collision detection: How does Mari Kimura make such weird sounds on her violin?

June 28, 2006

How does Mari Kimura make such weird sounds on her violin?

Back in 1994, Mari Kimura introduced the world to a whole new way to play the violin -- using subharmonics. Basically, she can produce notes that are up to an octave above and an octave below a violin's normal range, transforming it from a glass-like synthesizer to a booming cello. (Here's an audio file of her playing an octave below open G, the violin's lowest note.)

The thing is, not even Kimura can explain exactly how she does it. So a bunch of scientists at the University of Tromso in Norway recently brought her into an echo-free chamber to record some subharmonic playing; they're currently studying the data and trying to figure it out. As they explain in this press release:

"Kimura makes a violin string vibrate in a totally new way. In physics we call this a driven and damped non-linear system, which we are particularly preoccupied with in our research. By understanding the way she plays the violin, we are contributing to understanding of similar processes in the nature", says Hanssen. [snip]
"I have done this for ten years, and the researchers in US and Japan have tried to figure it out for as long. I don't really know what it is I do, because I have an empirical approach to it. It all happens by the method of trial and error," says Kimura.

Kimura has written several primers on her technique in the past, and taught several students how to do this -- but neither she nor other subharmonicizers has adequately described what the hell they're doing with that bow. She can describe the fretwork fairly well, as she does here, but the bow magic seems to be a matter of "feel".

I'll be intrigued to see what the Norwegian folks find out! Kimura has written several pieces specifically for a subharmonically-played violin -- some links to audio files are here online -- and they're quite creepily beautiful to listen to. My favorite is the ending to this snippet of "Subharmonic 2nd", where Kimura fades out on a quiet blizzard of subharmonic noise; it sounds like a couple of ghost violins muttering at you from a different plane of existence. Check out the way-kewl special notations she's invented for scripting subharmonic playing.
If she ever plays this stuff live in New York I am so there.

Posted by Clive Thompson at June 28, 2006 10:34 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt3/mt-tb.cgi/1513

Comments

Well, if scientists have to stick her in an anechoic chamber to figure it out, I doubt I'm contributing anything, but I'll chip my two cents in anyway.

It sounds to me like she's managing to produce a difference tone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_tone) on the violin. Presumably, the pitch of the noise produced by by increased bow pressure is interacting w/ the the pitch produced by the normal vibration of the string. Usually it takes a really pure tone (like a sine wave) to make the phenomenon occur, but hey, it could happen. Anybody know why this explanation wouldn't work?

Also, I feel obligated to point out that there's not really anything invented in her method of notating the subharmonics. 'Sul G' and the '8vb' sign are standard. The '*Subarharmonics' is, of course, new, but the rest just means 'play these on the G-string' and 'Sounding an octave lower than written.' The numbers above the notes are fo r fingering, and the other symbols are accent marks and tenuto marks.

Fascinating stuff as usual.

Thanks,
Lanier

Posted by: lanier at June 29, 2006 12:52 PM

Sure, the difference-tone explanation makes perfect sense! To me, the question is really what's the explanation of the technique that allows her to produce these tones reliably? I don't know if they're going to be able to describe it with more precision than she can, but it'd be cool if they did!

Thanks for clarifying that the subharmonic notation predated Kimura -- I didn't know that!

Posted by: Clive at June 29, 2006 1:00 PM

Yes, I'm sure the technique for getting the right frequency from the bowing would be extremely complicated. Please keep us posted on what comes out of the research.

Kimura did a great job using existing notation to indicate her completely new technique. For me, that's even cooler than coming up with a new representation.

Posted by: lanier at June 30, 2006 4:31 PM

It's sort of neat, I guess. It sounds more to me like a violin accompanied by a weed eater. :)

Posted by: digital_blue at July 2, 2006 1:37 PM

ahahaha! Very much an acquired taste, probably.

Posted by: Clive at July 2, 2006 5:24 PM

Hi there, it's Mari.

Thanks for the article. I like "weed eater". Title for my next piece, perhaps LOL

I didn't invent a new notation because there are too many new notations anyway and I will forget what it is about myself. This way ("8va" etc) I can notate other intervals and it's fun to see people wondering what "M9va" or "m7va" might mean, as I have major 9th and minor 7th below etc.

Cheers,
Mari Kimura

Posted by: mksub at July 3, 2006 2:23 AM

Mari, cool to hear from you! Heh, yes, "weed eater" would rock as a title.

Posted by: Clive at July 3, 2006 10:38 AM