The motion and sound of a guitar string can be explained with some basic wave physics. It won't take long, so let's see how much we can cram into one Science Minizode. Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars Target Mids available now: csguitars.co.uk/target-mids Buy CSGuitars Merchandise: csguitars.bigcartel.com/
Joshua Vovk if Colin doesn't answer allow me, people in the British isles and the commonwealth (like myself in Australia) are by and large raised saying maths instead of math, simple as that
@@jacktowers7533 I know, but why is that when it's easier to not use the "ths" sound. I'm trying to get to the root of the "ths". Why would anyone think, "Hey, how do we shorten 'Mathematics' and still make it hard to say, and thus continue to make mathematics the most underappreciated subject in school?" Ye get my point? Still: yay math and hail to nerds!
Thanks for this. Too many guitar players never stop to think much about the physics of the string, and how it can impact on their tone. Much comes from considering the physics of the string. For instance, one of the reasons why fanned-fretboards have become mainstream in recent years is because we understand more about how scale length impacts on string compliance, and how string compliance affects harmonic content. Going in the other direction, anyone who has ever used an analog octave-up or octave down unit will know that both behave much better above the 7th fret, or higher. Why? Because the shorter the string length, the stiffer the string, the less compliant, and the more the fundamental dominates over the harmonics, making it easier to identify the note pitch and reliably generate the derived octave up or down. The physics also pertains to the string as a body-set-in-motion. We too often think of it like it was a steady-state oscillator, but much like ourselves, it is dying from the moment it is plucked/picked. That includes not only overall decaying amplitude, but also the disappearance of various harmonics as the string comes to rest. The manner in which the various harmonics are damped over time, by the bridge (e.g., floating wooden vs Tele-style) or the very string material itself, plays a role in creating the tone of the guitar, and sometimes even the tone of effects. We overlook the fact that many hard-to-replicate "classic" fuzz tones were produced by studio players wielding big jazz boxes with floating bridges, that coaxed very different sounds out of a fuzz than an SG might, largely by the idiosyncratic manner in which the string decayed, and the signal hitting the fuzz quickly fell below clipping threshold. Finally, there is a reason why a great many guitar synths have/had their pickup snuggled against the bridge. Deriving a unique signal from each string with such a pickup requires that there be no bleedthrough or crosstalk from adjacent strings. And the only dependable way to do that is by sticking the pickup where the strings "wiggle" the least.
Yes to all science videos ! don't be afraid to make longer videos if the subject needs it. This is becomming my favourite youtube channel for all the reasons.
Don't worry, there will still be long science videos. There are some topics though that I can rattle out in 3:30 minutes (play time, this still took my days to put together...) and it's a good challenge to keep things condensed. I could do this exact same video in a very hand holding, step by step way that would take about 15 minutes, but I think this quick way is a lot more fun.
Nice succinct video, and good explanation. However I think you definitely need a follow-up explaining why string tension and gauge are important for hitting the right notes and not snapping necks.
Nice video Colin! Such informations should be known by every guitar (or every other instrument too) player, along with basic maintenance of instruments. Keep going this way! Cheers from Italy
Thanks, Colin. I'm continually impressed with your explanations and presentations. Concise, accurate, useful. Science is real - for all of you out there who doubt that :-)
I just finished a music project for one of my math courses discussing this as one of the topics. If only this vid came out sooner it would have saved me a couple of hours of research! 😁
This is probably one of the very few channels on UA-cam that talks about things like this and that's why I love it. In fact, I'm sure that at least one video here can't be found anywhere else on UA-cam right now. Do you have anything on how guitar cabinets work/shape the sound of the amp? Most certainly sounds like an interesting topic.
This is fascinating! I will be sharing your link with my physical science students. I know several are interested and would like to do some exploring on their own. Thank you for making it interesting and applicable!!!
You know, just the other day I was watching a video you posted and I thought “man, a year ago I had no idea what this guy was talking about but now I get it! I’ve learned so much!” I’m now going to retract that statement, this is above my level
Oh I really hope this turns into a series, nice work! Just thought i should point out the clip at 0:48 of the string vibrating is a little misleading as thats just a camera artifact and not at all how a string really moves in slow motion, the string will move in a more"jump rope" fashion than a "snake", with the exeption of harmonics as you pointed out which will be shaped like a snake but for example the 12th harmonic would be a snake with two humps.
Brilliant explanation, only wish you could have dug into the frequency spectrum for a wee bit more depth, admittedly with bringing up the idea of a Fourier transform you might need another Minizode...
the integer harmonic thing isn't as universal as mathematicians would have you believe. while it applies solidly to air chambers and strings, there are plenty of musical instruments that sound nice, but are not composed of mostly integer harmonics. marimbas, xylophones, and glockenspiels are all governed by the vibrating bar equation, where the stiffness and thickness of the material causes the overtone series to be "stretched" sharp, or "dampened" flat. this effect is known as Inharmonicity. you can actually hear this effect in strings too, if the gauges, tension, and scale length are of a strange combination.
generally speaking, the thicker the string under the same tension and at the same length, the greater the inharmonicity (i'm not sure if it's flat inharm or sharp inharm, can't find anything on the internet) which is why bass guitars are longer than guitars. if you want to experiment with inharmonicity, put some real fat strings on a les paul and play up by the 14th fret.
@@famitory Strictly speaking, a thicker string would require more tension to achieve the same harmonic at the same fret if length is constant. Bass instruments are longer because they produce lower octives than guitars. The longer wavelengths require more neck to produce the same frequency of the harmonics..
Can we have any vibration mode on a guitar string? And what about the modes that we've learnt in our last experiment? Can we have a resonance related to any wavelength value for a fixed L (height of the tube)?
I failed all my math exams during school because I'd rather play guitar, because guitar is magic. You just turned the magic into maths. You killed the magic. Unsubbed. Damn you, Scotsman!
Excellent video. It would be great if you followed up with explaining harmonic stretching in regards to string gauges plus scale length (or, why are pianos are so hard to tune).
Your discussion of the simple math of string frequencies was good. However you left out the discussion of string stiffness. Apparently stiffness is a major contributor to the need for intonation - if my understanding is correct (?) perfectly flexible strings would not require any intonation (still working on undertstanding this). Bottom line - I'm looking for more flexible electric guitar strings to play around with. Any suggestions? I'm thinking about multi-strand cores with thin wrapping as one approach. Or maybe loose, low-carbon iron bits and aramid fibers embedded in nylon. Have you ever heard of such things?
I got into tuning pianos and one problem I encountered was that I can’t tune the strings perfectly in tune, because when harmonies Are played, new frequencies propagate which sound off-key. Why is guitar different? On piano, I have to actually detune certain intervals or “stretch tune” to allow sound waves room to harmonize when played. I know it sounds confusing, but do guitars have to be intonated this way? Also why do so many guitar players never notice they have a string or two out of tune LOL. I don’t even use tuners anymore, because they make everything sound flat. Why are there not tuners with different intonation preferences?
pls make a subtitle, cause you use very much music-sleng words (whammy-bar; etc...) and these words are not in the auto-subtitle. GREAT video! I am a physics teacher and rock-guitarist, too, from Hungary.
Hey colin @CSGuitars I have a question. I was playing guitar today, stopped for a while and turned my amp off etc, started again, and suddenly im not getting any distorion or almost none. It was a metal distorion (with a lot of mids of course, i listen to my favourite guitar youtuber) and now its a clean not even ac/dc distortion and i didnt change anything. Could it be the tubes? Or speaker? Im using an engl thunder 50 combo, a line 6 floor pod plus, and a jackson js22 dinky with iron gear pups. I have no clue what’s wrong and I’m kinda freaking out, what should I do
Shout out to all my math and science major pals out there. I miss university when life was easy and I didn’t have so many damn bills to pay. But at least I’ve got money now for... strings. I don’t have to wait every semester to change strings anymore! Haha.
i still don't understand why at some point at a certain frequency does the string stop vibrating like if we say at 11 Hz the string shows only one N but why at 22 Hz does the string show 2 N? why does it stop vibrating at half L
Colin love all your vids, absolutely. This was an excellent explanation of how math makes the guitar and strings work harmoniously. But what brought me here was the word: Minizode. With all due respect I musta missed the explanation, WTF is a minizode
Looks like your trying to dethrone Johnny Ball in the science education stakes lol. If you don't know who I mean check out the 70's early 80's kids science show "Think of a Number" used to love that when I was a kid. Might be just before your time, plenty of episodes on UA-cam and still interesting and fun today.
Heya Im doing a physics assignmenet on how the frequency at which a string vibrates depends on its thickness. If I understand you video correctly, Is is true to to say that because frequency = V/wavelength, (where V depends on tension x string mass) that changing the thickness of a string, will change the frequency at which it vibrates?
Yes, all else being equal two strings of different thickness will vibrate at different frequencies. You can demonstrate this effectively by having two strings of different thicknesses and tuning them to the same note. You will observe that in this case while the frequency is the same, the tension is very different. If you then put the same tension on those two strings you'll find they vibrate at different frequencies. This is why a set of guitar strings has 6 different thicknesses of strings. Each string is to be a different pitch, but players demand roughly equivalent tension between the strings (else one string would be harder to play than another) so each string has its own thickness depending on the note it is to be tuned to. Not long ago string manufacturers were all developing sets of strings that would be 'tension balanced' so that every string when tuned to the appropriate pitch would have exactly the same tension as all the others. This resulted in sets of strings that were slightly different thicknesses from 'standard' string sets.
I should also bring up a really important thing here: Thickness is technically incorrect. We're talking mass per unit length. You can get wound and unwound guitar strings (a standard electric set will have 3 of each:wound for the low strings and unwound for the high strings), while it's possible to have an unwound and wound string that are the same thickness, they will have a different mass per unit length. If you put those two strings at the same tension they'd have different pitch due to differences in their construction. 'Thickness' only works as a metric if you are comparing like constructions.
Thank you so much! This is super useful! Now all I need to do is design an experiment, where I apply the same tension to 2 different strings. What would you recommend doing? Ive thought about hanging the strings from the same mass and measure the frequencies they vibrate at? Do you have a better alternative to measuring tension? Perhaps on a guitar?
The motion and sound of a guitar string can be explained with some basic wave physics. It won't take long, so let's see how much we can cram into one Science Minizode.
Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars
Target Mids available now:
csguitars.co.uk/target-mids
Buy CSGuitars Merchandise:
csguitars.bigcartel.com/
CSGuitars you just described the overtone series, good job.
CSGuitars Colin you need to get a lab coat that has your logo and "all the gain!" Embroidered on it
Yay Math! Also, why do you say "maths"? It's harder to say than "math", or even "mathematics", due to the "ths" sound.
Joshua Vovk if Colin doesn't answer allow me, people in the British isles and the commonwealth (like myself in Australia) are by and large raised saying maths instead of math, simple as that
@@jacktowers7533 I know, but why is that when it's easier to not use the "ths" sound. I'm trying to get to the root of the "ths". Why would anyone think, "Hey, how do we shorten 'Mathematics' and still make it hard to say, and thus continue to make mathematics the most underappreciated subject in school?" Ye get my point?
Still: yay math and hail to nerds!
As a guitar player and a math/engineering nerd, I request more videos like this. Thanks Colin!
Oh please I need more of this.
Thanks for this. Too many guitar players never stop to think much about the physics of the string, and how it can impact on their tone. Much comes from considering the physics of the string. For instance, one of the reasons why fanned-fretboards have become mainstream in recent years is because we understand more about how scale length impacts on string compliance, and how string compliance affects harmonic content. Going in the other direction, anyone who has ever used an analog octave-up or octave down unit will know that both behave much better above the 7th fret, or higher. Why? Because the shorter the string length, the stiffer the string, the less compliant, and the more the fundamental dominates over the harmonics, making it easier to identify the note pitch and reliably generate the derived octave up or down.
The physics also pertains to the string as a body-set-in-motion. We too often think of it like it was a steady-state oscillator, but much like ourselves, it is dying from the moment it is plucked/picked. That includes not only overall decaying amplitude, but also the disappearance of various harmonics as the string comes to rest. The manner in which the various harmonics are damped over time, by the bridge (e.g., floating wooden vs Tele-style) or the very string material itself, plays a role in creating the tone of the guitar, and sometimes even the tone of effects. We overlook the fact that many hard-to-replicate "classic" fuzz tones were produced by studio players wielding big jazz boxes with floating bridges, that coaxed very different sounds out of a fuzz than an SG might, largely by the idiosyncratic manner in which the string decayed, and the signal hitting the fuzz quickly fell below clipping threshold.
Finally, there is a reason why a great many guitar synths have/had their pickup snuggled against the bridge. Deriving a unique signal from each string with such a pickup requires that there be no bleedthrough or crosstalk from adjacent strings. And the only dependable way to do that is by sticking the pickup where the strings "wiggle" the least.
Dang I wish we were neighbors. I live outside of Rochester NY, how about you? I'm an engineer and guitar player. We could nerd out.
As an a level physics student, this was incredibly informative and helpful! This channel gets better with ever video!
A.D Fairhurst same here! I do A level physics too!
same here. im trying to figure out my Physics homework!
Yes to all science videos ! don't be afraid to make longer videos if the subject needs it.
This is becomming my favourite youtube channel for all the reasons.
Don't worry, there will still be long science videos.
There are some topics though that I can rattle out in 3:30 minutes (play time, this still took my days to put together...) and it's a good challenge to keep things condensed.
I could do this exact same video in a very hand holding, step by step way that would take about 15 minutes, but I think this quick way is a lot more fun.
@@ScienceofLoud you're right, and short videos are good to help people be more interested in all of this.
CSGuitars but it's actually a Numberphile video.
Can you imagine Colin as a guest on a video with Brady?
Got a picture in my head now of Colin performing a monster guitar solo and the drummer saying, "That's Numberwang!"
Basically u twang string and noise comes out?
As a physicist I love how clear and straightforward this was presented without skipping the maths. Awesome video
calin is also a physicist so he knows this topic
@@xflofyx oh that makes sense! Cool thanks for sharing the info
Words cannot describe how much I loved this video, as a fan of both music and physics! Thanks Colin :)
Nice succinct video, and good explanation. However I think you definitely need a follow-up explaining why string tension and gauge are important for hitting the right notes and not snapping necks.
Nice video Colin! Such informations should be known by every guitar (or every other instrument too) player, along with basic maintenance of instruments.
Keep going this way!
Cheers from Italy
hell yes that is the way to learn science do more of these videos with more complicated math
Mate, you're something of a guitar scientist. Love the content. Cheers!
Thanks, Colin. I'm continually impressed with your explanations and presentations. Concise, accurate, useful. Science is real - for all of you out there who doubt that :-)
Pretty cool!! thanks for explain it in simple words Colin!!
vibrato of any KEIND! luv yur accent
I just finished a music project for one of my math courses discussing this as one of the topics. If only this vid came out sooner it would have saved me a couple of hours of research! 😁
This is probably one of the very few channels on UA-cam that talks about things like this and that's why I love it. In fact, I'm sure that at least one video here can't be found anywhere else on UA-cam right now. Do you have anything on how guitar cabinets work/shape the sound of the amp? Most certainly sounds like an interesting topic.
A video on speaker cabinets is on the list, slowly gathering together some research material to write the script.
it's a mini episode but with great value, good work Colin!
I absolutely love learning through your videos Colin
Where were you 8 years ago when I had to learn simple harmonic motion? That's a great, simple, real world example. Cheers mate!
This is fascinating! I will be sharing your link with my physical science students. I know several are interested and would like to do some exploring on their own. Thank you for making it interesting and applicable!!!
I love the super slow motion shot of the string vibrating, never seen that before.
Many of my subscriptions are about science or music, and I'm happy that a good number of those channels do both before I knew it.
If there is something that is mind boggling yet very very clear - this is it!
Awesome! Now calculate the integral of the function F(x,y)=2log(arctg(1-x)/x^2)/e^sen(2*pi*fc*t) dt
LOVE U Colin
Oh man I want more of this! This is the exact reason why I subscribed
You know, just the other day I was watching a video you posted and I thought “man, a year ago I had no idea what this guy was talking about but now I get it! I’ve learned so much!” I’m now going to retract that statement, this is above my level
Give it another year, you'll get there.
Thanks for the support.
Always getting mindblown from your videos, love your videos.
These videos are why I love CSGuitars
I love you bro, You saved my physics 11 CPT. God bless you
Love it!
I'm a physicist and I think this is a wonderful explanation for the layman. Well done
Oh I really hope this turns into a series, nice work!
Just thought i should point out the clip at 0:48 of the string vibrating is a little misleading as thats just a camera artifact and not at all how a string really moves in slow motion, the string will move in a more"jump rope" fashion than a "snake", with the exeption of harmonics as you pointed out which will be shaped like a snake but for example the 12th harmonic would be a snake with two humps.
Looks cool though, but yes it's an illusion resulting from messing around with the shutter speed.
What even is there anything you don't know about Colin! these vids are freakig brilliant!
Thanks for helping me study for my physics exam!
this is 1st guitar lesson i watched. ill have to write it down but im super curious! AWESOME VIDEO
More like a physics lesson
Man this is freaking awesome
As a bass player, and a recreational physicist, this video makes me happy.
I am in love with this genius Scottish man
Great lesson dude.
Colin! Use the metal zone in the efx loop of amps with no tubes like your Marshall mg and your orang micro dark!!
Excellent Colin!
Jeez. My brain just melted!!
3:00 Does this (not vibrating at one frequency) demonstrate equipartition (shared vibration over all modes)?
I really enjoyed this one.
My thinking also goes in logical way, I am getting more interest in Music while reading and practising the Science of Music in my daily life❤❤❤
Can't thank you enough.. You helped big time
My head just exploded but KOOL that you know and understand all that!
I love these nerdy videos. i hurt my brain but it's the good kind of hurt hahaha
Brilliant explanation, only wish you could have dug into the frequency spectrum for a wee bit more depth, admittedly with bringing up the idea of a Fourier transform you might need another Minizode...
I'll drop out of high school just to learn more useful maths from you
the integer harmonic thing isn't as universal as mathematicians would have you believe. while it applies solidly to air chambers and strings, there are plenty of musical instruments that sound nice, but are not composed of mostly integer harmonics. marimbas, xylophones, and glockenspiels are all governed by the vibrating bar equation, where the stiffness and thickness of the material causes the overtone series to be "stretched" sharp, or "dampened" flat. this effect is known as Inharmonicity. you can actually hear this effect in strings too, if the gauges, tension, and scale length are of a strange combination.
generally speaking, the thicker the string under the same tension and at the same length, the greater the inharmonicity (i'm not sure if it's flat inharm or sharp inharm, can't find anything on the internet) which is why bass guitars are longer than guitars. if you want to experiment with inharmonicity, put some real fat strings on a les paul and play up by the 14th fret.
@@famitory Strictly speaking, a thicker string would require more tension to achieve the same harmonic at the same fret if length is constant. Bass instruments are longer because they produce lower octives than guitars. The longer wavelengths require more neck to produce the same frequency of the harmonics..
Great explanation!
Can we have any vibration mode on a guitar string? And what about the modes that we've learnt in our last experiment? Can we have a resonance related to any wavelength value for a fixed L (height of the tube)?
I can't believe I've played for 15 years and never knew this shit lol. Nice video bro, need more of this pls. Sub'd
Concise video! It would be cool to see you explain why different instruments have different timbres...
Easily done now that this video has explained the basics.
Great video, I have to make my own physics lab for school and I’m trying to think of what I can do
I'm so glad you made this! Can you do the same for pickups and speakers? Please!
Damn, Adam Neely, you got long hair! Good for you! :D
I needed this.
I failed all my math exams during school because I'd rather play guitar, because guitar is magic.
You just turned the magic into maths.
You killed the magic.
Unsubbed.
Damn you, Scotsman!
Everything is maths, that's the real magic.
Wow I’m learning so much 😊
Love this stuff😍
Excellent video. It would be great if you followed up with explaining harmonic stretching in regards to string gauges plus scale length (or, why are pianos are so hard to tune).
what a smart scottish chap,lad.
Thank you for this video! I think about this stuff every single second of the day to make sure I keep up on my skills.
(heavy sarcasm)
Your discussion of the simple math of string frequencies was good. However you left out the discussion of string stiffness. Apparently stiffness is a major contributor to the need for intonation - if my understanding is correct (?) perfectly flexible strings would not require any intonation (still working on undertstanding this). Bottom line - I'm looking for more flexible electric guitar strings to play around with. Any suggestions? I'm thinking about multi-strand cores with thin wrapping as one approach. Or maybe loose, low-carbon iron bits and aramid fibers embedded in nylon. Have you ever heard of such things?
Hey, I was wondering if you could a video on the history of Superstrats
Is it possible to make another scientific view on strings? I was invested in this video quite more than the others.
Lots more to come. This was the introduction to get the simple ground work laid down.
Physics class: i don't get anything
Colin: i understand everything
I got into tuning pianos and one problem I encountered was that I can’t tune the strings perfectly in tune, because when harmonies Are played, new frequencies propagate which sound off-key. Why is guitar different? On piano, I have to actually detune certain intervals or “stretch tune” to allow sound waves room to harmonize when played. I know it sounds confusing, but do guitars have to be intonated this way? Also why do so many guitar players never notice they have a string or two out of tune LOL. I don’t even use tuners anymore, because they make everything sound flat. Why are there not tuners with different intonation preferences?
In Scotland, Hz is the abbreviation for hairtz.
Good job!
pls make a subtitle, cause you use very much music-sleng words (whammy-bar; etc...) and these words are not in the auto-subtitle. GREAT video! I am a physics teacher and rock-guitarist, too, from Hungary.
we NEED a CS science chancel for fucks sake, i need to see caling teaching quantum mechanics
Hey Colin, great explanations. Can you explain DI (direct input/inject) box? Thanks!
How does Guage play apart in frequency?
Now I need a bucket for all the brain matter oozing from my ear. Thanks.
Hey colin @CSGuitars I have a question. I was playing guitar today, stopped for a while and turned my amp off etc, started again, and suddenly im not getting any distorion or almost none. It was a metal distorion (with a lot of mids of course, i listen to my favourite guitar youtuber) and now its a clean not even ac/dc distortion and i didnt change anything. Could it be the tubes? Or speaker? Im using an engl thunder 50 combo, a line 6 floor pod plus, and a jackson js22 dinky with iron gear pups. I have no clue what’s wrong and I’m kinda freaking out, what should I do
Getting pretty buff there :p
Shout out to all my math and science major pals out there. I miss university when life was easy and I didn’t have so many damn bills to pay. But at least I’ve got money now for... strings. I don’t have to wait every semester to change strings anymore! Haha.
colin help me, what does 4 conductors mean on humbuckers?
Very nice
i still don't understand why at some point at a certain frequency does the string stop vibrating
like if we say at 11 Hz the string shows only one N but why at 22 Hz does the string show 2 N? why does it stop vibrating at half L
You tricked me into doing maths by disguising it as guitar!
This arouses mr. Kevin very much
Colin love all your vids, absolutely. This was an excellent explanation of how math makes the guitar and strings work harmoniously. But what brought me here was the word: Minizode. With all due respect I musta missed the explanation, WTF is a minizode
Looks like your trying to dethrone Johnny Ball in the science education stakes lol. If you don't know who I mean check out the 70's early 80's kids science show "Think of a Number" used to love that when I was a kid. Might be just before your time, plenty of episodes on UA-cam and still interesting and fun today.
i learned more from this video than my high school physics class
Awesome!
But... What kind of harmonics appear on a guitar?
I can't but says that's a lot of hairs(hertz). 🤣 Great video as always.
Doesn't L vary ever so slightly because the nut and bridge are moving along with the vibrating guitar body and neck?
Spherical cow in vacuum.
All analysis is a simplified, perfect case untroubled by the complexities of reality.
This was a super cool lesson. But is there a way to apply this to improve my playing? Seriously
All this math is making my brain Hertz!
Heya
Im doing a physics assignmenet on how the frequency at which a string vibrates depends on its thickness.
If I understand you video correctly, Is is true to to say that because frequency = V/wavelength,
(where V depends on tension x string mass) that changing the thickness of a string, will change the frequency at which it vibrates?
Yes, all else being equal two strings of different thickness will vibrate at different frequencies.
You can demonstrate this effectively by having two strings of different thicknesses and tuning them to the same note. You will observe that in this case while the frequency is the same, the tension is very different.
If you then put the same tension on those two strings you'll find they vibrate at different frequencies.
This is why a set of guitar strings has 6 different thicknesses of strings. Each string is to be a different pitch, but players demand roughly equivalent tension between the strings (else one string would be harder to play than another) so each string has its own thickness depending on the note it is to be tuned to.
Not long ago string manufacturers were all developing sets of strings that would be 'tension balanced' so that every string when tuned to the appropriate pitch would have exactly the same tension as all the others. This resulted in sets of strings that were slightly different thicknesses from 'standard' string sets.
I should also bring up a really important thing here:
Thickness is technically incorrect. We're talking mass per unit length.
You can get wound and unwound guitar strings (a standard electric set will have 3 of each:wound for the low strings and unwound for the high strings), while it's possible to have an unwound and wound string that are the same thickness, they will have a different mass per unit length. If you put those two strings at the same tension they'd have different pitch due to differences in their construction.
'Thickness' only works as a metric if you are comparing like constructions.
Thank you so much! This is super useful!
Now all I need to do is design an experiment, where I apply the same tension to 2 different strings.
What would you recommend doing? Ive thought about hanging the strings from the same mass and measure the frequencies they vibrate at?
Do you have a better alternative to measuring tension? Perhaps on a guitar?
The guitar as solely a noise generator...my dear deceased father would have completely agreed with that notion. lol
Interesting!
Next up - how you can surf and ride the waves generated by your guitar. Grab your pedal boards, I mean surfboards! ;)