Subharmonics

July 13, 2006 4:40 PM

So these guys built a crazy y-shaped guitar that can produce sounds that sound like a regular guitar or a steal drum_[wav]. There are more sound examples on that page. Meanwhile Mari Kimura has figured out a way to produce sub harmonics on a regular violin, extending the range down an octave, producing some [intresting_[mp3] results. via]
posted by delmoi (15 comments total)

I have got to try this. Thank you!
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:44 PM on July 13, 2006

A drum that steals?
posted by mullingitover at 4:48 PM on July 13, 2006

I stole a drum oncet.
posted by Astro Zombie at 4:50 PM on July 13, 2006

the first .wav sounds like it is just being wring-modu-latté'd
and sub harmonics just aren't the same without the hyphen. . .
posted by isopraxis at 5:03 PM on July 13, 2006

A drum that stools.
posted by CynicalKnight at 5:03 PM on July 13, 2006

I used to have a stool drum....it sounded like shit.
posted by horsemuth at 6:41 PM on July 13, 2006

seems like theres plenty of experimentation going on these days. this is great stuff - thanks!
posted by cubby at 7:18 PM on July 13, 2006

*jaw drops at subharmonics*

Thanks for posting this! I'd run across the tritare, but had no idea the violin thing was possible.
posted by musicinmybrain at 8:26 PM on July 13, 2006

I like the chime-like tones the tritare can produce (1:57 into this 23MB sample).
posted by Songdog at 8:32 PM on July 13, 2006

I want to try the violin thing right now!! But it's 2 AM and the article describes needing practise to get rid of the scratchy noises, so maybe I should wait.

The Tritare was also recently featured on SEED.
posted by easternblot at 11:02 PM on July 13, 2006

WRT the violin subharmonics: any guesses as to what the physics are here? Is it simply getting the string to oscillate like a half of a string twice as long? If I'm seeing this in my head correctly, that would be exploiting a particular frequency of the instrument's body, such that the bridge is moving in a very particular way. Thoughts?
posted by re6smith at 1:00 AM on July 14, 2006

Some dense reading on the subject of subharmonics.
posted by persona non grata at 2:58 AM on July 14, 2006

wow, just when you think there's nothing new under the sun.

i would have liked to hear a full tritare composition without all the delay or reverb or whatever that is, and a more detailed composition. they seemed to be just slowly stumming chords.

still very interesting
posted by poppo at 6:50 AM on July 14, 2006

I really would like to watch Stephen O'Malley playing on of these. Unholy! -eb-
posted by endivebreakfast at 9:32 AM on July 14, 2006

Looks and reads better than it sounds.
posted by HTuttle at 9:23 PM on July 14, 2006