Thanks Anthony for that link about old violins - excellent!! > Yes, testing a string is not easy if you can't make a direct > comparison with some other known value (see my report on the synthetic > loaded bass). A change of room could make more difference than a > change of string or instrument. Then of course with a recording, the > mics and recorder all have their own tone. As you imply, probably, you > can abstract from the recording quality if the string you hear is > immediately compared with a known string on the same instrument, and > recorded in exactly the same conditions. However, blind tests of > Strads (etc) against modern violins seem to show that perception can > also be strongly effected by a musicians expectation or prior > knowledge. If you hope an instrument (or string) should be good, you > will possibly hear it as such. Apparently, a blind test can cancel > some bias, and give quite different results than expected. > http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/science/in-play-off-between-old-and- > new-violins-stradivarius- lags.html Indeed, when I spoke to two > lutensists about the new synthetic loaded strings: a lutenist who uses > loaded gut and another who uses wirewounds, their expectations > immediately became apparent; the loaded gut player expressed his fears > that the synthetic loaded bass would probably sound plasticky, and the > wirewounds player asked me whether the new string was as true as > wirewounds, or a little false like loaded gut strings. This fear or > expectancy would no doubt bias their judgement of the new string. > Blind testing would possibly counteract this. I can't pretend to be > less biassed, I think we are all biassed by the strings we are most > used to, which become our norm from which all else is compared. > Regards Anthony > > > De: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > À: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Envoyé le : Mercredi 7 mars 2012 8h08 > Objet: [LUTE] Re: Violin strings out of spider's thread > > I saw this two days ago on BBC, and after listening to the "sound > bite" > I thought, "There's no way to compare. Give me a sample sound bite of > a good violin with Thomastik strings, and the SAME violin with spider > silk strings. Then I will have a basis for comparison."With their > current sound sample I can't tell if it's the violin that's > responsible for the overall sound and tone, or the string(s). Still, > very cool. > Tom D > > Yes- I got the news from one of my lute students yesterday. I heard > > a sample sound bite on the radio on the way home from work today, > > somewhat strange sounding- reedy, "webby", a touch ethereal & > > otherworldly in a nice way. How the hell did they harvest and > > process it? About 12 years ago some archery folks tried to gather > > spider silk for bow strings (apparently the strength to mass/weight > > ratio is unbelievable) but they got tangled up in a sticky, nasty > > web mess and abandoned the project. > > > > Dan > > > > > > > On Mar 6, 2012, at 12:41 PM, Anthony Hind wrote: > > > > > Violin strings out of spider's thread: > > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17232058 > > > Anthony > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > > Tom Draughon > Heartistry Music > http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html > 714 9th Avenue West > Ashland, WI 54806 > 715-682-9362 > > > > >
Tom Draughon Heartistry Music http://www.heartistrymusic.com/artists/tom.html 714 9th Avenue West Ashland, WI 54806 715-682-9362
