A bowed string vibrates as a traveling kink, not as smooth standing waves

Evidence

In the violin, the bow and the string have a strong, non-linear interaction. When moving in one direction, the bow sticks to the string and moves it in the same direction until the tension of the string forces the string to retract and to stick to another position on the bow. The frequency of this repeated stick-and-slip effect depends on the resonances of the string. The movement of the bowing position of the string thus resembles the shape of the sawtooth wave (Equation (3.9) on page 46). From the point of view of modelling, this reminds us of the woodwind and brass instruments, where the excitation is continuous and non-linearly coupled and synchronized to the resonator. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 670 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: String vibration is driven by changing force direction, not changing tension — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 772; Bowed string motion is a stick-slip effect producing a sawtooth wave — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 670; Bowing sustains a string at its fundamental natural frequency with high efficiency (+4 more)

Related

• Bowed strings alternate between stick and slip motion (similarity 0.95)
• Bowed string motion is a stick-slip effect producing a sawtooth wave (similarity 0.94)
• The stick-slip bow interaction self-limits and adapts energy to the drain. (similarity 0.92)
• A bowed string moves in two straight segments joined at a moving corner (similarity 0.86)
• A bowed string alternates constant-velocity grip with rapid snapback motion (similarity 0.85)
• String vibration is driven by changing force direction, not changing tension (similarity 0.85)
• Bowed strings sustain high harmonics indefinitely while plucked strings lose them quickly (similarity 0.85)
• Bow stick-slip generates a sawtooth Helmholtz wave with rich harmonics (similarity 0.85)
• A bowed string drives the bridge with a sawtooth waveform (similarity 0.84)
• A bowed string moves as a traveling kink, discovered by Helmholtz. (similarity 0.83)
• Real string stiffness slightly raises wave velocity with frequency, affecting timbre. (similarity 0.83)
• A violin string clamped between steel walls would radiate almost no sound (similarity 0.82)
• Instrument stiffness versus tension determines how widely its modes are spaced (similarity 0.82)
• Plucked strings vibrate as a sum of harmonic partials, not as a pure tone (similarity 0.81)
• Bowing forces stiff-string partials into perfect harmonic alignment through phase-locked entrainment (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• A bowed string alternates constant-velocity grip with rapid snapback motion #corroborates (0.88)
• Bowed string motion is a stick-slip effect producing a sawtooth wave #qualifies (0.85) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 670
• Bowing sustains a string at its fundamental natural frequency with high efficiency #contradicts (0.80)
• Bending waves disperse with frequency, so their waveshape is not preserved #expands (0.75)