I can agree with the beauty of the bass, and I'm not sure how R. got the impression that I was suggesting a certain pitch for a certain guage (and I'm not sure what that means). One can go as long as one wants on fretted courses, just make a longer neck and more frets - and if your arm is too short get an assistant to do the fretting <g>. My point was that any instrument with a fixed vibrating length has a limit on the range of pitches, and therefore courses, using string guages within reason. A bass too tight has a tight sound, a bass too loose has no sound.
I have listened to the singing of strings a half inch thick and sixty feet long, strummed by the wind. The true logic is that each "guage" has a length and tension combination that will produce a musical sound. And that musical sound is affected by where in the range the combination is. At the lower end of the range the sound will be fuller, with more overtones, and at the upper end a bit brighter. Theer is a music in many things, the "thrumming" of the standing rigging in a high wind playing off the almost random percussion of the loose halyards snapping against the mast makes music to a sailor's ears. Best, Jon ----- Original Message ----- From: "rosinfiorini" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 10:12 AM Subject: Re: Re: Carbon fiber strings > Jon wrote: > >But it is only important on a lute as > > to the chaterelle, and the highest pitch one wants to attain (and for many > > coursed lutes whether the bass courses can make a musical sound without the > > extension of the VL, as in the arch lutes and theorbos). > ________________________ > for many lute players the extension of the vibrating lenght (VL) is not a simple dry, technical means to provide certain pitch for certain gauge, etc. It is the means to have a LONGER VIBRATING TONE. You can't go too long on fretted courses but why not on the basses--this is the true logic behind very long basses. Longer vibrating bass is sweet and dull, drum-like, quickly dying bass string of short lenght is better for "marimba" loving sound(lol) > > > > > > Craig, > > > > Arto has given you a number I can't quarrel with for the carbon fibers for > > mass, but tensile strength is another matter (and for those who have > > corrected me for using that term, it may be inexact as one is dealing with > > stress, but it is a usable term). > > > > The mass is a cubic measure (as Arto gave it), after all there can be no > > mass in a pure plane any more than there is length in a point or width in a > > line. In our three dimensional world one needs all three dimensions to make > > up mass (I won't speak for the "Flatlanders", nor for extradimensional > > beings - just for our particular space). > > > > But the strength, in the sense of breaking stress, is a square measure. > > Within limits the length makes no difference, only the stress resistance of > > the material (in bridge cables one has to add the weight of the cable itself > > to the load it bears, and other such confusions - and with strings one has > > to consider the imperfections that multiply the longer the string). > > > > Tensile strength is of interest to lutenists (and other string players) > > because of the question of "breaking pitch", which tends to be the same no > > matter the gauge of the string for a given length. The string of greater > > mass needs a higher tension (stress) to reach a pitch, but it also has > > greater strength due to the thicker cross section. It is not intuitive that > > the "breaking pitch" should always be the same for a given material - the > > relationships might not be linear - but it seems they are. Experimentation > > seems to have shown that. > > > > I hope to soon be able to have some empirical data on the topic, but the > > strings I've got tensile strength figures for seem to react as predicted for > > breaking pitch when put to the test. But it is only important on a lute as > > to the chaterelle, and the highest pitch one wants to attain (and for many > > coursed lutes whether the bass courses can make a musical sound without the > > extension of the VL, as in the arch lutes and theorbos). > > > > Best, Jon > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Craig Robert Pierpont" > > To: "Lute List" > > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 6:27 PM > > Subject: Carbon fiber strings > > > > > > > Does anybody have the mass and tensile strength values for carbon fiber > > strings. (Saverez strings claim not to be carbon fiber so those numbers > > won't necessarily work.) > > > Thanks, > > > Craig > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > > > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > -- > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------ > > Faites un voeu et puis Voila ! www.voila.fr > > > -- > > >
