At 08:16 AM 12/11/96 +0000, you wrote:
>I have heard two different physicists give two completely different
>explanations for inharmonicity. One was the one you are refering to:
>that it is a function of the stiffness,length and diameter of the
>string. The other, which I heard in a talk at Fermilab by a
>physicist who also makes violins, is that a struck/plucked string will
>display inharmonicity whereas the same string when bowed will not.
>
>I have no clue, altho I am a tuner and a violinist.
>
There is no inconsistency here. I can see why a bowed instrument
would not have any inharmonicity. The continuous periodic grabbing
and letting go of the bow string locks all harmonics together. It
would be something like having a piano hammer on A-440 hitting the
string 440 times per second. Each physical contact resets the phase
of the harmonics.
-Bob Scott
P.S. Did you see my article on inharmonicity in the June 1993 PTJ?
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