Many familiar "non-musicians", holding a violin in their hands, are often interested in: "what are the strings made of?". The question is interesting, because in our time, of which only they are not made. But we will be consistent.
A bit of history
Did you know that in the Middle Ages there was a terrible rumor that strings are made from cat-like veins? So the masters, hoping that no one would kill the "poor cat", hid their real secret. Namely, what they did violin strings from sheep guts, processed, twisted and dried.
However, at the end of the XVIII century, the "gut" strings had a competitor - silk strings. But, like the veins, they demanded a careful play. And since time made new demands on the game, strong steel strings were used.
In the end, the masters decided to combine the pluses of gut and steel strings, synthetic ones appeared. But how many people, how many styles, how many violins - so many different strings.
String structure
When we spoke above about what the strings are made of, we meant the material of the basis of the string (synthetics, metal). But the base itself is also wrapped around a very thin metallic thread - winding. A winding is made of silk threads over the winding, by the color of which, by the way, you can find out the type of string.
Three string whales
What strings are made of right now is three main types of materials:
- “Veins” are the very mutton guts that started it all;
- "Metal" - aluminum, steel, titanium, silver, gold (gilding), chrome, tungsten, chrome steel and other metal base;
- "Synthetic" - nylon, perlon, kevlar.
If we talk about the characteristics of sound in a nutshell, then: the gut strings are the softest and warmest in timbre, the synthetic ones are close to them, and the steel ones give a bright, clear sound. But veins are inferior to others in sensitivity to humidity and require adjustment much more often than others. Some manufacturers of strings combine the composition: for example, they make two metal and two synthetic strings.
And here came the spider ...
As you noticed, silk strings are no longer in circulation. Don't tell me though: the Japanese scholar Shigeeshi Osaki used silk for violin strings. But not ordinary, but spider silk. Studying the possibilities of this super-durable material of Mother Nature, the researcher made the web sing.
When creating these strings, the scientist obtained a web from three hundred female spiders of the Nephilapilipes type (for reference: these are the largest spiders in Japan). 3-5 thousand strands were tied, and then a string was made from three bundles.
Spider strings gave odds to the vein in their strength, but still turned out to be weaker than nylon ones. They sound quite nice, "softly with a low timbre" (according to professional violinists).
I wonder what else unusual strings will surprise us the future?
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