Mari Kimura is a New York composer and virtuoso violinist whose music includes haunting low notes on the violin called “subharmonics.” …Problem is, these sounds aren’t supposed to be possible.
The tones she playes are in the register of a cello, and usually cannot be made from a violin. Even she is stumped about how it works. “I don’t really know what it is I do,” she said, because she learned it by “trial and error.”
A team of scientists in Norway, is the latest to take a crack at the puzzle. Kimura has said that she has been making these sounds for more than ten years. She demonstrated her ability to top scientists in the US, but they gave up trying to find out how the effect happens.
Stringed instruments work by having a string being vibrated. The string is shortened or lengthed using the fingers. The shorter the string, the higher the pitch and vice-versa. Normally, you would not be able to make a pitch lower than the lowest note on an instrument because you can only shorten the string, not lengthen it. The sounds that Mari produces are of a pitch that requires a string longer than the strings on the violin.
She says: “As an artist you are always searching for ways to expand the sound.” Oh yes, in case you were wondering, there *is* an audio example . There are more examples of longer pieces here .
Mari has a really cool CD out where she combines her amazing technique with electronic elements. Check it out here .
**UPDATE** I’ve been in contact with Mari and the physicists studying her technique. I’ll be writing a followup to this article explaining it all, how she does it & the physics behind it. Please subscribe to the RSS feed or subscribe to be informed when the new post goes up.
71 Comments Received
July 22nd, 2008 @3:44 am
Wow that’s interesting. I wondering if it truly something physics breaking or a environmental factor.
July 22nd, 2008 @6:03 am
Obviously her fingers are absorbing some of the energy that the otherwise longer strings would have absorbed. That is happening while the string is vibrating at a resonance frequency of the sound being heard.
July 22nd, 2008 @6:34 am
Maybe she’s a GODDAMN LIAR!
July 22nd, 2008 @6:50 am
aww man come on! what is vibrating is her bow, not the violin!
July 22nd, 2008 @7:35 am
Outstanding! Well rounded article indeed.
JT
Ultimate Anonymity
July 22nd, 2008 @7:39 am
it’s not the violin…it is the bow that is creating this effect…there are always two sides to a coin
July 22nd, 2008 @8:26 am
What if she’s not actually making the sound with the violin? The fibers on the Bow are longer, what if they are contributing to these sounds?
July 22nd, 2008 @9:11 am
No big mystery here: The bow is skipping on the string at a frequency lower than the resonant frequency of the string.
Another way to do this would be with an external device that vibrates at the lower frequency. Imagine the strings lowest frequency is normally 220 Hz. Now you take a device vibrating at 110Hz and hold it to the violin string. You would get a sound like this – a 110 Hz fundamental with lots of very strong harmonics.
July 22nd, 2008 @9:38 am
Very interesting, I never knew there were sounds that didn’t exist. People Search
July 22nd, 2008 @10:23 am
Sound guys: Always trying to show off how much they know since the beginning of time.
July 22nd, 2008 @10:25 am
Wow, so it seems that random people on the internet have figured out the problem within minutes of reading, while teams of scientists could not figure out the problem after closely studying the actual items being used. Great job internet!
July 22nd, 2008 @10:33 am
You get this same effect with small speakers… a la those ear buds that come with your iPod. There is no way a 1/2″ speaker can really give you that thumping bass… at least not without cranking SPL levels to crazy, pain-inducing heights.
July 22nd, 2008 @11:00 am
Well that happens…when you press the string with lots of pressure with the bow in a certain inclined angle…you can try it yourself…
July 22nd, 2008 @11:24 am
Sounds like it could be a “beat frequency” effect. Playing two stings at once and producing a third note whos frequency is the difference of the two notes being played.
July 22nd, 2008 @12:02 pm
i am sure that retarded blog-readers have beat scientists the punch on this one… good one folks! take that science!
July 22nd, 2008 @12:10 pm
Could it be something to do with a “bouncing” contact of the bow with the string, so the note is produced by the frequency of the string contacts? Kind of like a series of high pitch blips at a low frequency sounding a low note.
July 22nd, 2008 @12:17 pm
Phyllis has it right. I used to make a very low, “creaky door” sound by pressing hard a certain way; I just didn’t try to make different notes.
July 22nd, 2008 @12:17 pm
Wow, so it seems that random people on the internet have figured out the problem within minutes of reading, while teams of scientists could not figure out the problem after closely studying the actual items being used. Great job internet! lol@dustin XP
July 22nd, 2008 @12:34 pm
Word, Jack. I’ve been sitting here laughing about everyone solving this puzzle without even seeing the violin or hearing her play.
July 22nd, 2008 @1:11 pm
Thanks dustin for using your brain unlike everyone else. Also, what is noise pollution is a dumbass…your fingers do not touch the G string (the lowest string) when you want it to play the lowest sound. As for the bow people, this article doesn’t actually say how she is doing it…so maybe you should learn more before saying that. Is there a video or just sounds?
July 22nd, 2008 @1:14 pm
She is making the sound with her voice. Sh e is a Violin-quintrilitist.
July 22nd, 2008 @1:34 pm
Clearly she’s just down tuning like we do in Korn
July 22nd, 2008 @1:37 pm
What Miss Kimura is producing on her violin is nothing new; it was described by the violinist Tartini in the 18th century. An acoustical explanation of how it works appeared in London’s Musical Times in 1852.
Pipe organ makers call these low tones “resultants” and they are commonly used to produce low bass notes with shorter pipes.
July 22nd, 2008 @1:56 pm
its achieved by simply not pressing the bow as hard as normal, while passing it on an angle to the string that is not 90 degrees.
July 22nd, 2008 @1:58 pm
maybe she figured out the programming on the matrix and is just using her superpowers for profit and the smiths cant get close to her while she plays the lower pitched notes!
July 22nd, 2008 @2:07 pm
man, you intertube people work fast… only a few minutes to solve a problem the top american scientists gave up on. now, since you’re all so smart, how about taking a crack at time travel and cold fusion?
July 22nd, 2008 @2:16 pm
It is obviously because she is hollow.
July 22nd, 2008 @2:25 pm
The violin geek in me is all “ooh, neat!” I’ve made odd creaky noises on my violin but have spent a lifetime trying to eliminate them. Could be she’s refined the technique so she can produce a) on cue and b) at a discernible pitch. I’ll be damned if I can explain why they happen, though.
July 22nd, 2008 @2:30 pm
Why do ya’ll act like you all know what you are talking about? Scientists have been working on this, don’t you think that these genius’ have thought of this.
July 22nd, 2008 @2:41 pm
As you can see from the photograph it is because she is holding the violin like a guitar that she is able to get the lower notes.
July 22nd, 2008 @2:58 pm
Simple – global warming and man bear pig. we are doomed.
July 22nd, 2008 @3:01 pm
Silent but Deadly
July 22nd, 2008 @3:07 pm
@Chris – I’ve been traveling through time since before I was born.
July 22nd, 2008 @3:39 pm
i like how everyone is trying to describe how she’s doing it in the comments. Don’t you think physicists have thought of these solutions already? Geez. Less pretentiousness, more appreciation. Great article and I’ll be interested to know how this turns out!
July 22nd, 2008 @3:46 pm
These aren’t too mysterious – modern composers have been using them for years. I get them on my fiddle by planting my bow on one of the harmonic nodes near the bridge and using a lot of weight and not much bow.
http://www.reverbnation.com/ogham
July 22nd, 2008 @4:00 pm
We all know these tones are created from the posterior, not the violin
July 22nd, 2008 @4:48 pm
I don’t think the point of this article was to have unqualified persons discuss the matter so much as to inform them of the world around them.
However, in my own, far superior opinion, the woman is flat out lying.
July 22nd, 2008 @5:05 pm
Wow, that sounds really cool. So how is she doing it? Couldn’t someone try and copy her technique to see if it could be done?
July 22nd, 2008 @5:15 pm
I’ve played one or two pieces that required subharmonics. It’s a technique that any string player can learn. You basically need to use a heavy, slow bow somewhat close to the end of the fingerboard. It’s very hard to control the sound.
July 22nd, 2008 @5:22 pm
I have been a violinist for 12 years and I have a well-rounded college-level science background, including about two and a half years of undergraduate physics. With cred established, here’s my take: True, strings can only vibrate at X low frequency, but a large part of the sound coming from the violin comes from the wooden structure of the violin. Namely, the bridge transfers vibrations from the strings to the top piece of the body wood. A sound post in the interior of the violin also transfers vibrations from the top/bridge (it is below the bridge on the inside) to the back wooden panel. Clearly, the subharmonics come from some distortion of the notes coming from the string, due to the (intentionally) complex shape of the resonating surfaces that make up the instrument. The original note must be getting transferred amongst the different pieces of the instrument and interfering with the now much larger vibrating area/volume of the wooden front and back panels, which physically logically allows for a sub-harmonic resonance.
July 22nd, 2008 @9:22 pm
What some people in these comments are referring to is not the scientific explanation of why it happens, but how it is done and their experiences with the same signals.
Why did the ‘scientists’ give up on it? Who knows. I’m sure they tried all of their instruments on the sound, trying to pick apart the sound print.
What they are looking for is a mathematical model to explain the phenomena.
Could be that they ran out of funds.
Could be that they didn’t have the right ‘scientists’ on the question.
Could be that a ‘scientist’ isn’t always right.
July 22nd, 2008 @10:53 pm
Does this mean we are getting close to the famous South Park “Brown Note”???
July 22nd, 2008 @10:58 pm
Great story. The best part isn’t the scientific aspect, but the fact that a musician innocently broke centuries-old limitations of her instrument in order to “expand the sound.” She didn’t even question its possibility, and doesn’t seem to care how it works.
Brilliant stuff.
July 22nd, 2008 @11:01 pm
Big ups to all who were appreciative of this article – as was I.
And to the rest, quit with the disbelief and attempts to solve this ‘mystery’ just to soothe your crazy jealousy.
Jealous
JEALOUS!!
Yes you
July 23rd, 2008 @12:56 am
I have heard tell of something similar with the digeridoo (sp?) producing notes that shouldn’t be producable due to the size of the ‘doo + the ‘doo players chest. They thought (the mythical ever present ‘they’, that is) that it was something to do with all the harmonics for a lower note being present and the brain just kinda filling in the blanks with it’s own fundamental (like a blind spot in the ears). Though what do late night internet folks know. Perhaps she stuffed goblins inside her violin and whenever she gives them the signal they all singing at a pre arranged freq?
July 23rd, 2008 @1:10 am
Best place to hear these in an old, fun piece is George Crumb’s string quartet “Black Angels.” The old CRI vinyl recording is still better than the newer one by Kronos.
July 23rd, 2008 @1:18 am
Funny, I thought subharmonics were fairly well known among string players. I’ve known more than one cellist who routinely uses them in playing baroque parts that go down below the modern cello range. A singing teacher has told me it’s not too hard to learn to do them vocally, as well; on a couple of occasions when experimenting I’ve managed to sing startlingly low notes that way, though I was never able to do it regularly.
July 23rd, 2008 @10:40 am
Petrushka, you are exactly right. Subharmonics on string instruments have been known for 250 years. Do an internet search for “Tartini tones” and you can read all about them.
What is bothersome to me is that this young violinist, who stumbled on how to produce them, seems to think she has invented something new.
July 24th, 2008 @9:03 am
This technique is actually quite easy to do. It’s also written in music by George Crumb and has been known for a long time before that. I don’t see why she gets credit for this. If you want to try, just play in the G (or C string for the viola) and press REALLY hard with the bow. You’ll hear the low note for a second. Then practice sustaining it once you see how it feels. It’s also cool to try on cello.
July 24th, 2008 @10:53 pm
To Thomas M: These subharmonics are completely different from Tartini tones, also called difference tones. Difference tones are just beats that go fast enough for us to perceive as pitches. Beats are nothing more than interference patterns produced when two (or more) notes are played at the same time. The two notes alternately reinforce and cancel each other out at a steady rate, and this creates the pulsing sound known as a beat. Subharmonics are totally different. They’re single pitches that are being produced on one string, somehow lower pitched than the note that the string is tuned to.
July 26th, 2008 @6:54 pm
Hi, Mari here, I just found myself by chance here, and that all of the sudden on 7/22 so many hits on everything I do. I appreciate your comments and those who said it is hard to believe, I don’t blame you. When I do a demo I turn around and show that I’m not wearing any electronic devices! (as sometimes I AM, playing computer music). Anyway, I answered some of your questions in my new music blog, if you are interested. Please visit: http://subharmonics.blogspot.com
July 26th, 2008 @8:08 pm
Perhaps it may have something to do with the rosin on the hair on the bow and the resonant frequencies of the string and bow as system, and of course the body of the instrument will reinforce the lower frequencies anyway… Anyway it sounds amazing!
July 26th, 2008 @8:28 pm
Doug McFall: Yes Rosin has a big effect, and the hard part is that it’s all relative, when you are trying to play in a concert and your life depends on it!
As for the body of the violin resonance, I am not sure since I can produce it on my electric MIDI violin (no body), and still get the FFT saying that I played those low notes.
July 28th, 2008 @1:44 pm
hahaha the brown note!
August 4th, 2008 @8:47 am
OK, something similar occurred when I was playing a flute, a single note, and humming a note behind it. Suddenly a descending note developed and pegged the Vu meters in the red! Of course the tapedeck was not in ‘record’ mode, so I
don’t know exactly what I played, but I used two frequencies, one static in pitch and one moving.
Perhaps violin and bow are producing two frequencies. The bow wood vibrates, as do the hairs, even on a good wood bow.
The violin back and top are often ‘tuned’ a half tone apart, as this is said to project the sound.
A solid ‘body’ of wood can be multi tonal. A rectangular cross section will sound two different notes depending on which side is struck. Striking an edge produces a combination tone but not a crescending resonance.
My guess is that at least one of two pitches has to be moving in order to get the subharmonic, which is a third event.
One idea for the violinist is to feel for any vibrational change, particularly in the bow, along with the subharmonic effect. This might help master the effect, and decrease the worry factor over one’s art.
August 5th, 2008 @2:22 pm
That sounds really weird. I’ll try it out myself. Perhaps I can impress my students…
It’s amazing what sounds we can produce with our instrument – if we have the courage just to try out unconventional things.
August 10th, 2008 @9:16 am
As you can see from the photograph it is because she is holding the violin like a guitar that she is able to get the lower notes.
October 3rd, 2008 @12:08 pm
Anyone else completely lose control of their bowels when they listed to the audio example?
October 3rd, 2008 @12:10 pm
Maybe you mean “sound that are supposed to be impossible” in the title? You are negating the wrong thing!
October 3rd, 2008 @12:56 pm
This effect is known in large church bells: the pitch you hear is lower than any of the actual frequencies being generated by the bell. What’s happening is that the actual frequencies are part of the overtone series for a fundamental that isn’t present, but you auditory system fills in and ‘hears’ the fundamental.
It’s well known in psychoacoustics that you can produce perceived pitches that don’t include the frequency being ‘heard’. Hope this is useful.
October 3rd, 2008 @1:01 pm
My real question is: Will it blend?
October 3rd, 2008 @1:09 pm
Wow, she is kinda cute!
Jiff
http://www.privacy.es.tc
October 3rd, 2008 @1:28 pm
all of you “violinist” who are posting in here saying you can do this….GTFO
srsly you guys(and gals, I want to be an equal opportunity h8r) are bad
October 3rd, 2008 @4:16 pm
The technique boils down to basically ‘crunching’ the bow down, isn’t it?
There have been times where I’ve simulated bad violin playing and (in my case involuntary) ‘farts’ like that to accompany the sound of enthusiastic cat mating are not exactly rocket science to ‘play’ on the violin.
To do it in a controlled way is another skill you have to master though, kudos to her but methinks it’s not a huge mystery.
October 3rd, 2008 @6:45 pm
who are these “top scientists” in the US? Who are these scientists in Norway? Upon what do they (allegedly) base that this should not be possible?
Oh, and there’s now an update promising to explain “the physics behind it” so I guess the “mystery” has been solved, eh?
What a stupid, sensationalist post.
October 3rd, 2008 @8:19 pm
This is incredible!
Can’t wait for those updates! I subscribed!
October 23rd, 2008 @9:08 pm
From her site, Mari Kimura gets to hang out with Max Matthews. Apparently he was sampling the sound. He is definitely a top scientist.
November 23rd, 2008 @6:07 am
Could this be the same effect that happens when playing one note on a loud guitar and then, as you bend the next lower string up to the same pitch, you hear a corresponding lower pitch descending as the two higher pitches come together? Or on Blind Willie Johnson’s “Let it Shine”, halfway through his meek tenor is joined by an UNDERtone, an octave lower, as if an evil Jehovah was singing along as an ominous warning… fascinating, I’ve always wondered if all of these things were explainable in physics. Does anyone know yet? peas out, tubers in…
March 26th, 2010 @10:11 pm
I haven’t read through the whole comment list yet, but there’s a couple of misconceptions that need a little clearing up.
The biggest one seems to be the confusion between a subharmonic and a combination tone. A subharmonic is an individually generated natural pitch that is lower in tone than the vibrating membrane (no jokes please). A combination tone is a pitch that is created by two separate tones summing together to create an audible tone at the sum point or difference point. A third form of pitch generation can involved rapidly played percussive elements where the speed at which the percussive sounds occur determine the perceived pitch. There is a famous harpsichord that demonstrates this effect (so famous I can’t remember what it’s called).
Another point of confusion seems to be that of sympathetic vibrations. A sympathetic vibration is when a sound vibrates a membrane with harmonically related length. In other words, if you strike the low A on a piano, the A on the next octave will vibrate as well. Through this, one can mute the low A, and from the remaining vibrating strings our ear may infer the fundamental tone (the low A), we do not actually hear that pitch.
A few people mentioned lightly touching a string instead of fretting it. This produces a harmonic tone – which is one octave above the fret point. Basically, it mutes the fundamental tone and allows the next harmonic up to be heard clearly.
Hearing a sound clip, I can also say that this is not a “wolf” tone either – which is the tone of the body resonance combining with the fundamental tone being played.
Lastly, there is mention of the bow itself producing the tone. Bow hair is drawn taught and coated in Rosin. What little vibrations would translate to the bow would die out in milliseconds.
Mari is an exceptionally skilled violinist, and an exciting composer. My only personal problem I have with this whole subharmonics thing is that it often becomes the focal point in discussing Mari – distracting from her music, and her compositional techniques.
June 9th, 2010 @10:28 pm
wow…the sound is soooo eerie. Thanks for posting, it’s quite interesting how this sound can be made, hoping to read some more of this article.
Pingback & Trackback
Leave A Reply