Speed?

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26 points

Violinist here.

Violins make sound by dragging the bow (stretched horse hair) over a string, causing the string to vibrate. At the micro level, the bow pulls the string to one side using friction, until the tension on the string pulls it back - this happens hundreds of times per second, and forms the basis of the sound we hear. Horse hair is slippery by default. To create the necessary tension violinists apply a small amount of solidified tree resin by wiping a piece along the length of the bow. This piece of hardened resin has the same approximate texture as glass or hard candy, and is called rosin.

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2 points

Do you heat it to apply it?

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10 points

No. It comes in pucks or small blocks and you simply draw the bow across it or pass the rosin up and down the length of the bow a few times and that’s usually enough. Too much rosin can gum up the bow.

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3 points

That’s cool, pretty similar to archery then

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1 point

Why not use a fiber that’s not not stretchy, and also not smooth? How would using a synthetic fiber affect the sound?

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6 points

Originally? Probably lack of options. These days the aim of the game is sounding “like a violin”, so naturally there’s very little innovation in violin technology.

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1 point

But what kind of drugs do you like?

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2 points

Yes

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Memes

!memes@lemmy.ml

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