Chapter

13 More about Vibrating Strings

We have discussed the vibrating string earlier, in Chapter 3. The present chapter
considers this topic in the context of applications to musical instruments. The string is
a key part of the piano, the violin, and the guitar.

A. Plucking a string

A ideal string can vibrate in a variety of modes whose frequencies are given by
v
fn = n n=1,2,3 ... (13.1)
2L

The frequencies and physical appearance of these modes have been described in
Chapter 5. It is rare, however, for a string to vibrate in only one mode. The most
common case is that it will oscillate in several modes at once. The methods of
Fourier analysis can be used to decompose a complex periodic waveform into the
different modes. Though the mathematics behind these methods is too complicated
for this course, the results can help us understand the behavior of a vibrating string.

Suppose we pluck a string in the center, so that its appearance just before being
released is as shown in Figure 13.1. The string will have a fundamental frequency of
f1 = v 2L , where v is the speed of a transverse wave along the string, and L is the

Figure 13.1 A
triangular wave on a
string. The vertical
scale is greatly
exaggerated!

length of the string. Then Fourier analysis shows that the harmonics that are
present in this shape are only the odd harmonics. If the displacement at the center
of the triangular wave is A, then the amplitudes of the first five harmonics are




 harmonic Amplitude
f1 0.811 A
2f1 0 A
3f1 0.090 A
4f1 0 A
5f2 0.032 A

Notice that the second and fourth harmonics are absent from the spectrum. It is
easy to understand why, if you recall that these modes have nodes in the very center
of the string. A string plucked in the center, however, has its anti-node in the center.
So only the odd modes, with anti-nodes in the center, appear in the spectrum.

Figure 13.2
The first three
odd harmonics,
with their
amplitudes, for
f1 the Fourier
3f1 analysis of a

triangle wave.
5f1 The dashed line
Sum represents the
sum of these
three harmonics.

Figure 13.2 shows the first three odd harmonics with their appropriate amplitudes.
The dashed line represents the sum of these three harmonics. You can see that it
approaches the form of the original triangle wave. We would have to include some
of the higher odd harmonics for the sum to be more like the shape given in Figure
13.1.

Now lets pluck the string at a position 1/5 the way along its length. The initial
appearance of string will be as shown in Figure 13.3.
 Figure 13.3
Initial appearance of
string plucked 1/5 of
the way from the
right end. Again, the
vertical scale is
greatly exaggerated.

Fourier analysis shows that the following harmonics are present with the
amplitudes given

f1 .744 A
2f1 .301 A
3f1 .134 A
4f1 .047 A
5f1 0

(There are higher harmonics present as well.)

Figure 13.4 below gives the first four harmonics (solid lines) and their sum (dashed
line.

Figure 13.4
The first four
harmonics of
f1

the string
2f1 shown in
Figure 13.3,
3f1 given as solid

4f1 lines, plus
their sum,
Sum given as a
dashed line.

Notice that the fifth harmonic is missing from this set. The reason? The string
plucked 1/5 of the way along its length has an antinode at the plucking location.
The fifth harmonic has a node at the location. Hence the fifth harmonic is
suppressed. Notice also that the fundamental is weaker in this case than it was for
the case of the string plucked in the center.

So there are two patterns to notice. When you pluck a string, modes with nodes at
the plucking location will be absent, and modes with nodes near the plucking
location will be weaker. Modes with antinodes near the plucking location will be
stronger.

This explains the change in tone quality we observe as we shift from plucking a
string near its center to plucking it near the end. As this shift happens, the
fundamental gets weaker, and higher frequency modes get stronger.

Instruments whose strings plucked include the violin family, the guitar, and the
harp.

Here is a demonstration about plucked strings.
http://www.falstad.com/loadedstring/
This enables you to play with a computerized model of a vibrating string, and
to see what modes are present in its oscillations. When it opens, I suggest
Activate Sound so you can hear what it sounds like.
Lower the simulation speed so you can see the strings motion clearly.
The simulation models a string as a sequence of beads; for the most string-
like results, increase the Number of Loads as high as possible.
Activate Log View. This lets you see the amplitudes of the harmonics more
clearly. (It gives the levels of the harmonics, instead of the amplitudes.)

Now play around with it. Notice how the spectrum and the sound change
when you pluck the string in the center or somewhere else. Notice how
things change when you pluck the strings near one end. Can you pluck it 1/5
of the way from one end as in the example above? You can tell, because all
harmonics which are 5, 10, 15, etc. times the fundamental will be missing.
You can also shape the string so that it starts oscillating in whatever shape
you want. Select Mouse = Shape string.


B. Striking a string

In instruments such as the piano, the hammered dulcimer, and cimbalom, strings
are struck with hammers instead of being plucked. Hammers can have a variety of
characteristics; they can have different masses, different widths, and different
surface treatments. In addition, a hammer can strike the string in different locations
and with different speeds.

When a hammer strikes a string, it creates two pulses that move in opposite
directions. These pulses reflect and invert when they reach the string ends. When
an inverted pulse returns to the hammer, it makes a force that pushes the hammer
away from the string. Sometimes the traveling pulse must make several round trips
before the hammer is thrown off the string. Clearly the interaction between the
hammer and string depends on the relative masses of the string and the hammer. If
the hammer is much less massive than the string, then the hammer will transfer
little energy into the string. (Think about how much energy a ping pong ball
transfers to a bowling ball when they collide.) If a hammer is very massive
compared to the string, it will take more round trips to throw the hammer from the
string than if the hammer was less massive. Hence the hammers in a piano have
different masses; the most massive ones are the ones that strike the most massive
strings.

As the velocity with which the hammer strikes the string gets less, the pulse it
creates has a smaller amplitude, making the resulting sound quieter. If the hammer
is more rounded on the end, or if the hammer is softer, then the higher frequency
partials in the sound will be reduced in intensity compared to the lower frequency
partials. If you strike the string toward the end, rather than towards the middle, the
higher frequency partials will become more intense. In pianos, the strike point is
1/7 to 1/9 of the distance from one end of the string. Since the string is set into
motion at that point, modes with nodes at the striking point tend to be weaker. So if
the fundamental frequency of the string is f, and if the string is struck 1/8 of the
distance from one end, we would expect modes with frequencies 8f, 16f, etc. to be
suppressed.

C. Bowing a string

Why does pulling a bow at constant speed across a string cause the string to
vibrate? To answer this question, we need to learn about the friction force between
the bow and the string. Friction is a force that opposes the slippage between two
surfaces. (Some people believe that friction opposes motion. This isnt true;
instead, friction opposes the relative motion of two surfaces.) When the two surfaces
do not move with respect to each other, they stick together, and the friction force is
called static friction. When the two surfaces slip past each other, the friction force is
called kinetic friction. An important feature of these two kinds of friction: the
maximum force of static friction is greater than the force of kinetic friction. Since
both kinds of friction are involved when a bow makes a string oscillate, we refer to
the friction as stickslip friction. The resulting motion of the string is called
Helmholtz motion, since it was first described by Helmholtz.

If you have ever pushed a refrigerator across a floor, you know that you have to
make a bigger force to get it started moving, and a smaller force to keep it moving.
This happens because you must exceed the maximum force of static friction to start
it sliding; but you must balance with the force of kinetic friction to keep it going.

Put the bow on a string and move the bow at constant velocity to the side. Since the
bow starts by sitting on the string, we have static friction. So initially, the string
moves to the side with the bow. As the string moves, it bends at the spot where the
bow is pulling it. It bends more and more the further the bow pulls it, and it
experiences a greater and greater restoring force due to the tension acting on the
bend. Eventually, the restoring force exceeds the maximum force of static friction,
and the string starts to slip. As it slips, it is acted on by kinetic friction. Since the
force of kinetic friction is significantly smaller than the maximum force of static
friction, the string continues to slide in the opposite direction. The string moves to
the other side of the equilibrium position of the string; on the other side, when the
string matches the speed of the bow, static friction takes over, and once again the
string sticks to the bow as the bow moves.

So we see that the string motion is in two parts. When the string sticks to the bow, it
moves slowly with the bow. When the string slides, it moves more rapidly in a
direction opposite the motion of the bow.

When one looks at the entire string, rather than at the point where the bow interacts
with the string, one finds that the string motion is fairly complex. See Figure 13.5
and its caption for a description of what is going on.



 Figure 13.5
motion of the
bowed violin string.
At (a) the string has
been carried down
by the bow, and
starts to slip. It is
slipping at (b). At
(c), it has reached
the other side.
There it stops
slipping and is
carried (in d,e,&f)
by the bow to the
other side.

Notice that the
bend or corner
formed where the
bow pulls the string
Is released from the
bow at (c), moves
to the other end of
the string, then
returns to the bow.
When this corner
reaches the bow, it
causes the string to
begin slipping
again.



For an animation showing the motion of the string in response to bowing, visit this
site: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/Bows.html. This site also includes a
description of this motion.

A slow-motion video of a bowed violin string may be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JeyiM0YNo4.



A violinist can control two aspects of the bows behavior: the force with which the
bow presses against the string and the speed of the bow. Violinists refer to the force
of the bow against the string as the pressure of the bow. Frictional forces are
proportional to the bowing pressure, hence the bow will move the string further as
the bowing pressure increases; so the amplitude of motion will increase as well.
Increasing the bowing speed also causes the string to move further, increasing the
amplitude.

D. Pickups on an electric guitar

Little sound comes from the strings of a string instrument, because the width of a
string is insufficient to move much air. In the acoustic guitar, the oscillations of the
string cause the guitars body to oscillate, producing the sound we hear. We will
consider the acoustic guitar in Chapter 14. In an electric guitar, the vibrating string
interacts with a magnetic field, producing oscillating voltages that are amplified and
made audible with loudspeakers.


But first, a few words about magnetism and magnetic fields. These are important
not only in guitar pickups, but in microphones, loudspeakers and tape recorders.

A magnetic field is what you detect with a compass. Magnetic fields are made by
permanent magnets, which are typically made of alloys of iron. (Some alloys of iron,
called hard iron, can make permanent magnets; other alloys, called soft iron, only
become temporary magnets when exposed to a magnetic field.) Magnets make
forces on certain materials, mostly the metals iron, cobalt, nickel and a their alloys.

Magnetic fields are also made by electric currents. You can tell this several ways:
electric currents affect compass needles; electric currents make forces on magnets;
electric currents make forces on other electric currents. Loudspeakers are based on
this. Figure 13.6 gives a diagram and explanation of a loudspeaker.

Figure 13.6 Diagram of a

loudspeaker. A coil of wire is
attached to the bottom of the loud-
speaker cone. The coil is close
to a permanent magnet. When
current passes through the coil,
the magnet makes a force on the
coil, which in turn makes a force
on the cone. Oscillating current in
the coil results in oscillations of
the cone, making sound.

In summary, a loudspeaker uses magnetism to convert electrical oscillations into
physical oscillations.

We also need to define voltage and current. Voltage is a kind of electrical pressure
that can push charges through a wire. It takes energy to move charges through a
wire, so voltage is also associated with energy. Charges in motion are called electric
current. So we say that voltage causes current; all other things being equal, a larger
voltage causes a larger current.


Guitar pickups are based on Faradays Law:

Changing magnetic fields create voltages.

So if I hold a wire near the pole of a magnet (where its magnetic field is strongest)
and move the wire back and forth, the wire will experience a changing magnet field.
If I oscillate the wire, then the wire will experience an oscillating voltage. If the wire
is connected to a circuit, then an oscillating current will result. I would also get the
same result if I held the wire still, but oscillated the magnet back in forth. In either
case, the physical oscillation of the wire (or magnet) creates a voltage that produces
an oscillating current in the wire.

This is the basis of electrical generators, which are responsible for producing much
of the electricity we use in our homes. This is also how some kinds of microphones
work. In fact, we can make our loudspeaker act like a microphone. Just speak into
the loudspeaker. The sound from your voice will make the cone oscillate, which will
cause the coils at the base of the cone to oscillate. Since these coils are oscillating in
a magnetic field, oscillating voltages are generated. We have converted sound
oscillations into electric oscillations.

A guitar pickup consists of a permanent magnet wrapped with thousands of coils of
thin copper wire. Just above the pole of the magnet is a string. See Figure 13.7,

 Figure 13.7 A guitar pickup.
A permanent magnet has
many coils of wire wrapped
around it. The string, made of
steel, oscillates just above the
pole of the magnet.

The string is made of steel. The string is magnetized by the permanent magnet. As
the string oscillates, its magnetic field oscillates. The coils experience the changing
magnetic field of the steel string, so an oscillating voltage is generated in the coils.
This oscillating voltage is amplified and used to generate sound in a loudspeaker.
Notice that this method requires steel strings on the guitar. If the strings cannot be
magnetized, then the coils will not experience a changing magnetic field as the string
oscillates, and the pickup will be useless. A guitar pickup is shown in Figure 13.8.

Figure 13.8 Guitar pickup with six pole

pieces, surrounded by one coil. Each pickup is
for a different string on the guitar. The
heights of the ends of the pole pieces is
adjustable, so that the poles can be placed as
close to the strings as possible, without
touching them.

Many guitars have more than one set of pickups. See Figure 13.9.
 Pickup

Pickup


Pickup

Bridge

Figure 13.9. A guitar
with three sets of
pickups. Notice that the
bridge of the guitar can
be adjusted so that
different strings have
different lengths.
.


Pickups at different locations produce different signals. If a pickup is located at the
node of a certain string mode, then that mode will node not be picked up. Any
mode that has an antinode near the pickup will be picked up. Hence the pickups
near the bridge will pick up higher frequency parts of the spectrum, and pickups
further will pick up lower frequency parts of the spectrum. Guitarists can choose
which pickups connect to the amplifier (see the knobs on the guitar of Figure 13.9.)
They can also choose to combine the signals from different pickups, resulting in a
wide range of possible timbres.

E. Other aspects of vibrating strings

There are occasions when the behavior of a vibrating string deviates from the
simple behavior developed in Chapter 3.

1. In Chapter 3, we assumed that the tension in the string was the restoring force
that acts on transverse waves. This is not quite true for thick strings; a thick string
has an additional restoring force due to its stiffness. (Imagine bending a hacksaw
blade. There is a big restoring force because of the stiffness of the metal, even
though there is no tension.) This additional restoring force is more significant for
the higher partials of the string (which involve more bending). As a result, the
higher partials are no longer exact harmonics of the fundamental frequency.
Instead they are stretched. That is, the stiffness of strings gives rise to inhamonicity
of the partials. This explains why the low strings on guitars, violins, pianos and
other instruments are not simply solid, thicker strings; the added thickness would
increase the stiffness and inharmonicity of the strings. Instead, the low strings are
thin, but wrapped with other strings to increase the strings masses without
increasing their stiffness. I will discuss inharmonicity in Chapter 17.

2. In Chapter 3, we assumed that the ends of a vibrating string are fixed and
motionless, so that the ends of the string are nodes. If this were actually true, then
no vibrations would pass from the string to the soundboard of the instrument, and
we would hear no sound. This means that the frequency of a string depends very
slightly on the mass of the bridge to which it is attached.

3. In Chapter 3, we assumed that the tension in a string is constant. However, two
things can change the tension of a string. First, when you press the string to the
fingerboard, you stretch it slightly, increasing the tension and making the frequency
slightly higher than you would expect. Second, when the string oscillates, it is a little
longer than it is in its equilibrium position. Hence an oscillating string stretches,
and one which oscillates with a greater amplitude stretches more, shifting the
frequency a little higher. This effect is most noticeable for strings with lower
tensions and greater vibrating amplitude. Figure 13.9 shows the bridge on a bass
guitar; it allows the strings to be adjusted to different lengths, compensating for the
rise in tension when the strings are pressed to the fingerboard.



Glossary

Fourier Analysis:

Kinetic friction: A friction force between two surfaces that slip past each other.

Static friction: A friction force between two surfaces that are at rest with respect to
each other.

Stick-slip friction: When a bow moves at constant speed past a string, the string
sticks to the bow for part of the motion, and slides along the bow for the rest of the
motion. During sticking, static friction acts; during sliding, kinetic friction acts.

Helmholtz motion: The motion of a string while being bowed. The string moves
with the bow during the sticking part of the friction; the string moves in the
opposite direction while sliding.

Magnetic field: A condition enabling space to align a compass needle. Magnetic
fields are created by magnets and by electric currents.

Voltage: An electrical pressure which can force a charge to move through a wire.
Associated with energy.

Current: Charge in motion. Because most materials have electrical resistance, it
takes energy (and hence voltage) to create current.

Faradays Law: Changing magnetic fields create voltages.

Guitar pickup: A device with magnetic pole pieces wrapped with wires. When steel
strings move in the magnetic field, they become magnetized, changing the magnetic
field at the location of the wires, creating a voltage in the wires according to
Faradays law. Hence the pickups convert the oscillations of the wires into voltage
oscillations.

Experiments

1. Pluck a guitar string in the center; then closer to the bridge. Listen to the timbre
change. Plucking in the exact center of the string will produce a spectrum missing
even harmonics.

2. Pluck a guitar with the fleshy part of your thumb, then with a pick or with a
fingernail. Notice the change in timbre.


Demonstrations

1. Changing magnetic fields make voltages

2. Spectrum analysis of vibrating string

3. Non-uniform string

4. Guitar pickup

5. Location of guitar pickup
Animations of bowed, plucked, and struck strings:

http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/brichard/Apples/StringModesPage.html
This lets you see the modes of oscillation underlying the Helmholtz motion of
a bowed string. Go to Modes in Sum to put different numbers of modes into
the simulation.

http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/brichard/Apples/StringsPage.html
Here you can compare the motions of bowed, plucked, and struck strings. Go
to the Excitation heading to change among these different excitation
mechanisms.

Rossing (ed), The Science of String Instruments, Springer, New York (2010).

Giordano, Physics of the Piano, Oxford University Press (2010).