Abstract
The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether violinists and violists are able to aurally distinguish tonal differences between these two types of “A” strings.
A series of musical examples were constructed to demonstrate different phases of string usage. These short phrases were then recorded under controlled conditions using both gut-core and metal-core “A” strings. The examples were then arranged in random order on magnetic tapes. On a simple response sheet, violinists and violists from ten universities and colleges were asked to identify which type of “A” string they were hearing. The statistical analysis of this material showed that in 3650 observations, 48.54 percent were correct. Since any value below 50 percent casts no doubt on the null hypothesis, it can be inferred from this study that there is no significant timbre difference observable between the two types.
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