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SUMMARY:Why is the violin so hard to play? - Jim Woodhouse (Department of 
 Engineering)
DTSTART:20080305T173000Z
DTEND:20080305T190000Z
UID:TALK10742@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:3880
DESCRIPTION:The violin is one of the most well loved and popular musical i
 nstruments ever to have been invented. Yet it is also one of the most diff
 icult instruments to play\, requiring great skill to produce a pleasant so
 und.\n\nThe vibration of bowed violin strings has been investigated since 
 the nineteenth century\, and in recent decades increasingly complex and re
 alistic mathematical models of this motion have been developed. This appro
 ach can be used to determine why one violin is 'easier to play' than anoth
 er. The answer concerns how the vibrating string responds to particular bo
 wing gestures\, but many details remain unknown. Current research focuses 
 on the frictional behaviour of rosin\, the sticky material used to coat th
 e hairs of a violin bow to make it work.\n\nJim Woodhouse is Professor of 
 Structural Dynamics at the Cambridge University Engineering Department. Hi
 s research interests all involve vibration\, with musical instruments prov
 iding a particular focus.\n\nThis event has been made possible by a grant 
 from the "East of England Museum Hub":http://www.renaissance-east.org.uk/
LOCATION:Whipple Museum\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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