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82-448: Electric bass can mean: Electric upright bass , the electric version of a double bass Electric bass guitar Bass synthesizer Big Mouth Billy Bass , a battery-powered singing fish Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Electric Bass . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

164-645: A "bass solo" by both Roger Taylor and Danny Miranda with Roger using his drumsticks as fingers in the strings. The Japanese band MUCC's bassist YUKKE used an electric upright bass during the promotional tours for their album Gokusai on the track "25ji no Yuutsu". Ævar Örn Sigurðsson of the Icelandic black/death metal act Zhrine uses an electric upright bass both in studio and live. String instrument Plucked In musical instrument classification , string instruments , or chordophones , are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when

246-413: A "normal" plucking point, producing a canonical harpsichord sound; the other has a plucking point close to the bridge, producing a reedier "nasal" sound rich in upper harmonics. A single string at a certain tension and length only produces one note. To produce multiple notes, string instruments use one of two methods. One is to add enough strings to cover the required range of different notes (e.g., as with

328-519: A Brazilian-made D'Alegria instrument. Tony Levin plays an NS Electric Upright Bass, sometimes with pizzicato and sometimes with a bow. Italian bassist Don Bachi of Bandabardò regularly plays a plucked EUB. Jazz musician Brian Torff uses EUB, often incorporating percussive effects in his playing. Rob Wasserman used a 6 string EUB in wide range of rock contexts such as Ratdog. In their 2008 tour, Queen + Paul Rodgers 's touring bassist Danny Miranda played an EUB while performing " '39 ", followed by

410-515: A Dutch-made ' Van Zalinge ' on some recordings. Eberhard Weber played an EUB on the 1975 album Yellow Fields using a combination of modes and raga -like riffs using the sustained tone of the EUB. Weber also drummed on the EUB, making a variety of percussive sounds. In free improvised music /avant garde jazz the Japanese bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa used a self-made 5-string EUB. More recently

492-550: A cave painting in the Trois Frères cave in France depicts what some believe is a musical bow , a hunting bow used as a single-stringed musical instrument. From the musical bow, families of stringed instruments developed; since each string played a single note, adding strings added new notes, creating bow harps , harps and lyres . In turn, this led to being able to play dyads and chords . Another innovation occurred when

574-431: A challenge to instrument builders, as compared with instruments that are only plucked (e.g., guitar), because on bowed instruments, the musician must be able to play one string at a time if they wish. As such, a bowed instrument must have a curved bridge that makes the "outer" strings lower in height than the "inner" strings. With such a curved bridge, the player can select one string at a time to play. On guitars and lutes ,

656-411: A clock or bell. Electric string instruments, such as the electric guitar , can also be played without touching the strings by using audio feedback . When an electric guitar is plugged into a loud, powerful guitar amplifier with a loudspeaker and a high level of distortion is intentionally used, the guitar produces sustained high-pitched sounds. By changing the proximity of the guitar to the speaker,

738-443: A curved bridge which permits a bow to be used. While EUBs are often four-stringed, 5, 6, 7, and 8-string models are available. As well, solid, hollow and 'floating top' configurations are made. While hollow and 'floating top' models produce a more resonant tone, they are also more prone to feedback ; as such, solid-body EUBs may be the best choice for bassists who play in loud styles, such as jam bands or metal fusion groups. The EUB

820-517: A half a pear shape using three strings. Early versions of the violin and fiddle, by comparison, emerged in Europe through instruments such as the gittern , a four-stringed precursor to the guitar, and basic lutes . These instruments typically used catgut (animal intestine) and other materials, including silk, for their strings. String instrument design was refined during the Renaissance and into

902-498: A heavier metal winding produces a lower pitch than a string of equal length without a metal winding. This can be seen on a 2016-era set of gut strings for double bass. The higher-pitched G string is often made of synthetic material, or sometimes animal intestine, with no metal wrapping. To enable the low E string to produce a much lower pitch with a string of the same length, it is wrapped with many wrappings of thin metal wire. This adds to its mass without making it too stiff. The frequency

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984-484: A key part of orchestras – cellos, violas, and upright basses, for example, were now standard instruments for chamber ensembles and smaller orchestras. At the same time, the 19th-century guitar became more typically associated with six-string models, rather than traditional five-string versions. Major changes to string instruments in the 20th century primarily involved innovations in electronic instrument amplification and electronic music – electric violins were available by

1066-511: A key that plucks the string. Other musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments, the player pulls a rosined horsehair bow across the strings, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy , the musician cranks a wheel whose rosined edge touches the strings. Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra in Western classical music ( violin , viola , cello and double bass ) and

1148-437: A long endpin to support the instrument at the appropriate height although some EUBs can be mounted on a stand for playing. As with the double bass, an EUB can be played standing up or sitting on a stool. EUBs are used in a wide range of styles of music, from jazz fusion and jazz to Cuban music and rock music . While four string EUBs are most common, using the same E,A,D,G tuning (from lowest to highest-pitched strings) as

1230-540: A lute-like instrument came from Mesopotamia prior to 3000 BC. A cylinder seal from c.  3100 BC or earlier (now in the possession of the British Museum) shows what is thought to be a woman playing a stick lute. From the surviving images, theorists have categorized the Mesopotamian lutes, showing that they developed into a long variety and a short. The line of long lutes may have developed into

1312-489: A number of other instruments (e.g., viols and gambas used in early music from the Baroque music era and fiddles used in many types of folk music ). All of the bowed string instruments can also be plucked with the fingers, a technique called " pizzicato ". A wide variety of techniques are used to sound notes on the electric guitar , including plucking with the fingernails or a plectrum, strumming and even " tapping " on

1394-401: A performance. The frequency is inversely proportional to the length: A string twice as long produces a tone of half the frequency (one octave lower). Pitch can be adjusted by varying the tension of the string. A string with less tension (looser) results in a lower pitch, while a string with greater tension (tighter) results in a higher pitch. Pushing a pedal on a pedal steel guitar raises

1476-401: A performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some string instruments, like guitars , by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum (pick) , and others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow , like violins . In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord , the musician presses

1558-421: A quiet tone that is loud enough for individual practice. However, since hollow-bodied EUBs do not have a large resonant cavity like a double bass , they cannot reproduce the lowest notes of the instrument without an amplifier. To amplify the EUB, the string vibrations are sensed with a pickup. Early EUBs used magnetic pickups similar to those in electric guitars, or percussive magnetic diaphragm pickups (e.g.,

1640-415: A small room. For performing it is connected to an amplifier and speaker. Though the EUB retains some of the tonal characteristics of the double bass, being electronically amplified it produces its own, unique sound. The size and shape of EUB bodies varies. Some EUBs have a very small body, which makes the instrument smaller and lighter in weight. Some EUBs have larger bodies, including the upper bouts, to aid

1722-537: A sound similar to a fretless bass guitar . Since the EUB transmits its sounds through a pickup, the tone is brighter than that of the acoustic double bass, which transmits its tone via the sound post to the back of the body. Compared to a double bass, the tone produced by an EUB is much less modified by its wooden 'body'. The Ampeg 'baby bass' has been popular in Cuban music since the 1960s being used by such performers as Cachao Lopez and Andy Gonzalez . Sting played

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1804-403: A violin scale is only about 13 inches (33 cm). On the shorter scale of the violin, the left hand may easily reach a range of slightly more than two octaves without shifting position , while on the bass' longer scale, a single octave or a ninth is reachable in lower positions. In bowed instruments, the bow is normally placed perpendicularly to the string, at a point halfway between the end of

1886-487: Is a method of playing on instruments such as the veena , banjo , ukulele , guitar, harp, lute , mandolin , oud , and sitar , using either a finger, thumb, or quills (now plastic plectra) to pluck the strings. Instruments normally played by bowing (see below) may also be plucked, a technique referred to by the Italian term pizzicato . Bowing (Italian: arco ) is a method used in some string instruments, including

1968-402: Is impractical. Instruments with a fingerboard are then played by adjusting the length of the vibrating portion of the strings. The following observations all apply to a string that is infinitely flexible (a theoretical assumption, because in practical applications, strings are not infinitely flexible) strung between two fixed supports. Real strings have finite curvature at the bridge and nut, and

2050-457: Is inversely proportional to the square root of the linear density: Given two strings of equal length and tension, the string with higher mass per unit length produces the lower pitch. The length of the string from nut to bridge on bowed or plucked instruments ultimately determines the distance between different notes on the instrument. For example, a double bass with its low range needs a scale length of around 42 inches (110 cm), whilst

2132-409: Is mainly used on electric instruments because these have a pickup that amplifies only the local string vibration. It is possible on acoustic instruments as well, but less effective. For instance, a player might press on the seventh fret on a guitar and pluck it at the head side to make a tone resonate at the opposing side. On electric instruments, this technique generates multitone sounds reminiscent of

2214-523: Is one of the five main divisions of instruments in the Hornbostel–Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification . Hornbostel–Sachs divides chordophones into two main groups: instruments without a resonator as an integral part of the instrument (which have the classification number 31, also known as 'simple'); and instruments with such a resonator (which have the classification number 32, also known as 'composite'). Most western instruments fall into

2296-687: Is one of the oldest string instruments. Ancestors of the modern bowed string instruments are the rebab of the Islamic Empires, the Persian kamanche and the Byzantine lira . Other bowed instruments are the rebec , hardingfele , nyckelharpa , kokyū , erhu , igil , sarangi , morin khuur , and K'ni . The hurdy-gurdy is bowed by a wheel. Rarely, the guitar has been played with a bow (rather than plucked) for unique effects. The third common method of sound production in stringed instruments

2378-435: Is played in a similar manner to the double bass. All EUBs can be played pizzicato style. However, only those with a suitable fingerboard and arched bridge radius can be bowed. Some EUBs are designed with integral stands, freeing the player from the need to brace/support the instrument. More rarely, EUBs may be designed to be strapped on the body using guitar straps. The use of stands may make bowing much easier, especially for

2460-573: Is the Yamaha 'silent bass' which has a removable frame designed to match the outline of right hand side and left upper bout of an upright bass allowing for easy transference of double bass techniques. Most EUBs are fretless, but a small number are fretted, to facilitate their use by players of fretted electric bass. Some fretless EUBs have some fret markings as a visual aid, particularly for higher pitches. Solid bodied EUBs produce very little sound without electronic amplification . Hollow-bodied EUBs produce

2542-406: Is to strike the string. The piano and hammered dulcimer use this method of sound production. Even though the piano strikes the strings, the use of felt hammers means that the sound that is produced can nevertheless be mellow and rounded, in contrast to the sharp attack produced when a very hard hammer strikes the strings. Violin family string instrument players are occasionally instructed to strike

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2624-506: The Baroque period (1600–1750) of musical history. Violins and guitars became more consistent in design and were roughly similar to acoustic guitars of the 2000s. The violins of the Renaissance featured intricate woodwork and stringing, while more elaborate bass instruments such as the bandora were produced alongside quill-plucked citterns , and Spanish body guitars. In the 19th century, string instruments were made more widely available through mass production, with wood string instruments

2706-536: The Eminence EUB, and some AlterEgo , Aria and Azola models. While these small resonant chambers are usually not large enough to provide much acoustic amplification, they do change the tone and response of the instrument. Condenser microphones can be used to amplify EUBs with hollow bodies, often in combination with other types of pickups. EUB players who use the bow need to use the appropriate pickup, microphone, and preamplifier/equalizer combination to avoid

2788-493: The electric violin , viola and cello , the EUB has been taken up by a wider range of players, perhaps because a traditional upright bass's size and weight makes it challenging to transport when compared to smaller instruments in the family. The scale length of EUBs varies: some scales are 42", similar to most double basses , whilst other models have scale lengths of only 30" like a short scale bass guitar . The shorter scale can make it easier for bass guitarists to convert to

2870-455: The piano , which has sets of 88 strings to enable the performer to play 88 different notes). The other is to provide a way to stop the strings along their length to shorten the part that vibrates, which is the method used in guitar and violin family instruments to produce different notes from the same string. The piano and harp represent the first method, where each note on the instrument has its own string or course of multiple strings tuned to

2952-428: The saxophone and trumpet . The development of guitar amplifiers, which contained a power amplifier and a loudspeaker in a wooden cabinet , let jazz guitarists play solos and be heard over a big band. The development of the electric guitar provided guitarists with an instrument that was built to connect to guitar amplifiers. Electric guitars have magnetic pickups , volume control knobs and an output jack. In

3034-469: The tamburs and pandura . The line of short lutes was further developed to the east of Mesopotamia, in Bactria , Gandhara , and Northwest India, and shown in sculpture from the 2nd century BC through the 4th or 5th centuries AD. During the medieval era , instrument development varied in different regions of the world. Middle Eastern rebecs represented breakthroughs in terms of shape and strings, with

3116-688: The violin , viola , cello , and the double bass (of the violin family ), and the old viol family. The bow consists of a stick with a "ribbon" of parallel horse tail hairs stretched between its ends. The hair is coated with rosin so it can grip the string; moving the hair across a string causes a stick-slip phenomenon , making the string vibrate , and prompting the instrument to emit sound. Darker grades of rosin grip well in cool, dry climates, but may be too sticky in warmer, more humid weather. Violin and viola players generally use harder, lighter-colored rosin than players of lower-pitched instruments, who tend to favor darker, softer rosin. The ravanahatha

3198-493: The 1920s and were an important part of emerging jazz music trends in the United States. The acoustic guitar was widely used in blues and jazz , but as an acoustic instrument, it was not loud enough to be a solo instrument, so these genres mostly used it as an accompaniment rhythm section instrument. In big bands of the 1920s, the acoustic guitar played backing chords, but it was not loud enough to play solos like

3280-465: The 1960s and 1970s, such as fuzz pedals , flangers , and phasers , enabling performers to create unique new sounds during the psychedelic rock era. Breakthroughs in electric guitar and bass technologies and playing styles enabled major breakthroughs in pop and rock music in the 1960s and 1970s. The distinctive sound of the amplified electric guitar was the centerpiece of new genres of music such as blues rock and jazz-rock fusion . The sonic power of

3362-408: The 1960s, larger, more powerful guitar amplifiers were developed, called "stacks". These powerful amplifiers enabled guitarists to perform in rock bands that played in large venues such as stadiums and outdoor music festivals (e.g., Woodstock Music Festival ). Along with the development of guitar amplifiers, a large range of electronic effects units , many in small stompbox pedals, were introduced in

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3444-472: The Ampeg Baby Bass). Many modern EUBs use piezoelectric pickups located in the bridge or a combination of pickup types. The signal from the pickup is usually preamplified and equalized with a preamplifier and then sent to a bass amplifier or a PA system . For practice in a hotel room or apartment, an EUB can also be connected to headphones. Some EUBs have a hollow resonant chamber, such as

3526-572: The EUB is less prone to feedback than the double bass when amplified. To use a bow with an EUB, both the bridge and fingerboard need to be radiussed (given a curve). If the EUB's bridge and fingerboard are relatively flat, like those on an electric bass , then it is not possible to use the bow on the inner strings. By using suitable (gut or synthetic core) strings and adjusting the amplifier tone and distortion controls, an EUB can emulate an acoustic double bass. By using brighter (steel core) strings, tone controls and bass effects , an EUB can also take on

3608-408: The EUB. Some scales lie between these two extremes, for example 34", like a long scale bass guitar. The fingerboard extends over two octaves and usually has side dots for the player's reference. Regardless of scale length, the strings are usually tuned to E1, A1, D2, G2 (see Scientific pitch notation ) at the same pitch as the double bass or bass guitar . Double bass players use features of

3690-506: The Portuguese bassist Margarida Garcia has concentrated on the EUB in electro-acoustic improvisation. Houston-based musician Damon Smith uses a 7 string Ergo EUB tuned (low to high) BEADGCF for free jazz and improvised music. In the 1990s and 2000s, Les Claypool used the EUB in several of his bands. Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam also regularly uses EUBs. In heavy metal , bassists such as Felipe Andreoli of Angra use EUBs; Andreoli uses

3772-406: The action and strings of the piano were taken out of its box, it could still be played. This is not true of the violin , because the string passes over a bridge located on the resonator box, so removing the resonator would mean the strings had no tension. Curt Sachs also broke chordophones into four basic subcategories, "zithers, lutes, lyres and harps." Dating to around c.  13,000 BC ,

3854-459: The air inside it. The vibration of the body of the instrument and the enclosed hollow or chamber make the vibration of the string more audible to the performer and audience. The body of most string instruments is hollow, in order to have better sound projection. Some, however—such as electric guitar and other instruments that rely on electronic amplification—may have a solid wood body. In musicology , string instruments are known as chordophones. It

3936-478: The bare fingers or a plectrum, bowed or (in the Aeolian harp, for instance) sounded by wind. The confusing plenitude of stringed instruments can be reduced to four fundamental type: zithers, lutes, lyres, and harps. In most string instruments, the vibrations are transmitted to the body of the instrument, which often incorporates some sort of hollow or enclosed area. The body of the instrument also vibrates, along with

4018-416: The beginner, because then the instrument does not have to be stabilized with the knee and thighs. Like a double bass, the instrument may be played either standing or sitting on a tall stool. The optimum height for most players will be when the (index) finger in the first position (i.e., second fret on a fretted instrument) is at the same level as the player's eye. If the bass is higher than this, discomfort in

4100-413: The body and, as such, they produce almost no sound without electronic amplification. Solid-body EUBs are connected to an amplifier for practice and live performances. Hollowbody EUBs have a wooden enclosure, which, whilst having a much smaller hollow body cavity than that of a double bass, is still large enough to give the instrument some sound output without amplification, at least for individual practice in

4182-437: The bow harp was straightened out and a bridge used to lift the strings off the stick-neck , creating the lute. This picture of musical bow to harp bow is theory and has been contested. In 1965 Franz Jahnel wrote his criticism stating that the early ancestors of plucked instruments are not currently known. He felt that the harp bow was a long cry from the sophistication of the civilizations of western Asia in 4000 BC that took

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4264-487: The bridge can be flat, because the strings are played by plucking them with the fingers, fingernails or a pick; by moving the fingers or pick to different positions, the player can play different strings. On bowed instruments, the need to play strings individually with the bow also limits the number of strings to about six or seven; with more strings, it would be impossible to select individual strings to bow. (Bowed strings can also play two bowed notes on two different strings at

4346-421: The bridge, because of its motion, is not exactly nodes of vibration. Hence the following statements about proportionality are approximations. Pitch can be adjusted by varying the length of the string. A longer string results in a lower pitch, while a shorter string results in a higher pitch. A concert harp has pedals that cause a hard object to make contact with a string to shorten its vibrating length during

4428-441: The difference is perhaps more subtle. In keyboard instruments, the contact point along the string (whether this be hammer, tangent, or plectrum) is a choice made by the instrument designer. Builders use a combination of experience and acoustic theory to establish the right set of contact points. In harpsichords, often there are two sets of strings of equal length. These "choirs" usually differ in their plucking points. One choir has

4510-414: The double bass and bass guitar, 5-, 6, 7- and 8-string models are also available (though instruments other than four or five strings are uncommon). Like the double bass, most EUBs can be plucked ("pizzicato") or bowed. For an EUB to be bowed, it must have a curved bridge, so that the bow can be used on all of the individual strings. The first production electric upright basses were developed independently in

4592-468: The dynamic and timbre (tone colour) range of orchestras, bands, and solo performances. String instruments can be divided into three groups: It is also possible to divide the instruments into categories focused on how the instrument is played. All string instruments produce sound from one or more vibrating strings , transferred to the air by the body of the instrument (or by a pickup in electronically amplified instruments). They are usually categorised by

4674-498: The fingerboard and the bridge. However, different bow placements can be selected to change timbre . Application of the bow close to the bridge (known as sul ponticello ) produces an intense, sometimes harsh sound, which acoustically emphasizes the upper harmonics . Bowing above the fingerboard ( sul tasto ) produces a purer tone with less overtone strength, emphasizing the fundamental , also known as flautando , since it sounds less reedy and more flute-like. Bowed instruments pose

4756-554: The fingerboard and using feedback from a loud, distorted guitar amplifier to produce a sustained sound. Some string instruments are mainly plucked, such as the harp and the electric bass . Other examples include the sitar , rebab , banjo , mandolin , ukulele , and bouzouki . In the Hornbostel–Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification , used in organology , string instruments are called chordophones. According to Sachs , Chordophones are instruments with strings. The strings may be struck with sticks, plucked with

4838-401: The guitar, bass, violin, etc.) can be played using a magnetic field. An E-Bow is a small hand-held battery-powered device that magnetically excites the strings of an electric string instrument to provide a sustained, singing tone reminiscent of a held bowed violin note. Third bridge is a plucking method where the player frets a string and strikes the side opposite the bridge. The technique

4920-419: The guitarist can produce sounds that cannot be produced with standard plucking and picking techniques. This technique was popularized by Jimi Hendrix and others in the 1960s. It was widely used in psychedelic rock and heavy metal music . There are three ways to change the pitch of a vibrating string . String instruments are tuned by varying a string's tension because adjusting length or mass per unit length

5002-410: The instrument such as the neck heel and edge of the upper bout as tactile positional references. The rear of the body of an upright bass is usually braced against the hip with player standing or knee if sitting. Many EUBs therefore mirror these features in their design. There will often be a raised reference point about 1/3 down from the nut to the bridge at either the "D" or "Eb" position (where

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5084-400: The left hand usage can be modified with the whole hand being brought round to the front of the instrument and the thumb taking the place of the index finger. These positions are called the ' thumb positions ' in double bass parlance. In these positions, it is necessary to rest the neck of the bass against the player's left shoulder in order to support the neck against the pressure of fingers on

5166-478: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Electric_Bass&oldid=433846146 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Electric upright bass There are two types: solid-body EUBs and hollowbody EUBs. Solid-body EUBs have no hollow enclosure for

5248-478: The loudly amplified, highly distorted electric guitar was the key element of the early heavy metal music , with the distorted guitar being used in lead guitar roles, and with power chords as a rhythm guitar . The ongoing use of electronic amplification and effects units in string instruments, ranging from traditional instruments like the violin to the new electric guitar, added variety to contemporary classical music performances, and enabled experimentation in

5330-479: The mid-1930s by Regal, Vega and Rickenbacker . However, in the 1930s and 1940s, neither the transducers nor the amplification equipment then available could accurately reproduce the deep tones of the acoustic double bass. This may have contributed to the lack of public interest in either the electric upright basses or Paul Tutmarc 's bass guitar-style instruments that emerged in the 1930s. In comparison with other electronically amplified string instruments , such as

5412-457: The muscles of the neck may be experienced after playing long passages in the first position. If the bass is too low, the player may need to bend or stretch when attempting to play notes at the higher end of the fingerboard. The strings are generally plucked with the sides of the top joints of the index and middle fingers, although sometimes the tips are used to produce a mellower tone or to facilitate rockabilly or bluegrass "slap" playing, while

5494-436: The notes "D" or "Eb" are found on the "G" string)) to represent the 'neck heel ' of the acoustic bass. Many EUBs have wooden or metal bars to brace the instrument against the musician's body, to act as the upper bouts of a wooden double bass. The wooden or metal brace bars help the EUB to rest against the player's body in a position roughly similar to the way a double bass rests against the body. The most complete example of this

5576-402: The pitch of certain strings by increasing tension on them (stretching) through a mechanical linkage; release of the pedal returns the pitch to the original. Knee levers on the instrument can lower a pitch by releasing (and restoring) tension in the same way. A homemade washtub bass made out of a length of rope, a broomstick and a washtub can produce different pitches by increasing the tension on

5658-424: The player in performing higher pitches. Some EUBs have built-in pickups and volume controls, similar in function to the pickups and knobs on an electric bass (also called the bass guitar). Some EUBs are sold without an onboard pickup or knobs; a player using this instrument would need to purchase a piezoelectric (or magnetic) pickup separately and then attach the pickup to the body or bridge. EUBs sometimes have

5740-451: The player presses keys on to trigger a mechanism that sounds the strings, instead of directly manipulating the strings. These include the piano , the clavichord , and the harpsichord. With these keyboard instruments , strings are occasionally plucked or bowed by hand. Modern composers such as Henry Cowell wrote music that requires that the player reach inside the piano and pluck the strings directly, "bow" them with bow hair wrapped around

5822-491: The primitive technology and created "technically and artistically well-made harps, lyres, citharas, and lutes." Archaeological digs have identified some of the earliest stringed instruments in Ancient Mesopotamian sites, like the lyres of Ur , which include artifacts over three thousand years old. The development of lyre instruments required the technology to create a tuning mechanism to tighten and loosen

5904-427: The rope (producing a higher pitch) or reducing the tension (producing a lower pitch). The frequency is proportional to the square root of the tension: The pitch of a string can also be varied by changing the linear density (mass per unit length) of the string. In practical applications, such as with double bass strings or bass piano strings, extra weight is added to strings by winding them with metal. A string with

5986-531: The same time, a technique called a double stop .) Indeed, on the orchestral string section instruments, four strings are the norm, with the exception of five strings used on some double basses . In contrast, with stringed keyboard instruments, 88 courses are used on a piano , and even though these strings are arranged on a flat bridge, the mechanism can play any of the notes individually. Similar timbral distinctions are also possible with plucked string instruments by selecting an appropriate plucking point, although

6068-399: The second group, but the piano and harpsichord fall into the first. Hornbostel and Sachs' criterion for determining which sub-group an instrument falls into is that if the resonator can be removed without destroying the instrument, then it is classified as 31. The idea that the piano's casing, which acts as a resonator, could be removed without destroying the instrument, may seem odd, but if

6150-533: The string tension. Lyres with wooden bodies and strings used for plucking or playing with a bow represent key instruments that point towards later harps and violin-type instruments; moreover, Indian instruments from 500 BC have been discovered with anything from 7 to 21 strings. In Vietnam, a 2,000 year old, singularly stringed instrument made of deer antler was also discovered. Musicologists have put forth examples of that 4th-century BC technology, looking at engraved images that have survived. The earliest image showing

6232-449: The string with the stick of the bow, a technique called col legno . This yields a percussive sound along with the pitch of the note. A well-known use of col legno for orchestral strings is Gustav Holst 's "Mars" movement from The Planets suite. The aeolian harp employs a very unusual method of sound production: the strings are excited by the movement of the air. Some instruments that have strings have an attached keyboard that

6314-419: The strings, or play them by rolling the bell of a brass instrument such as a trombone on the array of strings. However, these are relatively rarely used special techniques. Other keyed string instruments, small enough for a strolling musician to play, include the plucked autoharp , the bowed nyckelharpa , and the hurdy-gurdy, which is played by cranking a rosined wheel. Steel-stringed instruments (such as

6396-399: The strings. On the shorter scale EUBs, bass guitar fingering can be used over a large portion of the fingerboard and thumb positions may not be necessary. On the longer scale models, due to the larger distances between notes, the double bass ( Simandl ) fingering method usually has to be used. Since the EUB typically does not have a hollow sound chamber, or only includes a small sound chamber,

6478-404: The technique used to make the strings vibrate (or by the primary technique, in the case of instruments where more than one may apply). The three most common techniques are plucking, bowing, and striking. An important difference between bowing and plucking is that in the former the phenomenon is periodic so that the overtones are kept in a strictly harmonic relationship to the fundamental. Plucking

6560-500: The tendency for the amplified tone to be scratchy and high-sounding. To obtain a more natural arco sound, some performers use a condenser microphone for arco passages. Most bass pickups are designed to capture the pizzicato sounds of a double bass rather than the arco sounds. Some pickup manufacturers produce piezoelectric pickups that purportedly provide a natural reproduction of arco sound. Preamplifiers and equalizers for acoustic instruments or double basses can also be used to " roll off "

6642-413: The thumb of the right hand rests against the side of the fingerboard. The strings are usually plucked over the fingerboard near the end. The left hand is used to stop the strings by pressing down with the fleshy part of the finger, generally using the ball of the thumb at the back of the neck to obtain pressure. In the highest positions on the fingerboard, where the neck on an EUB gets considerably thicker,

6724-426: The treble frequencies or "notch out" the "scratchy-sounding" frequencies. An external parametric equalizer could also be used to remove unwanted "scratchy" sounds. There are many varieties of EUBs available at present. Some EUBs cannot be used with a bow because of the large radius of the fingerboard and the flatness of the bridge . These types are therefore solely used for pizzicato playing. Other EUBs have

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