Luthier
A luthier is someone who builds or repairs string instruments consisting of a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" comes from the French word luth. A luthier was a maker of lutes, but the term now includes makers of stringed instruments such as the violin or guitar. A luthier does not make harps or pianos, as these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to a frame; the craft of making string instruments, or lutherie, is divided into two main categories: makers of stringed instruments that are plucked or strummed, those that are bowed. Since bowed instruments require a bow, the second category includes a subtype known as a bow maker or archetier. Luthiers may teach string-instrument making, either through apprenticeship or formal classroom instruction. Important luthiers who specialized in the instruments of the lute family: Tieffenbrucker family Martin Hoffmann Matteo Sellas Two important luthiers of the early 19th century connected with the development of the modern classical guitar are Louis Panormo and Georg Staufer.
Antonio Torres Jurado is credited with developing the form of classical guitar still in use today. Christian Frederick Martin of Germany developed a form that evolved into the modern steel-string acoustic guitar; the American luthier Orville Gibson specialized in mandolins, is credited with creating the archtop guitar. The important 20th-century American luthiers John D'Angelico and Jimmy D'Aquisto made archtop guitars. Lloyd Loar worked for the Gibson Guitar Corporation making mandolins and guitars, his designs for a family of arch top instruments are held in high esteem by today's luthiers, who seek to reproduce their sound. Paul Bigsby's innovation of the tremolo arm for archtop and electric guitars is still in use today and may have influenced Leo Fender's design for the Stratocaster solid-body electric guitar, as well as the Jaguar and Jazzmaster. Concurrent with Fender's work, guitarist Les Paul independently developed a solid-body electric guitar; these were the first fretted, solid-body electric guitars—though they were preceded by the cast aluminum "frying pan", a solid-body electric lap steel guitar developed and patented by George Beauchamp, built by Adolph Rickenbacher.
A company founded by luthier Friedrich Gretsch and continued by his son and grandson and Fred, Jr. made banjos, but is more famous today for its electric guitars. Vintage guitars are sought by collectors. Bowed instruments include: cello, double bass, fiddle, morin khuur, hurdy-gurdy, rebec, viol, viola da braccio, viola d'amore, violin; the purported "inventor" of the violin is Andrea Amati. Amati was a lute maker, but turned to the new instrument form of violin in the mid-16th century, he was the progenitor of the famous Amati family of luthiers active in Cremona, Italy until the 18th century. Andrea Amati had two sons, his eldest was Antonio Amati, the younger, Girolamo Amati. Girolamo is better known as Hieronymus, together with his brother, produced many violins with labels inside the instrument reading "A&H". Antonio died having no known offspring, his son Nicolò was himself an important master luthier who had several apprentices of note, including Antonio Stradivari, Andrea Guarneri, Bartolomeo Pasta, Jacob Railich, Giovanni Battista Rogeri, Matthias Klotz, Jacob Stainer and Francesco Rugeri.
It is possible Bartolomeo Cristofori inventor of the piano, apprenticed under him. Gasparo da Salò of Brescia was another important early luthier of the violin family. About 80 of his instruments survive, around 100 documents that relate to his work, he was a double bass player and son and nephew of two violin players: Francesco and Agosti, respectively. Gasparo Duiffopruggar of Füssen, was once incorrectly credited as the inventor of the violin, he was an important maker, but no documentation survives, no instruments survive that experts unequivocally know are his. Da Salò made many instruments and exported to France and Spain, to England, he had at least five apprentices: his son Francesco, a helper named Battista, Alexander of Marsiglia, Giacomo Lafranchini and—the most important—Giovanni Paolo Maggini. Maggini inherited da Salò's business in Brescia. Valentino Siani worked with Maggini. In 1620, Maggini moved to Florence. Luthiers born in the mid-17th century include Giovanni Grancino, Vincenzo Rugeri, Carlo Giuseppe Testore, his sons Carlo Antonio Testore and Paolo Antonio Testore, all from Milan.
From Venice the luthiers Matteo Goffriller, Domenico Montagnana, Sanctus Seraphin, Carlo Annibale Tononi were principals in the Venetian school of violin making. Carlo Bergonzi purchased Antonio Stradivari's shop a few years after the master's death. David Tecchler, born in Austria worked in both Venice and Rome. Important luthiers from the early 18th century include Nicolò Gagliano of Naples, Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi of Milan, Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, who roamed throughout Italy during his lifetime. From Austria Leopold Widhalm established himself in Nürnberg, Germany; the early 19th-century luthiers of the Mirecourt school of violin making in France were the Vuillaume family, Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin, Collin-Mezin's son, Charles Collin-Mezin, Jr. Ho
Adhesive
An adhesive known as glue, mucilage, or paste, is any non metallic substance applied to one surface, or both surfaces, of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. Adjectives may be used in conjunction with the word "adhesive" to describe properties based on the substance's physical or chemical form, the type of materials joined, or conditions under which it is applied; the use of adhesives offers many advantages over binding techniques such as sewing, mechanical fastening, thermal bonding, etc. These include the ability to bind different materials together, to distribute stress more efficiently across the joint, the cost effectiveness of an mechanized process, an improvement in aesthetic design, increased design flexibility. Disadvantages of adhesive use include decreased stability at high temperatures, relative weakness in bonding large objects with a small bonding surface area, greater difficulty in separating objects during testing. Adhesives are organized by the method of adhesion.
These are organized into reactive and non-reactive adhesives, which refers to whether the adhesive chemically reacts in order to harden. Alternatively they can be organized by whether the raw stock is of natural or synthetic origin, or by their starting physical phase. Adhesives may be found or produced synthetically; the earliest human use of adhesive-like substances was 200,000 years ago, when Neanderthals produced tar from the dry distillation of birch bark for use in binding stone tools to wooden handles. The first references to adhesives in literature first appeared in 2000 BC; the Greeks and Romans made great contributions to the development of adhesives. In Europe, glue was not used until the period AD 1500–1700. From until the 1900s increases in adhesive use and discovery were gradual. Only since the last century has the development of synthetic adhesives accelerated and innovation in the field continues to the present; the earliest use of adhesives was discovered in central Italy when two stone flakes covered with birch-bark tar and a third uncovered stone from the Middle Pleistocene era were found.
This is thought to be the oldest discovered human use of tar-hafted stones. The birch-bark-tar adhesive is a one-component adhesive. Although sticky enough, plant-based adhesives are brittle and vulnerable to environmental conditions; the first use of compound adhesives was discovered in South Africa. Here, 70,000-year-old stone segments that were once inserted in axe hafts were discovered covered with an adhesive composed of plant gum and red ochre as adding ochre to plant gum produces a stronger product and protects the gum from disintegrating under wet conditions; the ability to produce stronger adhesives allowed middle stone age humans to attach stone segments to sticks in greater variations, which led to the development of new tools. More recent examples of adhesive use by prehistoric humans have been found at the burial sites of ancient tribes. Archaeologists studying the sites found that 6,000 years ago the tribesmen had buried their dead together with food found in broken clay pots repaired with tree resins.
Another investigation by archaeologists uncovered the use of bituminous cements to fasten ivory eyeballs to statues in Babylonian temples dating to 4000 BC. In 2000, a paper revealed the discovery of a 5,200-year-old man nicknamed the "Tyrolean Iceman" or "Ötzi", preserved in a glacier near the Austria-Italy border. Several of his belongings were found with him including two arrows with flint arrowheads and a copper hatchet, each with evidence of organic glue used to connect the stone or metal parts to the wooden shafts; the glue was analyzed as pitch. The retrieval of this tar requires a transformation of birch bark by means of heat, in a process known as pyrolysis; the first references to adhesives in literature first appeared in 2000 BC. Further historical records of adhesive use are found from the period spanning 1500–1000 BC. Artifacts from this period include paintings depicting wood gluing operations and a casket made of wood and glue in King Tutankhamun's tomb. Other ancient Egyptian artifacts employ animal glue for lamination.
Such lamination of wood for bows and furniture is thought to have extended their life and was accomplished using casein -based glues. The ancient Egyptians developed starch-based pastes for the bonding of papyrus to clothing and a plaster of Paris-like material made of calcined gypsum. From AD 1 to 500 the Greeks and Romans made great contributions to the development of adhesives. Wood veneering and marquetry were developed, the production of animal and fish glues refined, other materials utilized. Egg-based pastes were used to bond gold leaves incorporated various natural ingredients such as blood, hide, cheese and grains; the Greeks began the use of slaked lime as mortar while the Romans furthered mortar development by mixing lime with volcanic ash and sand. This material, known as pozzolanic cement, was used in the construction of the Roman Colosseum and Pantheon; the Romans were the first people known to have used tar and beeswax as caulk and sealant between the wooden planks of their boats and ships.
In Central Asia, the rise of the Mongols in AD 1000 can be attributed to the good range and power of the bows of Genghis Khan's hordes. These bows were constructed with laminated bullhorn bonded by an unknown adhesive. In Europe, glue fell into disuse until the period AD 1500–1700. At this time, world-renowned cabinet and furniture makers such
String (music)
A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments such as the guitar, harp and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material that a musical instrument holds under tension so that they can vibrate but controllably. Strings may be "plain", consisting only of a single material, like steel, nylon, or gut, or wound, having a "core" of one material and an overwinding of another; this is to make the string vibrate at the desired pitch, while maintaining a low profile and sufficient flexibility for playability. The invention of wound strings, such as nylon covered in wound metal, was a crucial step in string instrument technology, because a metal-wound string can produce a lower pitch than a catgut string of similar thickness; this enabled stringed instruments to be made with less thick bass strings. On string instruments that the player plucks or bows directly, this enabled instrument makers to use thinner strings for the lowest-pitched strings, which made the lower-pitch strings easier to play.
On stringed instruments in which the player presses a keyboard, causing a mechanism to strike the strings, such as a piano, this enabled piano builders to use shorter, thicker strings to produce the lowest-pitched bass notes, enabling the building of smaller upright pianos designed for small rooms and practice rooms. The end of the string that mounts to the instrument's tuning mechanism is plain. Depending on the instrument, the string's other, fixed end may have either a plain, loop, or ball end that attaches the string at the end opposite the tuning mechanism; when a ball or loop is used with a guitar, this ensures that the string stays fixed in the bridge of the guitar. When a ball or loop is used with a violin-family instrument, this keeps the string end fixed in the tailpiece. Fender Bullet strings have a larger cylinder for more stable tuning on guitars equipped with synchronized tremolo systems. Strings for some instruments may be wrapped with silk at the ends to protect the string; the color and pattern of the silk identifies attributes of the string, such as manufacturer, intended pitch, etc.
There are several varieties of wound strings available. The simplest wound strings are roundwound—with round wire wrapped in a tight spiral around either a round or hexagonal core; such strings are simple to manufacture and the least expensive. They have several drawbacks, however: Roundwound strings have a bumpy surface profile that produce friction on the player's fingertips; this causes squeaking sounds when the player's fingers slide over the strings when used on electric guitar with a guitar amplifier or with an acoustic guitar amplified through a PA system. Roundwound strings' higher friction surface profile may hasten fingerboard and fret wear, compared with smoother flatwound strings; when the core is round, the winding is less secure and may rotate around the core if the winding is damaged after use. Flatwound strings have either a round or hex core. However, the winding wire has a rounded square cross-section that has a shallower profile when wound; this makes for more comfortable playing, decreased wear for frets and fretboards.
Squeaking sounds due to fingers sliding along the strings are decreased significantly. Flatwound strings have a longer playable life because of smaller grooves for dirt and oil to build up in. On the other hand, flatwound strings sound less bright than roundwounds and tend to be harder to bend. Flatwounds usually cost more than roundwounds because of less demand, less production, higher overhead costs. Manufacturing is more difficult, as precise alignment of the flat sides of the winding must be maintained. Halfwound strings, ground wound strings, or pressure wound strings are a cross between roundwound and flatwound; such strings are made by winding round wire around a round or hex core first polishing, grinding or pressing the exterior part of the winding until it is flat. This results in the flat, comfortable playing feel of flatwounds, along with less squeaking, with a brightness between roundwounds and flatwounds; the polishing process removes half of the winding wire's mass. Because of the extra manufacturing process involved they are more expensive than roundwounds, but less than flatwounds.
There are two types, or shapes, of core wire used in wound strings. Hexcore strings are composed of a tight winding. Hexcore string design prevents the winding from slipping around the core – which can occur with round core strings; this may lead to improved tuning stability and reduced string breakage, compared with round core strings. Round core strings are composed of a tight winding. Round core is the traditional "vintage" way of manufacturing and results in a greater contact between the winding and the core of the string. Bowed instrument strings, such as for the violin or cello, are described by tension rather than gauge. Fretted instruments strings are described by gauge—the diameter of the string; the tone of a s
Mandolin
A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is plucked with a plectrum or "pick". It has four courses of doubled metal strings tuned in unison, although five and six course versions exist; the courses are tuned in a succession of perfect fifths. It is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin and mandobass. There are many styles of mandolin, but three are common, the Neapolitan or round-backed mandolin, the carved-top mandolin and the flat-backed mandolin; the round-back has a deep bottom, constructed of strips of wood, glued together into a bowl. The carved-top or arch-top mandolin has a much shallower, arched back, an arched top—both carved out of wood; the flat-backed mandolin uses thin sheets of wood for the body, braced on the inside for strength in a similar manner to a guitar. Each style of instrument is associated with particular forms of music. Neapolitan mandolins feature prominently in traditional music. Carved-top instruments are common in American folk music and bluegrass music.
Flat-backed instruments are used in Irish and Brazilian folk music. Some modern Brazilian instruments feature an extra fifth course tuned a fifth lower than the standard fourth course. Other mandolin varieties differ in the number of strings and include four-string models such as the Brescian and Cremonese, six-string types such as the Milanese and the Sicilian and 6 course instruments of 12 strings such as the Genoese. There has been a twelve-string type and an instrument with sixteen-strings. Much of mandolin development revolved around the soundboard. Pre-mandolin instruments were quiet instruments, strung with as many as six courses of gut strings, were plucked with the fingers or with a quill. However, modern instruments are louder—using four courses of metal strings, which exert more pressure than the gut strings; the modern soundboard is designed to withstand the pressure of metal strings that would break earlier instruments. The soundboard comes in many shapes—but round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections.
There is one or more sound holes in the soundboard, either round, oval, or shaped like a calligraphic f. A round or oval sound hole may be bordered with decorative rosettes or purfling. Mandolins evolved from the lute family in Italy during the 17th and 18th centuries, the deep bowled mandolin, produced in Naples, became common in the 19th century. Dating to c. 13,000 BC, a cave painting in the Trois Frères cave in France depicts what some believe is a musical bow, a hunting bow used as a single-stringed musical instrument. From the musical bow, families of stringed instruments developed. In turn, this led to being able to play chords. Another innovation occurred when the bow harp was straightened out and a bridge used to lift the strings off the stick-neck, creating the lute; this picture of musical bow to harp bow has been contested. In 1965 Franz Jahnel wrote his criticism stating that the early ancestors of plucked instruments are not known, he felt that the harp bow was a long cry from the sophistication of the 4th-century BC civilization that took the primitive technology and created "technically and artistically well made harps, lyres and lutes."
Musicologists have put forth examples of that 4th-century BC technology, looking at engraved images that have survived. The earliest image showing a lute-like instrument came from Mesopotamia prior to 3000 BC. A cylinder seal from c. 3100 BC or earlier shows. From the surviving images, theororists have categorized the Mesopotamian lutes, showing that they developed into a long variety and a short; the line of long lutes may have developed into pandura. The line of short lutes was further developed to the east of Mesopotamia, in Bactria and Northwest India, shown in sculpture from the 2nd century BC through the 4th or 5th centuries AD. Bactria and Gandhara became part of the Sasanian Empire. Under the Sasanians, a short almond shaped lute from Bactria came to be called the barbat or barbud, developed into the Islamic world's oud or ud; when the Moors conquered Andalusia in 711 AD, they brought their ud along, into a country that had known a lute tradition under the Romans, the pandura. During the 8th and 9th centuries, many musicians and artists from across the Islamic world flocked to Iberia.
Among them was Abu l-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Nafi‘, a prominent musician who had trained under Ishaq al-Mawsili in Baghdad and was exiled to Andalusia before 833 AD. He taught and has been credited with adding a fifth string to his oud and with establishing one of the first schools of music in Córdoba. By the 11th century, Muslim Iberia had become a center for the manufacture of instruments; these goods spread to Provence, influencing French troubadours and trouvères and reaching the rest of Europe. Beside the introduction of the lute to Spain by the Moors, another important point of transfer of the lute from Arabian to European culture was Sicily, where it was brought either by Byzantine or by Muslim musicians. There were singer-lutenists at the court in Palermo following the N
Ibanez
Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass-produce the seven-string guitar and eight-string guitar. Ibanez manufactures effects, accessories and instruments in Japan, Indonesia and in the United States; as of 2017 they marketed nearly 165 models of bass guitar, 130 acoustic guitars, more than 300 electric guitars. The Hoshino Gakki company began in 1908 as the musical instrument sales division of the Hoshino Shoten, a bookstore chain. Hoshino Gakki decided in 1935 to make Spanish-style acoustic guitars, at first using the "Ibanez Salvador" brand name in honor of Spanish luthier Salvador Ibáñez, simply "Ibanez."The modern era of Ibanez guitars began in 1957. The late 1950s and 1960s Ibanez catalogues show guitars with some wild-looking designs, manufactured by Kiso Suzuki Violin and their own Tama factory established in 1962.
After the Tama factory stopped manufacturing guitars in 1966, Hoshino Gakki used the Teisco and FujiGen Gakki guitar factories to make Ibanez guitars, after the Teisco String Instrument factory closed in 1969/1970, Hoshino Gakki used the FujiGen Gakki guitar factory to make Ibanez guitars. In the 1960s, Japanese guitar makers copied American guitar designs, Ibanez-branded copies of Gibson and Rickenbacker models appear; this resulted in the so-called lawsuit period. During this period, Ibanez produced guitars under the Mann name to avoid authorities in the United States and Canada. Hoshino Gakki introduced Ibanez models that were not copies of the Gibson or Fender designs, such as the Iceman and the Roadstar series; the company has produced its own guitar designs since. The late 1980s and early 1990s were an important period for the Ibanez brand. Hoshino Gakki's relationship with guitarist Steve Vai resulted in the introduction of the Ibanez JEM and the Ibanez Universe models. Hoshino Gakki had semi-acoustic, nylon- and steel-stringed acoustic guitars manufactured under the Ibanez name.
Most Ibanez guitars were made by the FujiGen guitar factory in Japan up until the mid- to late 1980s, from on Ibanez guitars have been made in other Asian countries such as Korea and Indonesia. During the early 1980s, the FujiGen guitar factory produced most of the Roland guitar synthesizers, including the Stratocaster-style Roland G-505, the twin-humbucker Roland G-202 and the Ibanez X-ING IMG-2010. Cimar and Starfield were bass brands owned by Hoshino Gakki. In the 1970s, Hoshino Gakki and Kanda Shokai shared some guitar designs, so some Ibanez and Greco guitars have the same features; the Greco versions were sold in Japan and the Ibanez versions were sold outside Japan. From 1982, Ibanez guitars have been sold in Japan as well. Guitar brands such as Antoria and Mann shared; the Antoria guitar brand was managed by JT Coppock Leeds Ltd England. CSL was a brand name managed by Charles Summerfield Ltd England. Maurice Summerfield of the Charles Summerfield Ltd company contributed some design ideas to Hoshino Gakki and imported Ibanez and CSL guitars into the UK from 1964 to 1987.
The Maxxas brand name came about because Hoshino Gakki thought that the guitar did not fit in with the Ibanez model range and was therefore named Maxxas by Rich Lasner from Hoshino USA. Harry Rosenbloom, founder of the Medley Music of Bryn Mawr, was manufacturing handmade guitars under the name "Elger." By 1965, Rosenbloom had decided to stop manufacturing guitars and chose to become the exclusive North American distributor for Ibanez guitars. In September 1972, Hoshino began a partnership with Elger Guitars to import guitars from Japan. In September 1981, Elger was renamed "Hoshino U. S. A.", retaining the company headquarters in Bensalem, Pennsylvania as a distribution and quality-control center. On June 28, 1977, in the Philadelphia Federal District Court, a lawsuit was filed by the Norlin Corporation, the parent company of Gibson Guitars, against Elger/Hoshino U. S. A.'s use of the Gibson headstock logo. Hoshino settled out of court in early 1978 and the case was closed on February 2, 1978. After the lawsuit, Hoshino Gakki abandoned the strategy of copying "classic" electric guitar designs, having introduced a plethora of original designs.
Hoshino was producing their original Artist models from 1974, introducing a set-neck model in 1975. In 1977, they upgraded and extended their Artist range and introduced a number of other top-quality original designs made to match or surpass famous American brands: the Performer and short-lived Concert ranges which competed with the Les Paul; the newer Ibanez models began incorporating more modern elements into their design such as radical body shapes, slimmer necks, 2-octave fingerboards, slim pointed headstocks, higher-output electronics, humbucker/single-coil/humbucker pickup configurations, locking tremolo bridges and different finishes. Ibanez J. Custom The
Double bass
The double bass, or the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. It is a standard member of the orchestra's string section, as well as the concert band, is featured in concertos and chamber music in Western classical music; the bass is used in a range of other genres, such as jazz, 1950s-style blues and rock and roll, psychobilly, traditional country music, bluegrass and many types of folk music. The bass is a transposing instrument and is notated one octave higher than tuned to avoid excessive ledger lines below the staff; the double bass is the only modern bowed string instrument, tuned in fourths, rather than fifths, with strings tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2. The instrument's exact lineage is still a matter of some debate, with scholars divided on whether the bass is derived from the viol or the violin family; however the body shape where it curves into the neck matches the viol family whereas in the rest of the violin family, the body meets the neck with no blending curve.
The double bass is played by plucking the strings. In orchestral repertoire and tango music, both arco and pizzicato are employed. In jazz and rockabilly, pizzicato is the norm. Classical music uses the natural sound produced acoustically by the instrument, as does traditional bluegrass. In jazz and related genres, the bass is amplified; the double bass stands around 180 cm from scroll to endpin. However, other sizes are available, such as a 1⁄2 or 3⁄4, which serve to accommodate a player's height and hand size; these sizes do not reflect the size relative to 4⁄4 bass. It is constructed from several types of wood, including maple for the back, spruce for the top, ebony for the fingerboard, it is uncertain whether the instrument is a descendant of the viola da gamba or of the violin, but it is traditionally aligned with the violin family. While the double bass is nearly identical in construction to other violin family instruments, it embodies features found in the older viol family. Like other violin and viol-family string instruments, the double bass is played either with a bow or by plucking the strings.
In orchestral repertoire and tango music, both arco and pizzicato are employed. In jazz and rockabilly, pizzicato is the norm, except for some solos and occasional written parts in modern jazz that call for bowing. In classical pedagogy all of the focus is on performing with the bow and producing a good bowed tone. Bowed notes in the lowest register of the instrument produce a dark, mighty, or menacing effect, when played with a fortissimo dynamic. Classical bass students learn all of the different bow articulations used by other string section players, such as détaché, staccato, martelé, sul ponticello, sul tasto, tremolo and sautillé; some of these articulations can be combined. Classical bass players do play pizzicato parts in orchestra, but these parts require simple notes, rather than rapid passages. Classical players perform both bowed and pizz notes using vibrato, an effect created by rocking or quivering the left hand finger, contacting the string, which transfers an undulation in pitch to the tone.
Vibrato is used to add expression to string playing. In general loud, low-register passages are played with little or no vibrato, as the main goal with low pitches is to provide a clear fundamental bass for the string section. Mid- and higher-register melodies are played with more vibrato; the speed and intensity of the vibrato is varied by the performer for an emotional and musical effect. In jazz and other related genres, much or all of the focus is on playing pizzicato. In jazz and jump blues, bassists are required to play rapid pizzicato walking basslines for extended periods; as well and rockabilly bassists develop virtuoso pizzicato techniques that enable them to play rapid solos that incorporate fast-moving triplet and sixteenth note figures. Pizzicato basslines performed by leading jazz professionals are much more difficult than the pizzicato basslines that Classical bassists encounter in the standard orchestral literature, which are whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, occasional eighth note passages.
In jazz and related styles, bassists add semi-percussive "ghost notes" into basslines, to add to the rhythmic feel and to add fills to a bassline. The double bass player stands, or sits on a high stool, leans the instrument against their body, turned inward to put the strings comfortably in reach; this stance is a key reason for the bass's sloped shoulders, which mark it apart from the other members of the violin family—the narrower shoulders facilitate playing the strings in their higher registers. The double bass is regarded as a modern descendant of the string family of instruments that originated in Europe in the 15th century, as such has been described as a bass Violin. Before the 20th century many double basses had only three strings, in contrast to the five to six strings typical of instruments in the viol family or the four strings of instruments in the violin family; the double bass's proportions are di
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer, carbon fiber reinforced plastic, or carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic, is an strong and light fiber-reinforced plastic which contains carbon fibers. The alternative spelling'fibre' is common in British Commonwealth countries. CFRPs can be expensive to produce but are used wherever high strength-to-weight ratio and stiffness are required, such as aerospace, superstructure of ships, civil engineering, sports equipment, an increasing number of consumer and technical applications; the binding polymer is a thermoset resin such as epoxy, but other thermoset or thermoplastic polymers, such as polyester, vinyl ester, or nylon, are sometimes used. The composite material may contain aramid, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, aluminium, or glass fibers in addition to carbon fibers; the properties of the final CFRP product can be affected by the type of additives introduced to the binding matrix. The most common additive is silica, but other additives such as rubber and carbon nanotubes can be used.
The material is referred to as graphite-reinforced polymer or graphite fiber-reinforced polymer. CFRPs are composite materials. In this case the composite consists of two parts: a reinforcement. In CFRP the reinforcement is carbon fiber; the matrix is a polymer resin, such as epoxy, to bind the reinforcements together. Because CFRP consists of two distinct elements, the material properties depend on these two elements. Reinforcement gives CFRP its rigidity. Unlike isotropic materials like steel and aluminum, CFRP has directional strength properties; the properties of CFRP depend on the layouts of the carbon fiber and the proportion of the carbon fibers relative to the polymer. The two different equations governing the net elastic modulus of composite materials using the properties of the carbon fibers and the polymer matrix can be applied to carbon fiber reinforced plastics; the following equation, E c = V m E m + V f E f is valid for composite materials with the fibers oriented in the direction of the applied load.
E c is the total composite modulus, V m and V f are the volume fractions of the matrix and fiber in the composite, E m and E f are the elastic moduli of the matrix and fibers respectively. The other extreme case of the elastic modulus of the composite with the fibers oriented transverse to the applied load can be found using the following equation: E c = − 1 The fracture toughness of carbon fiber reinforced plastics is governed by the following mechanisms: 1) debonding between the carbon fiber and polymer matrix, 2) fiber pull-out, 3) delamination between the CFRP sheets. Typical epoxy-based CFRPs exhibit no plasticity, with less than 0.5% strain to failure. Although CFRPs with epoxy have high strength and elastic modulus, the brittle fracture mechanics present unique challenges to engineers in failure detection since failure occurs catastrophically; as such, recent efforts to toughen CFRPs include modifying the existing epoxy material and finding alternative polymer matrix. One such material with high promise is PEEK, which exhibits an order of magnitude greater toughness with similar elastic modulus and tensile strength.
However, PEEK is more expensive. Despite its high initial strength-to-weight ratio, a design limitation of CFRP is its lack of a definable fatigue limit; this means, that stress cycle failure cannot be ruled out. While steel and many other structural metals and alloys do have estimable fatigue or endurance limits, the complex failure modes of composites mean that the fatigue failure properties of CFRP are difficult to predict and design for; as a result, when using CFRP for critical cyclic-loading applications, engineers may need to design in considerable strength safety margins to provide suitable component reliability over its service life. Environmental effects such as temperature and humidity can have profound effects on the polymer-based composites, including most CFRPs. While CFRPs demonstrate excellent corrosion resistance, the effect of moisture at wide ranges of temperatures can lead to degradation of the mechanical properties of CFRPs at the matrix-fiber interface. While the carbon fibers themselves are not affected by the moisture diffusing into the material, the moisture plasticizes the polymer matrix.
The epoxy matrix used for engine fan blades is designed to be impervious against jet fuel and rain water, external paint on the composites parts is applied to minimize damage from ultraviolet light. The carbon fibers can cause galvanic corrosion; the primary element of CFRP is a carbon filament.
