String (music)
In music, strings are long flexible structures on string instruments that produce sound through vibration. Strings are held under tension so that they can vibrate freely. The pitch at which a string will vibrate is primarily related to its vibrating length, its tension, and its mass per unit of length. A vibrating string produces very little sound by itself. Therefore, most string instruments have a soundboard to amplify the sound.
There are two main kinds of strings; plain and wound. "Plain" strings are simply one piece of long cylindrical material, commonly consisted of nylon or gut. "Wound" strings have a central core, with other material being tightly wound around the string.
Prior to World War II, strings of many instruments were made of a material known as catgut, a type of cord made from refined natural fibers of animal intestines. During the mid-twentieth century, steel and nylon strings became more favored in string making, although catgut is still prized for its unique sound. The invention of wound strings was a crucial step in string instrument technology, because a metal-wound string can produce a lower pitch than a plain gut string of similar thickness. This enabled stringed instruments to be made with thinner bass strings.
On string instruments that the player plucks or bows directly, this enabled instrument makers to use thinner strings for the lowest-pitched strings, which made the lower-pitch strings easier to play. On stringed instruments in which the player presses a keyboard, causing a mechanism to strike the strings, such as a piano, this enabled piano builders to use shorter, thicker strings to produce the lowest-pitched bass notes, enabling the building of smaller upright pianos designed for small rooms and practice rooms.
String construction
The end of the string that mounts to the instrument's tuning mechanism is usually plain. Depending on the instrument, the string's other, fixed end may have either a plain, loop, or ball end that attaches the string at the end opposite the tuning mechanism. When a ball or loop is used with a guitar, this ensures that the string stays fixed in the bridge of the guitar. When a ball or loop is used with a violin-family instrument, this keeps the string end fixed in the tailpiece. Fender Bullet strings have a larger cylinder for more stable tuning on guitars equipped with synchronized tremolo systems. Strings for some instruments may be wrapped with silk at the ends to protect the string. The color and pattern of the silk often identify attributes of the string, such as manufacturer, size, intended pitch, etc.Winding types
Roundwound
Roundwound strings are the simplest and most basic wound strings, they have round wire wrapped in a tight spiral around either a round or hexagonal core. Such strings are usually simple to manufacture, are the least expensive, and are convenient. Despite these advantages, they have several drawbacks, however:- Roundwound strings have a bumpy surface profile that produce friction on the player's fingertips. This causes squeaking sounds when the player's fingers slide over the strings, especially when used on electric guitar with a guitar amplifier or with an acoustic guitar amplified through a PA system.
- Roundwound strings' higher friction surface profile may hasten fingerboard and fret wear, compared with smoother flatwound strings.
- When the core is round, the winding is less secure and may rotate freely around the core, especially if the winding is damaged after use.
Flatwound
On the other hand, flatwound strings sound less bright than roundwounds and tend to be harder to bend, thus produce vibrato. Flatwounds also are more expensive than roundwounds because of less demand, less production, and higher overhead costs. Manufacturing is also more difficult, as precise alignment of the flat sides of the winding must be maintained.
Modern bowed strings are plain or flatwound, to allow smooth playing and reduce bow hair breakage. There is a niche market for roundwound fiddle strings.
Halfround, halfwound, ground wound, pressure wound
Halfround are string that are cross between roundwound and flatwound. Such strings are usually made by winding round wire around a round or hex core first, then polishing, grinding or pressing the exterior part of the winding until it is practically flat. This results in the flat, comfortable playing feel of flatwounds, along with less squeaking, with a brightness generally between roundwounds and flatwounds. The polishing process removes almost half of the winding wire's mass; thus, to compensate for it, manufacturers use winding wire of a heavier gauge. Because of the extra manufacturing process involved, they are normally more expensive than roundwounds, but less than flatwounds.Hex wound
Hex wound strings are basically hexagon shaped versions of round wound strings in which they have a hex core with a round winding that is wrapped in the shape of a hexagon. This winding process solves the second problem: it secures the winding around the core so it cannot rotate and slip under the fingers, and it improves tone due to closer bond between the core and the winding. The drawback that hex wound strings used to have was that hexagonal corners are less comfortable for fingers, and wear down the fingerboard and fret wire even faster than regular round wound strings; that drawback has been addressed by having the corners slightly rounded to make them more comfortable on the fingers and to protect the fingerboard and frets from scratches.Core types
There are two types, or shapes, of core wire typically used in wound strings.Hexcore
Hexcore strings are composed of hexagonal core wire and a tight winding. Hexcore string design prevents the winding from slipping around the core – which can occur with round core strings. This may improve tuning stability, flexibility, and reduce string breakage, compared to round core strings.Round core
Round core strings are composed of regular round core and a tight winding. Round core is the traditional "vintage" way of manufacturing and results in a greater contact between the winding and the core of the string.Gauge
Bowed instrument strings, such as for the violin or cello, are usually described by tension rather than gauge. Fretted instruments strings are usually described by gauge—the diameter of the string. The tone of a string depends partly on weight, and, therefore, on its diameter—its gauge. Usually, string manufacturers that do not describe strings by tension list string diameter in thousandths of an inch. The larger the diameter, the heavier the string. Heavier strings require more tension for the same pitch and are, as a consequence, harder to press down to the fingerboard. A fretted instrument that is restrung with different string gauges may require adjustment to the string height above the frets to maintain playing ease or keep the strings from buzzing against the frets. The action height of fretless instruments is also adjusted to suit the string gauge or material, as well as the intended playing style.Guitar
Steel strings for six-string guitar usually come in sets of matched strings. Sets are usually referenced either by the gauge of the first string, or by pair of first and last ; measurements in thousands of an inch are the de facto standard, regardless of whether Imperial units are used in a country. Some manufacturers may have slightly different gauge sequences; the sample data below comes from D'Addario string charts for regular, round-wound, nickel-plated strings. String set design has historically been done on a trial and error basis. Modern software tools can aid in the process.Electric guitar
The highest string on a six string electric guitars is usually 8 to 12 thousandths inches in diameter. The low e is typically a 42 to 55 string.While thinner strings are easier to play, they fall out of tune faster and produce a less rich sound than thicker ones.
Acoustic guitar
String gauge is subject to the personal preferences of the musician, but acoustic guitars are typically strung with a heavier gauge than electric guitars. The need for projection due to lack of amplification is one of the main reasons for this.Bass guitar
Bass guitar strings are sometimes made for a particular scale length and come in short, medium, long and extra long scale. Almost all bass guitar strings are made wound.Bowed strings
Since the 20th century, with the advent of steel and synthetic core strings, most bowed instrument string makers market their strings by tension rather than by diameter. They typically make string sets in three tension levels: heavy, medium, and light. These tension levels are not standardized between manufacturers, and do not correlate to specific diameters. One brand's medium strings may have quite a different tension from another brand's medium. Based on available historical records, gut strings were sold before 1900 in a similar way.On the other hand, modern gut core strings with metal winding, typically have been sold either ungauged for less expensive brands, or by specific gauge. The Gustav Pirazzi company in Germany introduced the Pirazzi meter measurement early in the 20th century. One PM equals.05 mm. For example, a 14 1/2 PM gauge string has is.725 mm in diameter. Pirazzi continues to sell its Oliv, Eudoxa, and Passione brand premium gut core strings by PM gauge. Each string is available in 5 or more discrete gauges. Manufacturers of traditional plain gut strings, often used in historically informed performance, sell their products by light/medium/heavy, by PM, by mm or some combination.