Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

Science, Strings and Symphonies (1989x3)

Yayınlanma tarihi: Ara 29, 1989

All stringed instruments start out with very quiet string vibrations that have to be amplified and we shall start by looking at the way in which flat plates and hollow bodies work in amplifying sounds. Our exploration of real musical instruments will cover two quite different groups both of which use strings as their primary source of sound. The first group uses plucking as the way of setting the strings in vibration and includes all the fascinating instruments like lyres and lutes that have eventually led up to modern harps and guitars. Science has begun to contribute to our knowledge of the way in which guitars work and computer techniques are now being used to show visually exactly how the top plate of a guitar vibrates when a string is plucked.