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Inharmonic sounds of bowed strings in Western music and Beijing opera Chen-Gia Tsai (蔡振家)

National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Graduate Institute of Musicology Inharmonic sounds of bowed strings in Western music and Beijing opera Chen-Gia Tsai (蔡振家) Talk outline Chinese fiddle family phylogeny bow hair tension The jinghu (京胡) Inharmonic sound musical uses

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Inharmonic sounds of bowed strings in Western music and Beijing opera Chen-Gia Tsai (蔡振家)

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  1. National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Musicology Inharmonic sounds of bowed strings in Western music and Beijing opera Chen-Gia Tsai(蔡振家)

  2. Talk outline • Chinese fiddle family • phylogeny • bow hair tension • The jinghu (京胡) • Inharmonic sound • musical uses • experiment on finger-string interaction • Discussion • Conclusions

  3. The origin of Chinese fiddles • The xiqin (奚琴) • mid-8th century • Subsequently introduced to both Korea and Japan

  4. Divergent evolution Erxian二弦 Xiqin奚琴

  5. Innovation: higher bow hair tension • Low bow hair tension • Early instruments • Erxian(二弦) • Very soft, long notes • High bow hair tension • Modern instruments • Loud, rapid, staccato notes

  6. Bow hair tension: Western music • The Italian bow • slim and light • a high hair tension • The German bow • highly arched • a low hair tension

  7. German bow: chord playing • The player could tighten or relax the bow hair tension at will • high tension: playing on a single string • low tension: playing on two or more strings simultaneously www.baroquemusic.org/barvlnbo.html

  8. Talk outline • Chinese fiddle family • phylogeny • bow hair tension • The jinghu (京胡) • Inharmonic sound • musical uses • experiment on finger-string interaction • Discussion • Conclusions

  9. History • Low bow hair tension(軟弓) • High bow hair tension(硬弓) • Since 19th century

  10. Timbre & playing • Loud, sharp and piercing • Large-amplitude vibration of snakeskin • Mobility of snakeskin • Heavy use of rosin • Forceful bowing • Large-amplitude vibration of strings • Production of noise-rich sound

  11. Talk outline • Chinese fiddle family • phylogeny • bow hair tension • The jinghu (京胡) • Inharmonic sound • musical uses • experiment on finger-string interaction • Discussion • Conclusions

  12. Digitally bowed cello string Muller & Lauterborn. Acustica 82 (4): 657-664, 1996.

  13. Inharmonic sound & bow speed • D = 2.4, 2.0, 2.0, 1.2 • Torus-like attractor • The bow speed is at the upper limit of bow speeds used for most musical purposes and beyond. • High bow speeds • staccato or sforzando

  14. Jinghu’s inharmonic sound • Descriptions • blossoming tone, tiger tone, overtone, artificial noise... • High-pass noise • fcutoff ~ 1.6 kHz.

  15. Spectrum of a blossoming tone

  16. Finger-string collision • Touch technique of the left hand • Nonlinear boundary condition with unilateral constraints • Sitar, tanpura & biwa

  17. Timbre decoration of a long tone

  18. Experiment on finger-string interaction • Aims • How frequently do they contact? • Method • Electrical circuit • Sampling rate: 100 kHz

  19. Experiment on finger-string interaction • Materials • Finger • Wire • Aim • How the finger curvature affects noise production

  20. no touch no touch touch touch

  21. no touch no touch touch touch

  22. Talk outline • Chinese fiddle family • phylogeny • bow hair tension • The jinghu (京胡) • Inharmonic sound • musical uses • experiment on finger-string interaction • Discussion • Conclusions

  23. Noise control or well-controlled noise? • Blossoming tones of the jinhu • Electrical guitar (distortion) • Dry & Gabrielsson (1997) Emotional expression in guitar band performance. • Growl singing • Rock music • Psychological effect: aggression

  24. Why is a loud, noise-rich sound aggressive? • Growl voice as a by-product of spine stabilization • A raise in intra-abdominal pressure enhances spine stability in preparation for suddenly applied loads (weight lifting, attack...) • Because of this association of sound with action, the aggressive meaning of growling voices and loud, noisy sounds is universally recognized (the electrical guitar, the jinghu...) • Cholewicki et al. (1999) Lumbar spine stability can be augmented with an abdominal belt and/or increased intra-abdominal pressure.

  25. Future direction • To measure and to model the collision between the string and the curved wall • Jinghu • Indian & Japanese plucked strings

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