nineteenth century, string
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instruments were made more widely available through mass production, with
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wood string instruments a key part of orchestras. Cellos, violas,
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and upright basses, for example, were now standard instruments for
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chamber ensembles and smaller orchestras. At the same time, the
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nineteenth century guitar became more typically associated with six string
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models rather than traditional five string versions. Major changes to
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string instruments in the twentieth century primarily involved innovations in
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electronic instrument amplification and electronic music. Electric violins were available
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by the nineteen twenties and were an important part of
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emerging jazz music trends in the United States. The acoustic
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guitar was widely used in blues and jazz, but as
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an acoustic instrument, it was not loud enough to be
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a solo instrument, so these genres mostly used it as
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an accompaniment rhythm section instrument. In big bands of the
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nineteen twenties, the acoustic guitar played backing chords, but it
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was not loud enough to play solos like the saxophone
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and trumpet. The development of guitar amplifiers, which contained a
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powerful amplifier and a loud speaker in a wooden cabinet,
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let jazz guitarists play solos and be heard over a
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big band. The development of the electric guitar provided guitarists
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with an instrument that was built to connect to guitar amplifiers.
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Electric guitars have magnetic pickups, volume control knobs, and an
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output jack. In the nineteen sixties, larger, more powerful guitar
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amplifiers were developed called stacks. These powerful amplifiers enabled guitars
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to perform in rock bands that played in large venues
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such as stadiums and outdoor music festivals. String instruments can
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be divided into three groups. Ludes instruments that support the
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strings via a neck and a bowed or a gourd,
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for instance, a guitar, violin or sas arps instruments, second,
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the strings within a frame, zithers instruments that have the
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strings mounted on a body, frame or tube, such as
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a gucchin symbolum, autoharp, harpsichord, piano, or valiha. It is
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also possible to divide the instruments into categories focused on
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how the instrument is played. All string instruments produce sound
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from one or more vibrating strings, transferred to the air
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by the body of the instrument or by a pickup.
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In electronically amplified instruments, they are usually categorized by the
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technique used to make the strings vibrate, or by the
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primary technique in the case of instruments where more than
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one may apply. The three most common techniques are plucking, bowing,
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and striking. An important difference between boeing and plucking is
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that in the former, the phenomenon is periodic, so that
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the overtones are kept in a strictly harmonic relationship to
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the fundamental plucking is a method of playing on instruments
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such as the vina, banjo, ukulele, guitar, arp, lute, mandolin, oode,
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and citar, using either a finger, thumb, or quills to
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pluck the strings. Instruments normally played by bowing may also
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be plucked, a technique referred to by the Italian term
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pitzicato bowing. Italian arco is a messod used in some
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string instruments, including the violin, piola, cello, and the double
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bass of the violin family and the old vile family.
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The bow consists of a stick with a ribbon of
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parallel horsetail hairs stretched between its ends. The hair is
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coated with rosin so it can grip the string. Moving
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the hair across a string causes a stick slip phenomenon,
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making the string vibrate and prompting the instrument to emid sound.
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Darker grades of rosin grip well and cool dry climates,
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but may be too sticky and warmer more humid weather.
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Violin and viola players generally use harder, lighter colored rosin
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than players of lower pitched instruments, who tend to favor darker,
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softer rosin. The third common method of sound production in
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stringed instruments is distract the string. The piano and hammered
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dulcimer use this method of sound production even though the
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piano strikes the strings. The use of felt hammers means
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that the sound that is produced can nevertheless be mellow
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and rounded, in contrast to the sharp attack produced when
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a very hard hammer strikes the strings. Violin family string
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instrument players are occasionally instructed to strike the string with
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the stick of the bow, a technique called koleigno. This
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yields a percussive sound along with the pitch of the note.
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A well known use of koleigno for orchestral strings is
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Gustav holtz Mars movement from the Planet's Suite. Some instruments
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that have strings have an attached keyboard that the player
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presses keys on to trigger a mechanism that sounds of
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strings instead of directly manipulating the strings. These include the piano,
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the clavichord, and the harpsichord. With these keyboard instruments, strings
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or are occasionally plucked or bowed by hand. Modern composers
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such as Henry Cowell wrote music that requires that the
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player reach inside the piano and pluck the strings directly,
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bow them with bow hair wrapped around the strings, or
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play them by rolling the bell of a brass instrument
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such as a trombone on the array of strings. However,
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these are relatively rarely used. Special techniques. Steel stringed instruments,
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such as the guitar, bass, violin, et cetera, can be
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played using a magnetic field. An e bow is a small,
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hand held, battery powered device that magnetically excites the strings
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of an electric string instrument to provide a sustained singing
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tone reminiscent of a held bowed violin. Note third bridge
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is a plucking method where the player frets a string
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and strikes the side opposite the bridge. A technique is
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mainly used on electric instruments because these have a pickup
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that amplifies only the local string vibration. It is possible
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on acoustic instruments as well, but less effective. For instance,
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a player might press on the seventh fret on a
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guitar and pluck it at the headside to make a
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tone resonate at the opposing side. On electric instruments, this
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technique generates multi tone sounds reminiscent of a clock or bell.
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Electric string instruments, such as the electric guitar, can also
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be played with touching the strings by using audio feedback.
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When an electric guitar is plugged into a loud powerful
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guitar amplifier with a loud speaker and a high level
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of distortion is intentionally used, the guitar produces sustained, high
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pitched sounds. By changing the proximity of the guitar to
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the speaker, the guitarists can produce sounds that cannot be
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produced with standard plucking and picking techniques. This technique was
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popularized by Jimi Hendrix and others in the nineteen sixties.
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It was widely used in psychedelic rock and heavy metal music.
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In boat instruments, the bow is normally placed perpendicularly to
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the stream, at a point halfway between the end of
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the fingerboard in the bridge. However, different bow placements can
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be selected to change timbre. Application of the bow close
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to the bridge, known as soul ponticello, produces an intense,
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sometimes harsh sound which acoustically emphasizes the upper harmonics. Bowing
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above the fingerboard sulcasto produces a purer tone with less
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overtoned strings. Emphasizing the fundamental also known as flautando's since
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it sounds less reedy and more flute like. Boat instruments
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pose a challenge to instrument builders as compared with instruments
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that are only plucked like the guitar, because on bowed instruments,
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the musician must be able to play one string at
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a time if they wish. As such, a bowed instrument
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must have a curved bridge that makes the outer strings
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lower in height than the inner strings. With such a
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curved bridge, the player can select one string at a time.
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On guitars and ludes, the bridge can be flat. Because
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the strings are played by plucking them with the fingers, fingernails,
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or a pick. By moving the fingers or pick to
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different positions, the player can play different strings on bowed instruments.
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The need to play strings individually with the bow also
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limits the number of strings to about six or seven.
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With more strings, it would be impossible to select individual
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strings to bow. Boat strings can also play two boat
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nodes on two different strings at the same time, a
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technique called a double stop. Indeed, on the orchestral string
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section instruments, four strings are the norm, with the exception
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of five strings used on some double bases in contrast
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with stringed keyboard instruments, eighty eight courses are used on
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a piano, and even though these strings are arranged in
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a flat bridge, the mechanism can play any of the
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notes individually. Similar tambrel distinctions are also possible with plucked
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stringed instruments by selecting an appropriate plucking point, although the
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difference is perhaps more subtle. In keyboard instruments, the contact
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point along the string, whether this be the hammer, tangent,
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or plectrum, is a choice made by the instrument designer.
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Builders use a combination of experience and acoustic theory to
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establish the right set of contact points. In harpsichords, often
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there are two sets of strings of equal length. These
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choirs usually differ in their plucking points. One choir has
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a normal plucking point, producing a canonical harpsichord sound, The
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other has a plucking point close to the bridge, producing
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a reediared nasal sound rich in upper harmonics. Some instruments
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are employed with sympathetic strings, which are additional strings not
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men to be plucked. These strings resonate with splayed nodes,
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creating additional tones. Sympathetic strings vibrate naturally when various intervals
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such as the unisons or the octaves of the notes
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of the sympathetic strings are plucked, bowed, or struck. This
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system is used in the sarangi, the grand piano, the
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hardinger fiddle, and the rhubab. A vibrating string struck in
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a very thick log, as a hypothetical example, would make
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only a very quiet sound, So string instruments are usually
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constructed in such a way that the vibrating string is
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coupled to a hollow resonating chamber, a sound board, or both.
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On the violin, for example, the four strings pass over
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a thin wooden bridge resting on a hollow box the
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body of the violin. The normal force applied to the
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body from the strings is supported in part by a
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small cylinder of wood called the sound post. The violin
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body also has two f holes carved on the top
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the strings. Vibrations are distributed via the bridge and sound
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post to all surfaces of the instrument, and are thus
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made louder by matching of the acoustic impedance. The correct
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technical explanation is that they allow a better match to
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the acoustic impedance of the air It is sometimes said
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that the sounding board or sound box amplifies the sound
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of the strings. In reality, no power amplification occurs because
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all the energy to produce sound comes from the vibrating string.
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The mechanism is that the sounding board of the instrument
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provides a larger surface area to create sound waves and
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that of the string, and therefore acts as a matching
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element between the acoustic impedance of the string and that
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of the surrounding air. A larger vibrating surface can sometimes
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produce better matching, especially at lower frequencies. All Loote type
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instruments traditionally have a bridge which holds a string at
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the proper action height from the fratngerboard at one end
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of the strings. On acoustic instruments, the bridge performs an
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equally important function of transmitting string energy into the sound
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box of the instrument, thereby increasing the sound volume. The
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specific design and materials used in the construction of the
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bridge of an instrument have a dramatic impact upon both
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the sound and responsiveness of the instrument. Achieving a tonal
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characteristic that is effective and pleasing to the players and
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listener's ear is something of an art and craft as
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well as a science, and the makers of string instruments
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often seek very high quality woods to this end, particularly spruce,
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chosen for its lightness, strength and flexibility, and maple of
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very hardwood. Spruce is used for the sounding boards of
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instruments from the violin of the piano. Instruments such as
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the banjo use a drum covered in natural or synthetic
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skin as their soundboard. Acoustic instruments can also be made
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of artificial materials such as carbon fiber and fiberglass, particularly
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the larger, lower pitched instruments such as cellos and basses.
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In the early twentieth century, the stro violin used a
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diaphragm type resonator and a metal horn to project the
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string sound, much like early mechanical gramophones. It's use to
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cline beginning of nineteen twenty as electric amplification through power
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amplifiers and loud speakers was developed and came into use.
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String instrument players can electronically amplify their instruments by connecting
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them to a PA system or a guitar amplifier. Most
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string instruments can be fitted with piezioelectric or magnetic pickups
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to convert the string's vibrations into an electric signal that
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is amplified and then converted back into sound by loudspeakers.
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Some players attach a pickup to their traditional string instruments
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to electrify it. Another option is to use a solid
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bodied instrument, which reduces unwanted feedback how or squeals. Amplified
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string instruments can be much louder than their acoustic counterparts,
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so musicians can play them in relatively loud rock, blues
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and jazz ensembles. Amplified instruments can also have their amplified
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tone modified by using electronic effects such as distortion, reverb,
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or wah wah bass registers. String instruments such as the
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double bass and the electric bass are amplified with bass
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instrument amplifiers that are designed to reproduce low frequency sounds.
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To modify the tone of amplified bass instruments, a range
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of electronic bass effects are available, such as distort and chorus.
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The string instruments usually used in the orchestra and often
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called the symphonic strings or string section, are violins divided
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into two sections, first violins and second violins. These sections
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play exactly the same instruments the difference is that the
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first violins play higher register lines and the second violins
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play lower register parts, accompaniment parts or counter melodies, violas, cellos,
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double basses. When orchestral instrumentation specifies strings, it often means
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this combination of string parts. Orchestral works rarely omit any
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of these string parts, but often include additional string instruments,
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especially the concert harp and piano. In the baroque orchestra
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from the sixteen hundreds to seventeen fifty, or with modern
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groups playing early music, harpsichord is almost always used to
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play the basso, continual part, the written out bass line
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and improvised chords, and often a sciorbo or lute or
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a pipe organ. In some classical music, such as the
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string quartet, the double bass is not typically used. The
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cello plays the bass role in this literature,
