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STRINGED INSTRUMENTS
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STRINGED See also:INSTRUMENTS (Fr. instruments a See also:cordes; Ger. Saiteninstrumente; Ital. strumenti a corde), a large and important See also:section of musical instruments comprising subdivisions classed (A) according to the method in which the strings are set in vibration (B) according to certain structural characteristics of the instruments themselves. Section A .—This includes instruments with strings (r) plucked by fingers or plectrum; (2) struck by hammers or tangents; set in vibration (3) by See also:friction of the See also:bow, (4) by friction of a See also:wheel or (5) by the See also:wind. In all these classes we are also concerned with the manner in which the strings are stretched in See also:order to ensure resonance, and with the See also:measures taken to obtain more than one See also:sound from each See also:string. 1. Strings plucked by Fingers or Plectrum,—Twanging the strings by the fingers is the most See also:primitive method, probably suggested by the feeble See also:note given out by the tense string of the hunters' bow, which was the prototype of" the See also:harp. In this See also:ancient See also:instrument, popular in all ages and lands, the strings are stretched a vide between two supports of a See also:frame, the See also:lower of which acts as a soundboard from which the strings rise perpendicularly. The See also:scale of all harp-like instruments is produced by means of one string for each note, difference in See also:pitch being obtained by varying the length of the strings. In the See also:modern pedal harp with See also:double See also:action the strings can be shortened sufficiently to raise the pitch a semitone or a See also:tone by means of an ingenious See also:system of levers set in See also:motion by the pedals, which cause disks, each furnished with two studs, to turn and grasp the string, thus shortening the vibrating length. This See also:device may he regarded as an infringement of the principle of the harp, whereas in the See also:chromatic harp (See also:Pleyel See also:Wolff & Co.) the same See also:object has been obtained without violating the principle by ingeniously increasing the number of strings. The See also:nanga of the ancient Egyptians, of which specimens are preserved in the See also:British Museum, an instrument having a See also:boat-shaped See also:body with a See also:long curved See also:neck from which the strings stretch at right angles to the soundboard, is the only See also:link as yet discovered between the bow and the harp. The next step observed is the device of stretching the strings partly over a soundboard and partly a vide, as in the See also:cithara, the See also:lyre, the. See also:rotta, the crwth, &c. The strings lying parallel with the soundboard are slightly raised over a See also:bridge; by means of which the vibrations are communicated to the belly of the instrument. Between the soundboard and the
See also:cross-See also:bar, upheld by two arms springing from the body of the instrument, the strings at first bridged an open space for greater convenience in twanging them with both hands. The See also:gradual closing up of this open space marks the various steps in the transition from cithara to See also:fiddle. In the See also:Egyptian cithara the harp-like arrangement of the strings was maintained by making the cross-bar oblique. In the See also:Assyrian and later in the See also:Greek and See also:Roman citharas and lyres all the strings were of the same length, difference in pitch being secured by varying the thickness of the strings.
A later development consisted in discarding the open space altogether, whereby the third method of stretching the strings was evolved. In these new instruments the strings See also:lay over the sound-See also:chest, raised on See also:bridges which determined their vibrating length according to the method of stringing the harp or the cithara. As examples of this type may be cited the psalterion or See also:psaltery and in the See also:middle ages the See also:zither.
The addition of a See also:keyboard to the psaltery, as a means of in-creasing its See also:scope, created a new class of instruments of which the See also:principal members were the clavicymbalum, the See also:virginal, See also:spinet z•td the See also:harpsichord. In these the principle of plucking the strings b ! means of a plectrum or See also:quill was preserved, but the quill was fixed in the pivoted See also:tongue of a piece of See also:wood, known as a " See also:jack," which rested on the end of a balanced See also: When the principle of stopping strings by pressing them against a fingerboard in order to obtain several sounds from each had been discovered and applied by adding a neck to the body, a new sub-See also:division was created in this class of instruments. The exact division of the strings necessary to produce the required intervals was measured off and indicated by ligatures of hide or gut (called frets), See also:bound See also:round the neck, against which the strings were pressed by the fingers. This principle involved a very See also:great advance in technique, and produced the two great families of See also:guitar and See also:lute. During the middle ages, the See also:bass lute (See also:theorbo or See also:barbiton) and the double-bass lutes (archlute and chitarrone) had, in addition to the strings stretched over the See also:finger-See also:board, for which the pegs were placed See also:half-way up the neck, a See also:complement of bass strings stretched a vide from the bridge tail-piece to the end of the neck, where a second peg-See also:box was provided. In the chitarrone these bass strings, each of which produced but one note, were about 5 ft. long; the archlute of similar construction was in See also:size between the former and the theorbo.
The plectrum was used to See also:pluck the strings in classic See also:Greece and See also:Rome, In order to provide an additional effect of brilliancy for joyous or See also:martial themes. If the See also:music gained in brilliancy, the instrument lost the See also:power of expressing the performer's emotions. During the middle ages the use of See also:wire and spun strings in some instruments, such as the mandola, rendered the use of the plectrum a See also:necessity.
2. Strings struck by Hammers or Tangents.—The earliest known instrument thus played was the Assyrian See also:dulcimer, or pisantir, represented on some of the See also: 5, while the instrument rendered dulcimer in the Authorized Version of the See also:Bible should be bagpipe. In the dulcimer the strings, as in the psaltery, were stretched over a rectangular or trapezoid sound-chest, the vibrating length being determined by means of two bridges. The strings were struck by means of two curved sticks, or by hammers, with an elastic See also:wrist action, which produced clear, See also:bell-like tones. The dulcimer has survived in the cembalo or cimbalom of the Hungarian See also:gipsies. The application of the keyboard to the dulcimer produced the clavichord and later the See also:pianoforte. In the earliest clavichords, known as fretted (Ger. gebunden), one string was made to do See also:duty for several notes. The tangent or upright blade of See also:brass tapering towards the bottom, where it was fastened into the end of the key, replaced the See also:hammer of the dulcimer, for which it was hardly a substitute for the following See also:reason. The See also:function of the tangent constitutes the See also:main technical innovation; instead of giving a See also:sharp See also:blow and rebounding instantly from the string, like the hammer on the strings of the dulcimer, the tangent remained on the string as long as the key was pressed down, and as it See also:rose See also:cloth dampers stopped the vibration. It is usual to compare the tangent of the clavichord to the hammer of the dulcimer, but the action of the tangent more nearly resembles the pressure of the finger on the string of the See also:violin. Just as the finger determines the vibrating length of the violin string from the bridge, so the tangent sets the string vibrating from the point of impact to the belly-bridge. By twisting the key levers, the tangents belonging to three or four different keys were brought to See also:bear on the same string or See also:group of unisons at different points, all the strings being of the same length. It was. not until the ISth See also:century that See also:fret-See also:free or bund-frei clavichords were invented; they had throughout the See also:compass a key and a tangent to each pair of unisons. The actionof the hammer of the dulcimer reappeared in the pianoforte. Owing to the See also:peculiar action of the tangent it was possible to produce on the clavichord the vibrato effect (Bebung) as in the violin, an effect which is impracticable on any other keyboard instrument. 3. Strings set in Vibration by Friction of the Bow.—Although used with various other instruments, such as the See also:Oriental See also:rebab and its See also:European successor the See also:rebec, with the See also:oval See also:vielle, the guitar-or See also:troubadour-fiddle and the viols, it is with the effect of the bow on the perfected type represented by the violin See also:family that we are mostly concerned. The strings in this See also:case are all of the same length, difference in pitch being secured by thickness and tension. The fingers, by pressing the strings, produce a variety of notes from each string at will by shortening the vibrating section as the position of the fingers shift in the direction of the bridge. The friction of the bow on the string induces a twofold vibration, the actual See also:longitudinal vibration of the string and the molecular, both of which are transmitted by the bridge to the soundboard, whereby they become intensified or reinforced. To this class belong also the Welsh crwth and the tromba marina. 4, Strings set in Vibration by Friction of a Wheel.—This class is small, being represented mainly by the See also:organistrum and the hurdy-gurdy and a few sostenente keyboard instruments. In these instruments the rosined wheel performs mechanically the function of the bow, setting the strings in vibration as it revolves. A See also:row of ten or twelve keys controlling wooden tangents performs the function of the fingers in stopping the strings. Two or more strings outside the range of the tangents always sound the same See also:drone bass, the fingers playing the See also:melody on the See also:treble strings. 5. Strings set in Vibration by the Wind.—An example is the aeolian harp. Here the eight strings of different thickness, but tuned strictly in unison and See also:left slack, are set in vibration by a current of See also:air passing obliquely across them, causing the strings to See also:divide into See also:aliquot parts, thus producing various harmonics. Section B.—There are, besides, certain structural features in the instruments See also:independent of the strings, which See also:influence the quality of tone to a greater or lesser degree. First, the construction of the sound-chest, the box See also:form consisting of back and belly or soundboard, joined by ribs of equal width, giving the best results in classes i and 3. The sound-chest, consisting of a vaulted back to which is glued a See also:flat soundboard, gives very poor results in class 3, but is eminently suitable for class r. The position and shape of the sound-holes on each See also:side of the strings for bowed instruments, and in the centre for those of which the strings are plucked, are not without influence on the tone. (K. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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