String resonance (music) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

String resonance occurs on string instruments. Strings or parts of strings may resonate at their fundamental

Fundamental frequency

The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In terms of a superposition of sinusoids The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the...

or overtone

Overtone

An overtone is any frequency higher than the fundamental frequency of a sound. The fundamental and the overtones together are called partials. Harmonics are partials whose frequencies are whole number multiples of the fundamental These overlapping terms are variously used when discussing the...

frequencies when other strings are sounded. For example, an A string at 440 Hz will cause an E string at 330 Hz to resonate, because they share an overtone of 1320 Hz (3rd overtone of A and 4th overtone of E).

Electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

s can have string trees near the tuning pegs to mute this type of reverberation

Reverberation

Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...

. The string length behind the bridge

Bridge (instrument)

A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.- Explanation :...

also must be as short as possible to prevent the resonance.
String resonance is a factor in the timbre

Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...

of a string instrument. Tailed bridge guitar

Tailed bridge guitar

Some electric guitars have an extended bridge for their tremolo system, named a tailed bridge guitar because of its shape. Most of these tailed bridge guitars were designed in the sixties and used in surf music....

s like the Fender Jaguar

Fender Jaguar

The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar introduced in 1962. A descendant of the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar quickly caught on in the emerging Surf music scene...

differ in timbre

Timbre

from guitars with short bridges, because of their (extended) floating bridge. The Japanese Koto

Koto (musical instrument)

The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...

is also a good example of an instrument with occurring string resonance.

String resonance in instrument building

Sometimes string resonance is used in the construction of the instrument, like for instance the Sympathetic strings in many Eastern instruments.

Piano

According to a 2007 Grove Music Online article on "duplex scaling", Steinway

Steinway & Sons

Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...

developed a system of Aliquot stringing

Aliquot stringing

Aliquot stringing is the use of extra, unstruck strings in the piano for the purpose of enriching the tone.-History:Julius Blüthner invented the aliquot stringing system in 1873....

to provide sympathetic resonance, with the intention of enriching the treble register of the piano. In the "octave duplex" piano by Hoerr of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, each note had four strings, of which two, three or four could be struck by the hammer depending on the depression of any of four pedals. Steinway’s duplex scale was inspired a half century earlier by an experiment conducted by the German piano maker Wilhelm Leberecht Petzoldt, in which a small bridge was placed behind the standard larger one with the intention of maximizing the potential additional resonance of a sympathetically vibrating additional length of string.

Overtones due to string resonance on the koto

The following table

shows the created resonating overtones on the koto

Koto (musical instrument)

for various positions on a stopped string (the proportion being between the "played" portion of the string and resonant portion, the remaining length of the string).

Resonating string length/Played string	resonating harmonic	cents	reduced cents
1/1	P0 Unison In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance...	0.0	0.0
8/9	Just major tone	203.9	203.9
7/8	Septimal major second	231.2	231.2
6/7	Septimal minor third Septimal minor third In music, the septimal minor third , also called the subminor third, is the musical interval exactly or approximately equal to a 7/6 ratio of frequencies. In terms of cents, it is 267 cents, a quartertone of size 36/35 flatter than a just minor third of 6/5...	266.9	266.9
5/6	Just minor third	315.6	315.6
4/5	Just major third	386.3	386.3
3/4	perfect fourth Perfect fourth In classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there...	498.0	498.0
2/3	P5 Perfect fifth In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...	702.0	702.0
3/5	Just major sixth Major sixth In classical music from Western culture, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six staff positions , and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two...	884.4	884.4
1/2	P8 Octave In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...	1200.0	0.0
2/5	2P8 + just M3	1586.3	386.3
1/3	P8 + P5	1902.0	702.0
1/4	2P8	2400.0	0.0
1/5	2P8 + just M3	2786.3	386.3
1/6	2P8 + P5	3102.0	702.0
1/7	2P8 + septimal m7	3368.8	968.8
1/8	3P8	3600.0	0.0
1/9	3P8 + pyth M2	3803.9	203.9
1/10	3P8 + just M3	3986.3	386.3
1/11	3P8 + just M3 + GUN2	4151.3	551.3
1/12	3P8 + P5	4302.0	702.0
1/13	3P8 + P5 + T23T	4440.5	840.5
1/14	3P8 + P5 + septimal m3	4568.8	968.8
1/15	3P8 + P5 + just M3	4688.3	1088.3
1/16	4P8	4800.0	0.0

Instruments that utilize string resonance

Baryton
Baryton
The baryton is a bowed string instrument in the viol family, in regular use in Europe up until the end of the 18th century. In London a performance at Marylebone Gardens was announced in 1744, when Mr Ferrand was to perform on "the Pariton, an instrument never played on in publick before." It most...
Bazantar
Bazantar
The bazantar is a custom made string instrument invented by musician Mark Deutsch, who worked on the design between 1993 and 1997 .The bazantar is a five string double bass with 29 sympathetic and 4 drone strings and has a melodic range of five octaves...
Crwth
Crwth
The crwth is an archaic stringed musical instrument, associated particularly with Welsh music, once widely-played in Europe.-Origin of the name:...
Dilruba
Esraj
Esraj
The esraj is a string instrument found in two forms throughout the north, central, and east regions of India. It is a young instrument by Indian terms, being only about 200 years old. The dilruba is found in the north, where it is used in religious music and light classical songs in the urban areas...
Gadulka
Gadulka
The gadulka is a traditional Bulgarian bowed string instrument. Alternate spellings are "gudulka" and "g'dulka". Its name comes from a root meaning "to make noise, hum or buzz"...
Gottuvadhyam
Gottuvadhyam
The chitravina The chitravina The chitravina (also known as chitra veena, chitraveena, chitra vina, hanumad vina, or mahanataka vina, is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute Carnatic music played mainly in South India today, though its origins can be traced back to Bharata's Natya Shastra, where it is...
Hardingfele
Hardingfele
A Hardanger fiddle is a traditional stringed instrument used originally to play the music of Norway. In modern designs, the instruments are very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings and thinner wood...
H'arpeggione
Kithara
Kithara
The kithara or cithara was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the lyre or lyra family. In modern Greek the word kithara has come to mean "guitar" ....

(of Harry Partch
Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...

)
Koto
Koto (musical instrument)
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
Modern versions of the nyckelharpa
Nyckelharpa
A nyckelharpa , sometimes called a keyed fiddle, is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string.The nyckelharpa is similar in appearance to a...
Mohan veena
Mohan veena
The Mohan veena is a stringed musical instrument used in Indian classical music. It derives its name from its inventor Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt...
Moodswinger
Moodswinger
The Moodswinger is a twelve string electric zither with an additional third bridge designed by Yuri Landman. The rod which functions as the third bridge divides the strings into two sections to cause an overtone multiphonic sound...
Moonlander
Pencilina
Piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

(damper pedal)
Prepared guitar
Prepared guitar
A prepared guitar is a guitar that has had its timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings, including other extended techniques...
Prepared piano
Prepared piano
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
Rubab
Sarangi
Sarangi
The Sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument of India which is originated from Rajasthani folk instruments. It plays an important role in India's Hindustani classical music tradition...
Sarod
Sarod
The sarod is a stringed musical instrument, used mainly in Indian classical music. Along with the sitar, it is the most popular and prominent instrument in the classical music of Hindustan...
Sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
Springtime
Springtime (guitar)
The Springtime is an experimental electric guitar with seven strings and three outputs. The instrument was created in 2008 by Dutch luthier Yuri Landman for guitar player Laura-Mary Carter of Blood Red Shoes.-Technical information:...
Tambura
Tambura
The tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
Ten-string guitar
Ten-string guitar
There are many varieties of ten-string guitar, including:* Both electric and acoustic guitars.* Instruments used principally for classical, folk and popular music.* Both coursed and uncoursed instruments.-Ten-stringed harp guitars:...
Ukelin
Viola d'amore
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
Tar (lute)
Tar (lute)
The tār is a long-necked, waisted Iranian instrument. It has been adopted by other cultures and Azerbaijan. The word tar itself means "string" in Persian, though it might have the same meaning in languages influenced by Persian or any other branches of Iranian languages like Kurdish...
Twister
Setar
Setar
SETAR N.V., is the privatised full telecommunications service provider for the island of Aruba. The services provided by SETAR include: telephone, internet and GSM-related wireless services. SETAR also owns Tele Aruba....
Winslanirian

String resonance in instrument building

Piano

Overtones due to string resonance on the koto

Instruments that utilize string resonance

See also