A bowed string alternates constant-velocity grip with rapid snapback motion
Evidence
One complete cycle of the motion of the string immediately under a bow moving in one direction is illustrated in the graph on the right-hand side of Figure 4.8. (When the bow moves in the other direction, the pattern is reversed.) The string moves at a constant velocity when it is gripped by the bow hairs and then returns rapidly through its rest position until it is gripped by the bow hairs again. If the minute detail of the motion of the bowed string is observed closely, for example by means of stroboscopic illumination, it is seen to consist of two straight-line segments joining at a point that moves at a constant velocity around the dotted track as shown in the snapshot sequence in Figure 4.8. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1106
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
Related
- A bowed string moves in two straight segments joined at a moving corner (similarity 0.89)
- Bowed string motion is a stick-slip effect producing a sawtooth wave (similarity 0.87)
- A bowed string vibrates as a traveling kink, not as smooth standing waves (similarity 0.87)
- Horsehair’s directional grip enables sustained bowed-string notes (similarity 0.87)
- Bowed strings alternate between stick and slip motion (similarity 0.86)
- The stick-slip bow interaction self-limits and adapts energy to the drain. (similarity 0.85)
- Bow hairs are laid half in each direction so both strokes grip equally (similarity 0.84)
- A bowed string drives the bridge with a sawtooth waveform (similarity 0.83)
- Plucked strings vibrate as a sum of harmonic partials, not as a pure tone (similarity 0.80)
- Bowed strings sustain high harmonics indefinitely while plucked strings lose them quickly (similarity 0.80)
- Higher string modes vibrate faster because greater curvature raises restoring force (similarity 0.79)
- Bow stick-slip generates a sawtooth Helmholtz wave with rich harmonics (similarity 0.79)
- String vibration is driven by changing force direction, not changing tension (similarity 0.79)
- Bowing forces stiff-string partials into perfect harmonic alignment through phase-locked entrainment (similarity 0.79)
- A violin string clamped between steel walls would radiate almost no sound (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Bowing sustains a string at its fundamental natural frequency with high efficiency
#expands(0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1111