Sympathetic string

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Hardanger fiddle, showing sympathetic strings underneath playing strings Midtdetalj.jpg
Hardanger fiddle, showing sympathetic strings underneath playing strings
Detail of a sarangi, showing its sympathetic strings under three playing strings Sarangi close-up crop.jpg
Detail of a sarangi, showing its sympathetic strings under three playing strings

Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (except occasionally as an effect), only indirectly through the tones that are played on the main strings, based on the principle of sympathetic resonance. The resonance is most often heard when the fundamental frequency of the string is in unison or an octave lower or higher than the catalyst note, although it can occur for other intervals, such as a fifth, with less effect.

Contents

Description

Sympathetic strings are used to enhance the sound of an instrument. Some instruments have only a few sympathetic strings such as the Hardanger fiddle (pictured above right). Other instruments which have more include the sitar with 11-13 sympathetic strings and sarod with 15 sympathetic strings, and the sarangi, which has a total of 37 sympathetics. In Western music, some members of the viola family appeared in the middle of the 17th century that were fitted with an extra choir of thin wire strings running through a hollow chamber through the neck of the instrument, the head of which was then elongated to accommodate as many extra tuning pegs as necessary. These were generally called viola d'amore; another historical example is the baryton, for which Haydn wrote many trios. Other instruments such as the harp, lute, guitar, harpsichord, and piano do not have additional strings, but make use of the effect by allowing their playing strings to vibrate sympathetically when they are not being played directly. In keyboard instruments like the piano, the string dampers can be raised to produce this effect.

The guitar is normally unable to produce effective sympathetic string resonance for tones other than E (resonance from the 6th and 5th strings, tuned to E and A, respectively), B (from the 6th string), D (from the 4th string), and A (from the 5th and 4th strings). (The treble strings are negligible in practice, as they are almost constantly being fingered.) However, the ten-string guitar invented in 1963 by Narciso Yepes, adds four strings tuned to C, A, G, F, which resolves the imbalance of resonance on the guitar. By adding the abovementioned resonances and, of course, their fifths (the fifth being a strong resonant frequency)that is to say, G, F, D, Cthe guitar's strings now resonate more equally with all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, bringing the guitar's sound closer to the consistency and sustainability of the harpsichord and piano. [1] [2] [3]

Sympathetic string resonance in music instruments

Strings or parts of strings may resonate at their fundamental or harmonic frequencies when other strings are sounded. In general, non-played strings respond in sympathy to other strings being played. Two tones of the same pitch will give maximum sympathetic resonance as all harmonics of both strings will overlap. Other harmonic combinations will cause sympathetic resonance at the fifth, fourth and major third. For example, an A string at 440 Hz will cause an E string at 330 Hz to resonate, because they share an overtone of 1320 Hz (3 x 440 = 4 x 330 = 1320; third overtone of A and fourth overtone of E).

Tuning

The musician retunes the sympathetic strings for each mode or raga, so that when the corresponding note (or one an octave below it) is played on the main strings of the instrument, the sympathetic strings (called tarabs in Indian music) will vibrate in response, providing a lingering halo of sound.

Instruments with sympathetic strings

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overtone</span> Tone with a frequency higher than the frequency of the reference tone

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">String instrument</span> Class of musical instruments with vibrating strings

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sitar</span> Plucked stringed instrument used in Hindustani classical music

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardanger fiddle</span> Traditional Norwegian stringed instrument

A Hardanger fiddle is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings and thinner wood. The earliest known example of the hardingfele is from 1651, made by Ole Jonsen Jaastad in Hardanger, Norway. Originally, the instrument had a rounder, narrower body. Around the year 1850, the modern layout with a body much like the violin became the norm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanpura</span> Indian drone instrument

The tanpura is a long-necked, plucked, four-stringed instrument originating in the Indian subcontinent, found in various forms in Indian music. Visually, the tanpura resembles a simplified sitar or similar lute-like instrument, and is likewise crafted out of a gourd or pumpkin.

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In Indian classical music, javārī refers to the overtone-rich "buzzing" sound characteristic of classical Indian string instruments such as the tanpura, sitar, surbahar, rudra veena and Sarasvati veena. Javari can refer to the acoustic phenomenon itself, or to the meticulously carved bone, ivory or wooden bridges that support the strings on the sounding board and produce this particular effect. A similar sort of bridge is used on traditional Ethiopian lyres, as well as on the ancient Greek kithara, and the "bray pins" of some early European harps operated on the same principle. A similar sound effect, called sawari, is used on some traditional Japanese instruments as well.

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In music, the undertone series or subharmonic series is a sequence of notes that results from inverting the intervals of the overtone series. While overtones naturally occur with the physical production of music on instruments, undertones must be produced in unusual ways. While the overtone series is based upon arithmetic multiplication of frequencies, resulting in a harmonic series, the undertone series is based on arithmetic division.

Sympathetic resonance or sympathetic vibration is a harmonic phenomenon wherein a passive string or vibratory body responds to external vibrations to which it has a harmonic likeness. The classic example is demonstrated with two similarly-tuned tuning forks. When one fork is struck and held near the other, vibrations are induced in the unstruck fork, even though there is no physical contact between them. In similar fashion, strings will respond to the vibrations of a tuning fork when sufficient harmonic relations exist between them. The effect is most noticeable when the two bodies are tuned in unison or an octave apart, as there is the greatest similarity in vibrational frequency. Sympathetic resonance is an example of injection locking occurring between coupled oscillators, in this case coupled through vibrating air. In musical instruments, sympathetic resonance can produce both desirable and undesirable effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten-string guitar</span> Musical instrument

There are many varieties of ten-string guitar, including:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten-string classical guitar of Yepes</span> Guitar designed by Narciso Yepes in 1963

The ten string extended-range classical guitar, with fully chromatic, sympathetic string resonance was conceived in 1963 by Narciso Yepes, and constructed by José Ramírez [III]. This instrument is sometimes referred to as the "modern" 10-string guitar to differentiate it from ten-stringed harp guitars of the 19th century.

<i>Veena</i> Various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent

The veena, also spelled vina, is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps. The many regional designs have different names such as the Rudra veena, the Saraswati veena, the Vichitra veena and others.

References

  1. Ramirez III, Jose. 1994. "The Ten-String Guitar" in Things About the Guitar. Bold Strummer. pp. 137-141. ISBN   8487969402
  2. Yepes, Narciso. 1981 "Narciso Yepes and His 10-String Guitar". Interview-Article by Allan Kozinn. The New York Times, Nov. 22: p. D21
  3. Yepes, Narciso. 1978. "The 10-String Guitar: Overcoming the Limitations of Six Strings". Interview by Larry Snitzler. Guitar Player 12(3): pp. 26, 42, 46, 48, 52.