Page 80 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, leto 7, zvezek 16 / Year 7, Issue 16, 2011
P. 80
SBENO-PEDAGOŠKI ZBORNIK, 16. zvezek
Bow pressure is the most distinguished medium for controlling the quality of
sound.
2. From there, increasing the bow force will lead to a sinking of the pitch. This
sinking is due to a delay in the change of sticking and slipping. According to
Schoonderwaldt (2009: 6 ff) the kink Helmholtz discovered is more a rounded
corner because the velocity of string motion does not change abruptly from
sticking to slipping and vice versa. There is a small delay in the reaction of the
string when it tears off the bow or when the bow catches the string. This delay
leads to a flattening effect on the pitch. Thus, the flattening effect is the indicator
for a (too) heavy stroke. And the flattening effect is a quality limitation of bow
pressure in traditional playing.
An increase in bow pressure can cause an elongation of the amplitude with a
flattening effect. At the same time, it can evoke unusual modes of string vibration
which lead to specific sound manipulations. The range of sound production is
enlarged as long as the player and composer agree to include the borderline
sounds in their repertoire.
3. Anomalous Low Frequencies (ALF) are not borderline sounds anymore.
Their frequencies are far below the flattening effect. ALF were first described by
violinist Mari Kimura.
“One day nearly 20 years ago, violinist Mari Kimura was practicing a son filé
exercise she’d long used to improve her sound on the E string, and on a lark
decided to try it down on her G string. She drew her bow very slowly, and applied
a bit more pressure than usual. Suddenly she heard a crunch and a scrape—and a
G note a whole octave below what the violin is supposed to be able to play
without changing the tuning. “ (Reel 2009)
The most remarkable point is that Kimura specifies that she does not need too
much pressure to obtain an ALF. For her it is a sensitive matter of finding the right
grip via the bow. Since Kimura’s range of ALF-pitches oversteps the octave
below, the tone is for a semitone only. She uses both categories of ALF (torsional
and transverse triggering, explained below) and probably also a combination of
them. Kimura fills up the octave in a melodic way. We will see how far the violin
grip can be adopted to the generation of ALF on the cello.
Increasing or changing the bow force even more leads to several categories of
ALF.
In Guettler’s diagram, different paths of prolongation are pictured:
80
Bow pressure is the most distinguished medium for controlling the quality of
sound.
2. From there, increasing the bow force will lead to a sinking of the pitch. This
sinking is due to a delay in the change of sticking and slipping. According to
Schoonderwaldt (2009: 6 ff) the kink Helmholtz discovered is more a rounded
corner because the velocity of string motion does not change abruptly from
sticking to slipping and vice versa. There is a small delay in the reaction of the
string when it tears off the bow or when the bow catches the string. This delay
leads to a flattening effect on the pitch. Thus, the flattening effect is the indicator
for a (too) heavy stroke. And the flattening effect is a quality limitation of bow
pressure in traditional playing.
An increase in bow pressure can cause an elongation of the amplitude with a
flattening effect. At the same time, it can evoke unusual modes of string vibration
which lead to specific sound manipulations. The range of sound production is
enlarged as long as the player and composer agree to include the borderline
sounds in their repertoire.
3. Anomalous Low Frequencies (ALF) are not borderline sounds anymore.
Their frequencies are far below the flattening effect. ALF were first described by
violinist Mari Kimura.
“One day nearly 20 years ago, violinist Mari Kimura was practicing a son filé
exercise she’d long used to improve her sound on the E string, and on a lark
decided to try it down on her G string. She drew her bow very slowly, and applied
a bit more pressure than usual. Suddenly she heard a crunch and a scrape—and a
G note a whole octave below what the violin is supposed to be able to play
without changing the tuning. “ (Reel 2009)
The most remarkable point is that Kimura specifies that she does not need too
much pressure to obtain an ALF. For her it is a sensitive matter of finding the right
grip via the bow. Since Kimura’s range of ALF-pitches oversteps the octave
below, the tone is for a semitone only. She uses both categories of ALF (torsional
and transverse triggering, explained below) and probably also a combination of
them. Kimura fills up the octave in a melodic way. We will see how far the violin
grip can be adopted to the generation of ALF on the cello.
Increasing or changing the bow force even more leads to several categories of
ALF.
In Guettler’s diagram, different paths of prolongation are pictured:
80
