Carbon Fiber vs Wood Bows
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
- Wood bows have been trusted in the violin family for hundreds of years, but in the last half-century, carbon fiber has increasingly proven to be a valid, exciting alternative. Can Shar's own staff hear the difference between the two? Jack Makled puts their ears to the test.
Can you hear the difference? Tell us about it in the comments!
Interested in purchasing a new bow? Follow the link below to see Shar Music's wide variety of wooden and carbon fiber bows:
www.sharmusic.com/Bows/
About Shar Music:
Shar Music is the recognized market leader in North America as a supplier of violin family instruments, bows, sheet music, cases, strings and accessories. SHAR is also one of the largest suppliers of Suzuki Method™ materials in the country. From the youngest beginner to accomplished professionals, SHAR endeavors to offer the best selection and quality of violin, viola, cello, and double bass products at excellent prices.
sharmusic.com
Intro: 0:00
Set 1 of Bows: 0:37
Set 2 of Bows: 1:42
Set 3 of Bows: 3:00
Set 4 of Bows: 5:54
Set 5 of Bows: 7:30
Bownus Round: 10:46
Discussion: 15:06
Outro: 15:43
To my ears, the carbon fiber bows gave a crisper tone, but the wood bows gave a sweeter tone.
Very entertaining and it demonstrates that both wood and plastic bows can have all sorts of characteristics. Some wood bows are stiff and powerful and trumpet-like; other wood bows others that are soft and light and more delicate-sounding, and there are "soft" versus "strong" carbon bows as well.
The important thing is not really which bow gives you a better sound -- a good player will make a good sound with almost any stick. The choice of bow needs to be more about the player's technique and skill level and how they want to produce sound. Some violinists get a fantastic result with a big heavy 64-gram Peccate-style bow with a big hammer-shaped head. Others play beautifully on a lighter French Voirin-style at maybe 58 grams. Some players need help with their Sautille and Ricochet, but others want a bow that helps them sustain fortissimos in Brahms. There are as many different kinds of bows as there are different kinds of violinists.
I play carbon fiber (Arcus, unfortunately not sold by SHAR) because I can get a violin bow that is insanely light (48 grams), super quick and responsive and also strong enough to stand up to aggressive play. It's much lighter than a Voirin but as powerful as a Peccatte.
I love my wood bows but generally carbon will outperform a comparably priced wood bow in most price ranges. The fiberglas Glassers are terrific beginner bows -- kids don't have to worry about dropping them. I've owned Shar's Presto series carbon bows and they're really just amazingly good for the price. And if you want to pay $6,000 for a high-end Arcus it will compete well with wood bows that cost far more.
Most performing professionals still play wooden bows not because they're better but because tradition is so important in the highest reaches of classical music -- it's the same reason they play overpriced antique Italian fiddles, because it makes for a better blurb in the program notes, and the prestige of famous-maker instruments is believed to rub off on the players.
I'm interested in how the player felt about the feel of the bows, not just the sound.
I own a Codabow Luna purchased from Shar that I use as a back up for my wooden bow that cost 5x the price. Carbon fiber offers so much more overall for the price. I'll have to try a Marquise the next time I'm in Ann Arbor.
I got them all right as well (although I probably wouldn't be able to tell if it was just one bow played as opposed to comparing a pair). I thought the carbon fiber bow sound was more "open", even with a slight echo, where as the wooden bow sound was not as resonant, but more focused.
I have a Coda Marquis and it sounds and plays very differently from my other bows. I like it for specific pieces.
Got them all correct…the wood bow, to me, just seems to have more nuanes in the sound…I hate to describe it as ‘sounding wood’, but that’s how I determined each wood bow. Also, I closed my eyes as to not be influenced by seeing the bow :-)
It takes a great ear to really hear the tonal differences! Very impressive!
More so through a recording.
Interesting! Rather than trying to figure out which was wood vs carbon fiber, I instead rated which tone/articulation/dynamics I liked better. The answer was wood/wood/wood/wood/wood, and for the bownus round, wood! I can't certify that as 100% conclusive, though ... for all I know, there could be unknown differences resulting from mic position, rosin brand or application, etc. For fairness, it would also be interesting to compare carbon fiber vs a warped wooden bow like my students sometimes have ;-).
I was there as well. Which is a shame, as I’m possibly upgrading to a cf in the near future, as people see to agree that in the lower price ranges a cf bow is better, but I’ll be a monkeys uncle if I didn’t prefer the sound of wood every time.
I got 4 of 5 of the first 5 pairs. I got the last one too. My ear is better than I would have thought. The wood bows sounded more resonant and sonorous. I have both kinds of bows.
I have a carbon fibre bow (Coda Marquis) and several wood bows. The quality of the hair is more significant to the quality of the tone. I suspect that consistency of standard is likely to be the feature of carbon fibre bows. The excerpts did not demonstrate dynamic range (Louds and softs) which I do think is a feature of my carbon fibre bow.
Interestingly, I found that out of these, I thought the cheaper wooden bows sounded better, but once we got to the third set, I preferred the carbon fiber every time.
I think a lot will also depend on not just individual preference and what kind of violin you are playing, but also what style of music. My daughter is primarily a fiddler, and she loves to play fast and wants a great speed and dynamic response; when she moved up to a 3/4 size, she switched to a carbon fiber bow and it was night and day in terms of how well she could articulate the notes especially when playing fast.
She's now on a full size and playing with the full size version of her first carbon fiber bow, and it's still performing beautifully (a Fiddlerman; I forget the model name but it's their cheapest carbon fiber, running about $80.) It's also helped as she plays longer and longer daily to have a lighter bow, to lessen fatigue.
If you want to give a carbon fiber a try, would definitely recommend the one she has, she really loves it and it's the most responsive AND comfortable bow she's used in the under-$100 price range.
It might have been different in the room, but from the recording there was noticeable difference on all of the carbon fiber bows from the wood ones. The midrange character was very different between the two, not better or worse but just different.
That was interesting & entertaining. I actually got them all correct as well - woop, woop!😀👏. But even though I was pretty sure the wood bow was the first one in the 4th set of dueling bows, I liked the carbon fiber bow better in that set. What was that bow? But really, the quality of hair does make a substantial difference as well. Gotta keep that in mind. (And you clearly used a good quality mic as well).
Honestly I could tell the difference visually seeing the player/bows in your videos, and a bit aurally. Having said that, I feel the sound comes from the bow arm rather than the bow, if the bows being compared have have similar weights. I have wood and carbon fiber bows, and have recommended both to students as well. I choose bows based on weight, balance and craftsmanship. I like the carbon fiber alternative re things like col legno playing, and durability over time. Thanks for the interesting workshops, and your excellent customer service!
Great video! You really can hear a difference it's crazy. I got half right :/
Great job! That's better than most!
Well I got all of them right, but not sure how to describe why I picked as I did. I guess the best way I can describe it is, I thought the carbon fiber sounded thinner and more metallic to my ear. Wood seemed....richer and deeper maybe? Again not really sure what I hear that allows me to pick it out but I got all of them correct so I clearly hear some kind of difference.
Wood has a fuller warmer sound. Carbonfiber seems more glassy. Strange.
Would you identify all the bows used so we can compare pricing also?? It would also help to identify one we may thing we like! Thanks.
I now use Jon Paul Corona carbon fiber bow which cost 30% less than my handmade Cicero Pernambuco from Brazil. The Jon Paul far outperforms the wood bow. I noticed the difference right away and so did others listening later. Try one of good quality such as Jon Paul or Codabow. You will be impressed.
Carbon fiber Coda bow allows me more control. (My daughter-a music teacher-calls it a good bow for Seniors😉)
Hint: Is the bow brown or black?
I think carbon fiber more eazy to play than wood bow because the speed of bow faster when the player using the fiber bow but wood bow have more tone than diother ones.. then I heard that fiber bow much durable than the wood..