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

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