Huh? Folks, sound and vibration are one and the same. If the string can be seen to be vibrating and you can't hear it, it is either a problem with your hearing (which to be sure comes naturally with our advancing age), or there is sufficient ambient noise in the room or other notes being played that the sound is overwhelmed. You can be sure, that if the string is vibrating, there IS sound, whether your ears/brain sense it or not. The attenuation of the vibration follows a mathematical formula (exponential decay) that is related to internal damping and parasitic loss (which is energy transferred from the string to the body of the instrument). Attempting to ascribe a single time duration number to the sustain is an absurdity that violates the laws of physics. You can use a single number to approach some convenient threshold, say for example 75% attenuation (time to 75% reduction in volume), but 100% attenuation is something you would never be able to determine with any useful accuracy. Rob's video shows that it seems relatively easy to âqualitatively' assess the difference in sustain, but to put numbers on it, you would need to decide on some terminating threshold, and realize that the string is still vibrating and there is still sound beyond that terminating threshold.
A. John Mardinly, Ph.D., P.E. Retired Principal Materials Nanoanalysis Engineer EMail: [1][email protected] Cell: [2]408-921-3253 (does not work in TEM labs) But don't call the labâ¦.I won't be there! On Jan 9, 2017, at 3:42 AM, Jean-Marie Poirier <[3][email protected]> wrote: Not sure about that Mimmo... Mersenne is a scientist, therefore a precise observer and his observations are worth considering seriously. When he describes the duration of the sound of the bass stings of a lute, he takes care to precise ""...le son des grosses chordes de Luth est apperceu de l'oreille durant la sixiesme partie, ou le tiers d'une minute...", the sound is preceived by the ear for 10 to 20 seconds. And a few lines further he says : "...Il n'y a nul doute que la chorde se meut encore long-temps après que l'oreille en perd le son..." = there is no doubt that the strings still moves a long time after the ear has lost its sound. So he is not confusing vibration and sound, not at all ! Now, as Matthew remarked, we don't know about the conditions in which the test was done. If the lute is laid on a table, it might certainly influence the parameters of the experience... Best, Jean-Marie -------------- I am lucky: I have seen /installed strings on some hundreds od lutes in these last years. Maybe I can be in mistake, but I have never seen a lute, whose basses are roped strings or even loaded roped strings, whose sustain is so long. Even with modern Pyramid nylon wound strings (they have in absolute the higher density) . I would like to know if here there is somebody that can have a positive experience in matter. At present I would stick that Mersenne meant how many time last the vibration, not the sound. Mimmo -----Messaggio originale----- From: Matthew Daillie Sent: Monday, January 09, 2017 10:52 AM To: Mimmo Peruffo Cc: Rob MacKillop ; Lute List Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: Aquila Loaded Nylgut sustain One thing nobody seems to have mentioned is the vast differences in sustain from one instrument to another. Maybe Mersenne's comments go to show just how good some lutes were at the time. If one was to rest a lute on the edge of a wooden table as they were wont to do at the time, then maybe those 20 seconds are not so unrealistic. Best, Matthew= To get on or off this list see list information at [4]https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cs.dartmo uth.edu_-7Ewbc_lute-2Dadmin_index.html&d=DQIFaQ&c=AGbYxfJbXK67KfXyGq yv2Ejiz41FqQuZFk4A-1IxfAU&r=MAuGvnWTcVQkxORgQD0QS50ZicPM3Nw-61ygSK-L NEQ&mgCpPX7-QTOHbYqWuSyUTqerOFWHvwnWGtFZST9GXg8&s=V1-Mescs6gIDjdVHOl SP8VEmKgpA4u4e_0PqiwTxEdo&e= References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. tel:408-921-3253 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cs.dartmouth.edu_-7Ewbc_lute-2Dadmin_index.html&d=DQIFaQ&c=AGbYxfJbXK67KfXyGqyv2Ejiz41FqQuZFk4A-1IxfAU&r=MAuGvnWTcVQkxORgQD0QS50ZicPM3Nw-61ygSK-LNEQ&mgCpPX7-QTOHbYqWuSyUTqerOFWHvwnWGtFZST9GXg8&s=V1-Mescs6gIDjdVHOlSP8VEmKgpA4u4e_0PqiwTxEdo&e=
