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Viva los semi-panaderos!
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A guitar which has strings that get thinner as they go towards the body.
This should reduce the distance between the frets near the head of the guitar and even out the distance between frets. It will be easier to learn, shorter and place less stress on the guitarist's fingers.
Not sure how easy
it would be to manufacture the strings though.
already exists?
http://www.derek-ha...bellinear-1999.html
fuller explanation [humanzee, Nov 13 2005]
[link]
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There's a hell of a lot of strokes in that article. |
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Not linear variation, but loga-rythmic? |
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I would expect that a properly constructed tapered guitar string could work as described, generating proper harmonics, were it not for the need to control two variables: (1) the amount of taper, and (2) the musical pitch corresponding to any particular damped length. On a conventional string made out of uniform material, some of the material will be dragged over the end of the fretboard as the instrument is tuned, but this isn't a problem because the vibrating section of the string is uniform. On a taper-string guitar, dragging part of the tapered section over the fretboard would cause the amount of taper on the remaining section to vary. |
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The only way I can see to overcome this would be to tune the strings by passing an electric current through them to heat them. Unfortunately, assuring uniform heating of a non-uniform string would pose problems of its own. |
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//tune the strings by passing an electric current through them to heat them// |
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Not to mention the burning sensation when playing them. |
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I think this is a really interesting idea but mainly for the reasons that Pa've mentions. You could probably space the frets so that tonic(s) matched the 'normal' scales, but I suspect that the harmonics would be just a bit off and it would merely sound out of tune link an old worn out string - ie the harmonics are not quite what your ear expects. |
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When playing chords you would probably get a lot of 'beating' from slightly mismatched harmonics. Drums have very non-linear harmonics which is why they can only convey vaguely defined pitches. But they are so far off you don't sense it as 'out of tune'. Perhaps the strings could be so constructed. |
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Then again, the non-linearity may also cause rapid non-resonant decay, so that it would have to be played percussively. This sounds like a great project to pursue. |
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Or, alternatively, if the taper was very slight the harmonic mismatches may not be percieved as out of tune, but harmonically rich in the manner of a twelve string guitar. |
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String heaters exist for pianos. They result in a self-tuning piano (QRS on Story & Clark pianos). |
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I'm not sure if they are yet shipping. |
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Maybe it could be modelled computationally and then a patch created for an existing stringless guitar/synth thinga-me to try out the sound. You wouldn't benefit from the change in layout but at least you might get some idea as to whether the idea was worth pursuing. |
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OK, got some ideas:
1. I think it isn't necessary to have to have a tapered string: it could have varying density (Air in a G-String?). The string will be more playable if it is the same thickness along its length. The problem in either case is getting a very precise change. A linear string is very precise, of course.
2. I strongly suspect that a logarithmic function is required.
3. I also suspect that a logarithmic function would rule out any problems with stretch, or pulling strings across the end of the fretboard.
4. I think that the nodes for the harmonics depends on the natural frequency of the string, which is a function of the mass, length and tension. In a tapered string, the mass of each side will be different compared to a normal string. So perhaps the nodes will also shift accordingly.
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