Abrasive, intense and about to erupt at any moment. So begins Flow, a new piece by Nokuthula Ngwenyama for the Takács Quartet. Coaxing peculiar sounds out of centuries-old string instruments, the ...

The purpose of a string in a string instrument is to vibrate and produce sounds. How it vibrates is decided by its mass per unit length, its stiffness, and how well it allows vibrations to flow ...

How precisely does an acoustic guitar or violin produce its sweet sound? There is a simple, centuries-old way to literally "see" the vibrational patterns that cause the guitar to resonate and produce ...

The violin, viola, cello and double bass are among the most recognisable orchestral and solo instruments. But there is a particular set known as the "Golden Age" instruments which are arguably the ...

Ever wanted to play several string instruments at once? Well, now you (kind of) can... An Australian bow-maker has developed a hinged bow, allowing solo violinists to play several strings at once.

Composers have been writing music for the group of instruments we call an orchestra for the last four centuries. Endlessly adaptable and always evolving, an orchestra can be made up of 20 players or ...

At the heart of many of the world’s musical instruments is the same, simple component—a string stretched tight between two points. Plucked, bowed, or struck, each of an instrument’s strings creates ...