Observations on the violin bow and the interaction with the string

The bow influences a string performance in two principal ways: ( I ) by adding to the sound quality, primarily set by the violin body, and (2) by serving as the tool through which tones andphrases are formed. The influence on tone quality has been attributed to a modulation of either the relative velocity between bow and string, or the bow pressure, due to the resonances of the bow. New results indicate that certain regions in the string spectra are more influenced than others by these effects. The bow resonances are an individual signature of a bow, but the resonancej?equencies and their relations seem not to be directly related to quality. In this respect, the damping ratios could be more revealing. In its second role, the bow serves as the interface between the player and the string by which phrasing and articulation are controlled. This puts additional demands on the bow, known as the playing properties, for which the mass and strfiess distributions along the stick seem to be the main parameters. Some recent findings on the properties of the bow will be described and the sparse literature on the subject will be reviewed.