> thank you very much, interesting stuff that marbled strings... have not
> heard that before.
They are called "loaded" gut. There has been a good deal of
discussion about this type of string in lute circles. One problem has been,
I believe, with trueness--but this should not be a problem with strings
played open only. Mimmo Peruffo (Aquila Strings aquilacorde.com) has
been working with perfecting these. There is some evidence that loaded gut
was commonly used, but the technique for making it was lost when other
materials became available. It is even possible that some of the "ballast"
mixed in with the gut was toxic!
As for the gimped strings (with a wire twisted in with the gut):
they are very effective and last a very long time on plucked instruments
(like the lute), where they are generally in use as occasionalyy plucked
basses; the constant friction from a hurdy-gurdy wheel provides a very
different kind of wear, however.
Regards,
Leonard Williams
/[ ]
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On 5/6/08 4:43 PM, "Oscar Picazo Ruiz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hello Alden,
>
>
> What about KF? the equivalent carbon string to a gut one is about 85% of the
> diameter. If I am not wrong, a low C would be gut 1.40 / KF 1.20 ;
> originally I was using 1.20 gut for the low g (KF 105 now) so it is not a
> weird measure.
>
> If I eventually try, I will let you know.
>
> By the way, a curious thing about KF strings; I once saw a trompette string
> flat due to friction with the wheel, after some time (more than a year of
> use). Carbon strings are not eternal either!.
>
> Regards,
>
> Oscar.
>
>
>
> 2008/5/6 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
>
>>
>> We experimented with various low G trompette strings several years ago.
>> Here's a little discussion of what we found.
>>
>> The difficulty of the low trompette is the need for more mass (which we
>> generally call weight) per length of string. The vibrating frequency of
>> the
>> string is a function of its length, its mass, and its tension. The length
>> is
>> fixed, the tension needs to be within a fairly narrow range for the
>> trompette
>> to function. The only parameter left to adjust is the mass.
>>
>> For more information about how vibrating strings work, check this
>> Wikipedia
>> article : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrating_string
>>
>> There are several ways of getting more mass. We can simply increase the
>> gut
>> string diameter, or we can add metal or something else to the string to
>> make
>> it heavier.
>>
>> Increasing the diameter is problematic. Theoretical strings have no
>> dimension: they consist of a line that stretches from one end to the
>> other,
>> which is what forms all the cool harmonics when it vibrates. The larger
>> we
>> make the diameter of the actual string, the stiffer the string becomes and
>> the
>> farther the harmonics depart from their ideals.
>>
>> If we add metal to the string, the string mass goes up without increasing
>> the
>> diameter.
>>
>> We tried round-wound strings (smaller versions of the typical petit and
>> gros
>> bourdons) for the trompette, and were not pleased - they just didn't sound
>> right. Flat-wound strings like violin/viola strings might work there, but
>> we
>> haven't tried them.
>>
>> We experimented with gimped strings, which are plain gut strings with
>> strands
>> of metal wound into the interior of the string to increase the mass while
>> presenting a plain-gut exterior. The first one we tried was very nice, and
>> I
>> really liked it. It lasted perhaps 6 months before one of the internal
>> wires
>> broke. The next one only lasted about a week, and the next one about the
>> same, and we gave up on them. They're pretty expensive, so using one a
>> week
>> was not reasonable. It's possible we just got a bad batch, and that
>> others
>> would work better.
>>
>> There are also a special type of gimped string where marble dust (!) is
>> included in the mix along with the metal wire to increase the density. We
>> haven't tried these.
>>
>> What I liked about the gimped strings is that they were about the same
>> diameter as the 0.97mm we were using for C/D trompettes, while their mass
>> was
>> equivalent to a 1.25mm plain gut string or similar. No change in the dog
>> was
>> needed: string, tune, adjust, play.
>>
>> Your mileage may vary, of course.
>>
>> Alden
>>
>>
>
