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jdowning
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Another 'twist' - Spider Silk!
The ancient Chinese used silkworm moth filament for their instrument strings - we know because they say so in their historical record. We do not know
what kind of silk was used for the early oud strings - although, most probably, it was from the silkworm moth.
The alternative - spider silk filament has been used for making thread and textiles for centuries among more 'primitive' civilisations. Europeans
since the early 18th C have investigated the commercial possibilities of spider silk as opposed to silk moth silk - attempts that have generally
failed due to the difficulty of domesticating and controlling spiders in order to extract their silk.
In more recent times there has been renewed interest in spider's silk as a bio-engineering material and research into making synthetic spider's silk -
so avoiding the difficulties of using spiders - is showing some promise.
Spider's (non sticky 'dragline') silk is very strong (stronger than some steels by weight and much more elastic). A spider is able to adjust the
composition of its silk to suit the purpose of application - so, for example, dragline silk used as the foundation for web building is physically
different from the silk used to build their nests, or sticky entrapment threads, or for wrapping insects caught in a web.
Early attempts (18th C) by Europeans to harvest spider webs for spinning and weaving into textiles involved boiling spider's nests in Gum Arabic as a
binder.
Can spider's silk be used to make instrument strings? The answer is 'yes' as recently demonstrated by Japanese researcher Shigeyoshi Osaki from the
Nara Medical University who has made a set of violin strings from the silk of a large (as big as your hand) golden orb weaving spider Nephia maculata
- a species found across the world in warmer climates from the Southern States of America to Australia. The largest diameter G string is made from
15,000 silk filaments twisted in a three strand roped configuration.
Being sensitive to insect bites, I do not plan to spend time attempting to make instrument strings from spider silk - the largest spiders locally
being the relatively small but colourful Golden Orb garden spider (Argiope aurantia - 'guilded silver face') - see attached image - overall length,
legs included about 4.5 cm. However, for those brave souls who might want to try, attached is some more information about the history of spider silk
and how to process and obtain the silk.
Also, for information, a recent textile made entirely from 'golden' spider silk - just to demonstrate the potential of this remarkable material.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/golden-spider-silk/
[file]27859[/file]
[file]27860[/file]
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jdowning
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As previously reported, Franz Jahnel in his book 'Die Guitar und Ihr Bau', noted that some experiments to make viable instrument strings (prior to the
commercial availability of nylon strings in the 1950's) involved dissolving the outer layers of a twisted string made from silk fibroin filament with
a solvent such as caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). The idea was to consolidate the outer layers into a smooth, uniform surface.
Curious about this possibility, the test string - previously reported - made by boiling the string sample in silk fibroin solution, was remounted on
the test rig under load and then wiped with the silk copper hydroxide solvent (see previous posting) and allowed to dry.
The coated string sample was stiffer and the filaments more tightly cemented together than before but still flexible. A knot tied in the sample string
was bound much tighter than in previous trials - so promising for making frets. String diameter 0.81 mm
Copper hydroxide solvent will completely dissolve a silk string of this diameter in about 1.5 hours at room temperature.
The next trial will be to dissolve some scrap silk filament in the solvent and then to test this silk saturated solution as a string coating for
possibilities as a binder.
[file]28953[/file]
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jdowning
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The test string has been given two coats (wiped on) of a saturated solution of silk scraps dissolved in copper hydroxide solvent and allowed to
dry.
In the resulting string, the filaments are more tightly bound together (but not fused together) with diameter reduced to a uniform 0.77 mm dameter.
The string was flexible but with a lot of surface friction allowing a very tight simple knot to be tied. Examination of the string under magnification
revealed surface 'hairiness' - which would account for the increased surface friction. Rubbing the string with a piece of soft chamois leather - in an
attempt to polish out the hairs - only made matters worse (see attached image - scary huh!). Note, however, that the 'hairs' are relatively
microscopic in diameter and may be removed by (quickly!) passing the string through a clean alcohol lamp flame to burn off the surface hairs. This is
the solution that was resorted to by 19th C violinists using silk strings but is not really satisfactory.
The hairiness is caused by the solvent partially dissolving the silk filaments at the string surface - but clearly has not resulted in a smooth finish
to the string as hoped for.
The next test will be to immerse a string test bundle in the silk saturated solvent for, say, 5 minutes prior to twisting. After drying the twisted
test string will then be boiled in agar solution - just to determine if this will result in tightly consolidated silk filaments (due to the brief
dissolving action of the silk solvent) but modified to a smooth surfaced uniform string by the influence of the Agar gel.
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rootsguitar
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Smooth Thread -- and a lot to take in at once, will read more soon
I'm curious if the diameter of the silk strings suggest that they may have been originally manufactured for another use and then adapted for stringing
an oud.
At any rate, the diameter of the bridge holes and peg style of ouds/lutes allow for many kinds of test stringings using a variety of materials.
Although some of these experiments don't pan out it is plausible that oudists of distant times may have been forced to make due with what they could
find in order to keep their instrument strung...
especially when on a far ranging travel.
Thought provoking work,
best------------T
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jdowning
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Musical instrument strings historically were made from any fibrous material - animal (e.g.silk filament or intestines) or vegetable (e.g flax or hemp)
- strings that had a number of commercial general applications apart from instrument strings.
Some of the earliest recorded accounts of instrument string materials date to the 9th C (Ziryab) and relate to the oud. They specify only silk or gut
strings - the preferred animal gut then being that of young lions (the origin of the term 'cat gut' as well as sheep's gut - the latter domesticated
animal source being more readily available (and hence lower in cost) than the wild feline variety.
As for the European lute, there are very few surviving references to animal gut being specifically mentioned as lute string material (and none for
silk) although - if the lute is supposed to be directly descended from the oud - one might expect that at some point in the history of the lute both
silk and gut strings were used.
The key factors in string material selection are physical characteristics - strength, elasticity, durability etc. and raw material availability.
In 16th/17th C Italy the animal intestine of choice for instrument strings was that of the sheep (or rather lamb) primarily because meat of these
animals was in popular demand - particularly during religious festivals - and so there was a ready supply of intestines for the string makers.
Furthermore, baby lambs, being favoured as a culinary delicacy, their intestines - being small in diameter - went whole into making the very best thin
gut treble strings.
Nowadays, historical string makers must of necessity use larger cattle intestines that must be split in order to be made into the thinner gut strings.
Both cattle gut and splitting of intestines for making instrument gut strings was considered bad practice (and so banned by the trade organisations)
at one time.
Another problem for the modern 'historical' string maker is that the domesticated breeds of sheep and silkworm once available in the 16th/17th C and
earlier are now extinct so it is not possible to exactly replicate the physical properties of early strings.
Here, for information, is an article that I wrote for FoMRHI about 2 1/2 years ago that may be of some interest related to this topic.
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rootsguitar
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The paper is excellent and introduced some new ideas to me, reinforced a few others and also led me to speculation about how the pairing of gut
strings with silk strings may have influenced a tuning regime.
I share these ideas to pass the time on this winter night and hope that if nothing else it will keep the motion, the fingers, and the instrument a
part of this discourse on strings.
“…so the sheep intestines of Al-Kindi’s time were not strong enough to make the small diameter, bright sounding top strings.” (FoMRHI Comm.
1937 (April 2011, John Downing)
…which were of silk.
I wish to share how one string capable of higher tension but not tuned higher, might influence a tuning and subsequently the hand motions and sound
produced by a solo lute.
In my experiments with an 8c lute I have chosen to split- tune the regime, by which I mean that I treat the stringing as two separate groups on a
single neck, separated by a blank course.
In the attached link, the close up videos of the right hand show this clearly.
The relationship of the strings to each other is of interest to a player. Using only strings of the same thickness, higher tensions are not available.
Courses seem to favor thirds, seconds and sympathetic strings.
After reading ‘CATGUT’ Instrument Strings Revisited,
I decided to add a wound string…very unlike the timbre of the fishing line strings I have been using.
This single, more resonant string adds a unique color to the music and is not tuned higher.
This thicker string was made for classical guitar and was tuned to the highest pitch of the weaker strings( F#) and placed on the top course.
I hope the videos are interesting to this discussion.
Thanks and here’s a link for the lute minded:
http://youtu.be/fW5Po7Htg5o
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rootsguitar
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The link between stringed instruments and bows is also worth a look.
Though bows are uncommon to most cultures in modern times, it is plausible that as the bow evolved from a fire starting and hunting tool to a weapon
produced in large numbers, string making techniques and the materials used to achieve extreme tensions were cross pollinating musical advances all the
while.
Especially within a Royal Court where an awareness of expansion/defense played a key role.
This is a random quote from a primitive archery forum:
" The Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volume 2 has a long detailed chapter devoted to making strings, and would be a great reference point. I have been
using B-50 string material that I ordered from 3-Rivers Archery. For the price of a store bought bowstring, you can buy a spool of string material
and make a dozen strings. I believe that linen strings, twisted up from flax fibers was the European traditional string. Native Americans favored
sinew and rawhide, as well as types of plant fiber. "
The alatal/bow timeline may be an interesting comparison with that of harp/lute like instruments.
Just a thought....------T
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jdowning
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I started my investigation into historical instrument strings nearly 20 years ago and published a number of articles on the subject in FoMRHI from
1995 to the present day. Early studies included research into 'alternative to gut' string materials such as silk, sinew and other fibres that led me
to look at other early technologies such as archery bow strings, siege catapult cordage etc. These numerous articles are now available for free
downloading at fomrhi.org.
The published subject matter is too extensive to post here but there is now a PDF search facility on the FoMRHI home page. So to locate my work on
strings (and other topics) over the years search 'Downing' and just plough your way through the entries!
I also have an interest in archery bows - particularly the traditional powerful Turkish reflex composite bows. Strings for these bows must be made to
with stand extreme tensile forces whereas instrument strings must be flexible enough to work well at much lower tension - requiring a twisted
construction that also lowers the tensile strength - the greater the amount of twist the lower the tensile strength. Turkish bow strings made from
silk filament were laid with the fibres as straight as possible (minimal twist) for maximum strength, the string bundle being held together being
tied at several points along the string (such as the arrow nocking position at the string 'centre').
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rootsguitar
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Catapult cordage! What a great lens to look back through.
I look fwd to chkn more of your work @ FoMRHI.
Thanks for keeping the ideas moving
--Best solstice wishes
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jdowning
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Time to investigate further the glue and glue/agar binder possibilities so the first step is to make (or try to make) some hide glue from rawhide. I
will be using this glue, if successful, for another non related project (rawhide backed reflex archery bow) later this year.
Much of the readily available so called hot 'hide' carpentry glue is made from bones not animal skins so - although fine for woodworking - is not what
I want for a silk string binder (or bow making)
Rawhide may be prepared directly from the skins of freshly butchered animals but there is quite a lot of preparatory work involved in preparing and
de-hairing the skin.
A more convenient source can be found in pet food stores sold as snacks for dogs - made up to look like bones. The hide usually comes from cattle and
as purchased is hard and dry so the 'bones' must be soaked in water for a day so that the hide becomes soft and can be flattened out ready to be cut
into small pieces about 1 cm square. I add sodium carbonate to the water (a mild alkali sold in hardware stores as a swimming pool water acidity
adjuster) to further degrease and sterilise the hide during soaking
The small 'bone' selected for this trial has yielded about half a cup (125 cc) in volume of rawhide pieces when dry.
Essentially to make glue, the rawhide is just heated at about 60°C in water for some time (hours) in order to extract the collagen and other
components of the rawhide. The resulting fluid in then reduced in volume by heating until the required strength of glue is obtained. Sounds pretty
straightforward!
Next - to the kitchen for some cooking.
[file]30744[/file] [file]30742[/file] [file]30738[/file] [file]30740[/file]
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jdowning
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The dried raw hide pieces were placed in a pan of water - water volume 375 cc (i.e. about 3X the volume of rawhide) and brought up to a steady
temperature within the range 60 ° C to 65° C. At this temperature the liquid is just simmering - the surface of the liquid moving slightly with an
occasional small bubble rising to the surface. After 1.5 hours at this temperature the volume of liquid in the pan had reduced so another 150 cc of
water were added to make up the loss. The liquid in the pan was stirred every 10 minutes or so to avoid a skin forming on the surface.
After another hour of 'cooking' a further 150 cc of water was added and the liquid again brought up to simmering temperature before being poured
through a fine kitchen strainer into a clean glass jar. The liquid (now gelatin glue) was allowed to stand so that any fine particles would settle to
the bottom of the jar and then decanted into another clean jar. The glue was further reduced in volume by heating on a water bath for another 1.5
hours and then set aside to cool.
A second batch of glue was prepared from the material still remaining in the pan. Again 375 cc of water was added and maintained at a simmering
temperature of about 65° for 1 3/4 hours until the volume of liquid in the pan had reduced to less than 50%. This time around no additional water was
added prior to straining the glue into a clean jar to cool.
After this batch little rawhide material remained for further processing so was discarded.
The relative strength/tackiness of the glue was assessed by rubbing a few drops between thumb and forefinger.
The glue will be further evaluated tomorrow.
[file]30746[/file] [file]30748[/file] [file]30750[/file]
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jdowning
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After standing for several hours in a warm kitchen both batch #1 and #2 remained fluid but gelled when placed in a refridgerator. The gel point of the
more dilute glue (batch #1) is about 20° C and about 25° C for batch #2.
To prevent spoiling of the glue in the liquid state, powdered Borax (sodium borate) has been added at a rate of 5 grams/100 cc (or 3cc borax
powder/100 cc) and stirred in until dissolved. Borax has been known since at least the 8th C in Persia the name, derived from Persian and Arabic,
meaning 'white' - so is an 'authentic' historical chemical additive.
The advantage of the current fluid state of the glue is that some further clarification of the glue can be realised by allowing the batches to stand
to let any fine suspended particles settle to the bottom of the storage jars so that the cleared liquid may then be decanted off.
After standing for a day or two in a room temperature of about 25 °C the decanted glue solutions will be concentrated by allowing the water content
to evaporate to form (hopefully) dry glue flakes that should keep well and will be more convenient to use.
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jdowning
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The clarified glue batches have been decanted onto flexible plastic food container lids to dry. There was some particulate residue in batch #1 but
none visible in batch #2.
At this time of year, with particularly cold wintery conditions outside, the woodstove heated kitchen is at a temperature of about 25° C+ with
relative humidity of around 45% so natural evaporation of water from the glue should proceed fairly quickly. It is best to avoid using artificial heat
that causes the glue surface to skin over preventing uniform drying of the glue.
The glue is quite clear but not perfectly transparent. Commercial glue makers go to some lengths to produce perfectly clear glue but that is just a
cosmetic appearance matter. There was no sign of any fats on the glue surfaces so the rawhide must have been well treated before being put on sale.
In the meantime I have recovered some dried glue flakes from the side of the pan used to heat the rawhide pieces. The glue is quite brittle as
expected. This will be designated batch #3 for the purpose of these trials.
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jdowning
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In order to allow the glue to dry more efficiently the still liquid glue (at warm room temperature) has been transferred to low cost 'throw away'
aluminium pie dishes - increasing the surface area, reducing the depth of the glue and transferring heat through the heat conducting metal. This seems
to have worked quite well - the glue layer, shrinking as it dries, gradually and conveniently detaches itself from the dish. From liquid to dried glue
has taken three days.
The resultant glue is very brittle and hard - glass like - as it should be. Broken into small pieces and kept in a dry place it should last for a long
time without deteriorating - particularly as Borax has been added.
Next to make up a sample and first assess the glue for strength and quality (as a hot hide wood glue).
The dry glue yield from the rawhide (using this method) is about 50% by weight.
[file]30894[/file] [file]30896[/file]
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jdowning
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To test the hide glue strength a sample was made of 10 grams of the dried glue flakes dissolved in 15 cc of water at 60° C heated on a water bath.
This glue concentration remained fluid at around 25°C.
Some dry cedar strips were glued together and clamped for 24 hours before testing.
The test strips were held in a vice and loaded as shown in the attached images - the glued area A being subject to torsional loading (load X moment
arm). Both test joints failed at a calculated ultimate torsional shear stress of about 7,500 p.s.i. - the joint failure being in the wood rather than
the glue. So a promising glue for instrument making at least - if not for a string binder.
The glue being liquid at 25° C would be convenient as a binder for string making but its hardness on setting will likely be a problem. The objective
now is to determine if a glue/agar gel mix binder might be a more flexible yet strong alternative.
A hot 2% agar liquid gel was added to the liquid glue at 60° C but an insoluble mass of gel immediately formed. The gel appeared to be agar coming
out of solution as, when removed. the remaining fluid appeared to be only glue (tested to be of the same strength as in the above untreated
sample).
As gelatin glue and agar gel are supposed to be compatible a further test will be undertaken - this time to try to dissolve the glue flakes directly
into the hot liquid agar solution.
[file]30972[/file] [file]30974[/file] [file]30976[/file]
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jdowning
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The second attempt to make a mixture of hide glue and agar also failed.
The 2% agar was first transformed from a gel to liquid by heating on a water bath to 90° C and was then allowed to cool to 65° C at which point the
dried flakes of the prepared hide glue were stirred in until dissolved - the liquid temperature being maintained between 60 and 70° C throughout. As
glue flakes were added the mixture became stiffer so water was added to maintain a hot glue like viscocity. However, on cooling to 25° C a lump of
gel had formed within the liquid - the gel most likely being the agar separating from the liquid glue.
So, prepared in this manner, the glue and agar do not seem to be fully compatible and will not form a homogeneous solution.
The remaining solution tested as quite a strong glue on wood samples as well as on cotton fabric.
It will next be tested as a binder on a small silk string sample to determine if the end result is sufficiently flexible. Perhaps a portion of the
agar does combine with the glue to provide some degree of flexibility to the glue?
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jdowning
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Again a test with the glue/agar binder failed when tested on a silk string sample. The sample was soaked in the hot glue/agar binder solution at 60°C
and then twisted under load but the binder immediately gelled and made uniform twisting of the string impossible. Heating of the string with a hot air
gun failed to re-melt the binder. This suggests that at 60° C some agar does go into solution with the glue only to form an intractable gel on
further cooling. This test also reconfirms that a binder must be applied to a string after it has been fully twisted - as shown earlier in this
thread.
Hide glue is hard and brittle when dry. A method used to make a flexible glue involves adding glycerol to the glue. However, as glycerol was
discovered in the 18th C it could not have been used to make a flexible binder in earlier times (if indeed a flexible binder was ever used).
An alternative used by art conservators to make isinglas glue flexible is to add honey - apparently a very ancient method. Having a few grams of the
hide glue to hand, a brief test was made to confirm if adding honey might produce a flexible binder. It does!
The proportions used were dry hide glue 12.5 grams, water 25 grams (25 cc) and honey 12.5 grams (10cc) all heated to 60°C. Not sure if this is the
optimum proportion of ingredient. The glue used was not treated with borax as a preservative.
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antekboodzik
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Sheep gut for sausage casings is cheap and readily available... Many times I was thinking of try to making some strings of it 
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jdowning
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Good luck! - making historical instrument strings from any animal intestine is whole subject in itself quite apart from silk string making.
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rootsguitar
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• In Zhu Fan Zhi (Description of various barbarians) by Zhao Ru Kua (1170-1228 AD) in 1225 AD, there is a chapter on “Coral Tree” which says
that this is the product of Venice. He describes in detail how Venetians would drop five claw iron anchors tied to long silk rope and lead weights
into the sea to root up coral. The rope was tied to the side of the boat, pulleys were used to raise up the coral. This is a clear indication of
China trading with Venice in the Song Dynasty
great project you have going! keep thinking of the mariners that relied on cordage of all kinds...
The silk leaders you mentioned on Japanese fishing gear make a lot of sense too.
I would think that the silk-ropes were probably a combination of materials like hemp.
Also interested if you think horsehair may have been twisted into silk strings...
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jdowning
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Curious as to why the Venetians would use silk ropes for this purpose rather than the conventional cable construction hempen rope that has been used
for hauling anchors in the European maritime tradition for centuries. Why would they combine silk with hemp fibre for this purpose?
The maritime rope/cord making traditions and applications have already been explored in the hope of finding some connection to lute string making. It
was once proposed in the 1970's that the large diameter lute bass strings of the 16th/17th C - referred to as 'Catlines' - was a name derived from a
special flexible rope (line) used for 'catting' (catching) a ship's anchor so that it could be securely tied alongside the 'cathead' of a sailing
vessel after being hauled up by the anchor cable. So it was concluded that 'catline' lute strings were of this special roped construction to give the
strings the required flexibility and elasticity essential for adequate acoustic performance. Unfortunately there is no historical record of such a
rope called a 'cat line' so that derivation theory has been proven false. Unfortunately, the idea still persists and it is sometimes quoted on the
Internet that lute catlines were made like some kind of a nautical rope! The lute catlines may well have been of some kind of roped construction - we
don't know for sure - but not derived from any nautical tradition.
Horse hair is recorded as once being used as a fibre for instrument strings as well as for fishing lines (at least for the leaders). Horsehair is a
relatively short fibre so I am not sure how the strings would have been made for practical use on instruments - presumably by spinning the fibres or
by braiding. I have not come across any historical record that states or even suggests that horsehair fibres were ever combined with silk filament for
string making. Why would (instrument) strings be made with that combination - horsehair being much coarser than silk filament?
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rootsguitar
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good questions.
I'll first give a reason that a person may have cut the long tail hairs from a horse and wove them together with strands of silk to create strings
that would fit through a bridge hole and then fit the tuning peg hole of the wooden lute.
The first reason may be that silk cocoons were a controlled trade item in parts of china and it may have been difficult for a traveling foreigner
there to access much of the actual thread. The strands may have been in short supply, but still proved interesting to blend with the tail or mane
strands to create a string that could be tightened and not break as easily as all silk. Assuming their lutes were tuned to steps of some fashion where
higher registers were desirable.
Also, in all seriousness, getting a gig with a lute strung with such a symbolically charged material like; young lion gut or strands of silk, was
probably a good way to pitch (advertise) a performance opportunity in a new place. As far as the actual sound they could produce, one would hope such
a player could make an interesting presentation to maintain good will with whoever's audience they sought. Maybe even to begin a relationship for the
purpose of selling silk or other trade items.
A second way of looking at it may be that there were lots of silk cocoons or mass produced silk strands available to a certain kind of lutenist and
the strings were capable of high enough tension to create a vibration that would collectively pass through the all wood instrument in a favorable
way...but they still chose to add a coarser material like horse hair to provide a theoretical opposite of the smooth silk string. Ideologically
such a commitment to yin/yang in process may not be such a stretch in behavior by someone concerned with the making of an art music or, a distinctive
pattern of sounds they relied on to initiate trade through language barriers
The environment of a maritime lutenist may have been much different than one stringing lutes in an overland setting around pack, travel, and luxury
horses.
Also, from a practical point of view, could the coarser hair of the tail act as a binder to the silk strands?
[file]32396[/file] [file]32398[/file] [file]32400[/file] [file]32402[/file]
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rootsguitar
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I found it really useful to review the piece you
posted on 7-31-2013 at 04:24 AM
in this same thread.
also:
Modern borax and chew toys for rawhide is an excellent use of what's readily available.
Good stuff
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jdowning
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The history of the silk industry is well documented. For the historical time period that concerns us here about stringing of the oud and lute (records
dating from about 800 AD onwards - the time of Ziryab) travellers did not have to go to China to obtain silk filament for string making. Since
Byzantine times silk - in whatever form - came to the Romans via land and sea trade routes starting around 300 BC. The Romans were able to start their
own silk production around 522 AD as did the Arabs at about the same time. So silk filament or cocoons would have been readily available as a basic
raw material and likely were not that costly. The rarity and high cost of silk products (like fabric or clothing) is in the skilful labour intensive
work required to make those products - the 'value added' element - not in the raw silk itself.
Zyriab used both 'cat gut' strings (from the intestines of baby lions - felines) as well as from silk filament as did those who followed after. His
silk filament was likely produced at home in Muslim controlled Iberian Peninsula (later Spain) where sericulture was to become a significant part of
the agricultural industry of that region.
I know of no account indicating that horsehair was blended with silk filament to make strings for an oud or lute - or indeed that horsehair was ever
used to make oud or lute strings.
Athough spun silk can be used to make strings, the use of continuous reeled filament is most likely how the strings were made either as a twisted rope
like construction or (possibly) by braided construction (more about braided construction to follow). The use of continuous filament makes for a much
stronger, smoother string.
The silk filament of an instrument string must be tightly bound together to form a durable cylindrical homogeneous whole and minimise any internal
friction losses that might affect acoustic efficiency. A penetrating glue concoction is the binder - or alternatively the natural glue (sericin) that
coats the raw silk filaments. Horsehair would not serve in this function.
Reeled silk filament is relatively strong compared to other materials - animal, vegetable or mineral (tensile strength depending upon the strain of
silkworm and how they are fed and raised). The filament does not break easily. I don't know how horsehair compares in tensile strength but again that
would no doubt depend upon the breed of horse, how it was fed and raised.
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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The larger diameter lute (and oud?) strings (7th course and lower) of the late 16th and 17th C were referred to as 'Catlines', 'Catlins' or 'Catlings'
in some of the 17th C English publications about the lute. The name given to a lute string might refer to where it was made, or where it was obtained
(market source) or from its appearance.
So the fictitious special nautical rope (cat line) for 'catting' and securing a ship's anchor - proposed for a while to be the origin of the catline
lute string in both name and construction (rope) - is not valid. Another theory (and there have been a number of others based upon, as yet, unproven
etymology) is that the Catline lute string was originally made in the 'Spanish' Catalonia region ('Catline' suggested as being a corruption of
'Catalin') and exported to Europe during the early 16th C as costly gut strings of roped construction.
The main agriculture of 'Spain' by the 16th C. - established during the long standing Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula - was sheep farming
and sericulture (silk farming) with the associated wool and silk fabric industries as well as specialised trades (no doubt?) such as gut and silk
instrument string making. Catalonia was a major centre of the silk industry (not sure about the woollen industry, however). So it would seem possible
that if is true that superior lute (and oud) bass strings were being made in that region then the material of construction could easily have been silk
filament rather than gut. Furthermore, if this was the case, then the construction of these strings may have been braided rather than twisted like a
rope - there being a long tradition of making braided cords from silk filament. Braided strings being labour intensive to make, would have been
relatively costly.
More to follow.
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