What's That Weird Sound? String Edition

We hide many secrets.

Orchestral string instruments are responsible for a great deal of sound effects and musical qualities. They certainly aren't confined to simple dynamic and rhythmic effects - the amount of variety in sound is immense.


Artificial harmonics are produced by touching the sounding string and causing it to sound an octave higher. Ordinarily these wouldn't be an interesting effect but rather just a higher pitch than could usually be achieved by the instrument, however, when composers use the technique of articifial harmonics to their full extent, you can get some really amazing and unexpected results! For example, "Vox Balanae," by George Crumb: the "seagull" effect, at 5:54.

Another effect that is gaining exposure  in the classical/metal crossover genre is over-bowing, which puts too much pressure on the strings with the bow and gives a distorted, dirty sound. A good example of over-bowing can be found in Dorothy Hindman's cello solo, "Drowning by Numbers," which you can listen to here. 

Col Lengo is a technique in which the performer flips the bow over and plays the strings with the wooden part of the bow instead of the hair, which gives a subtle percussive sound, perhaps resembling a pile of...bones? That's right, one of the most famous instances of col legno is in the fifth movement of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, right around the 8:15 mark - when our artist protagonist is being taunted in the pits of hell. Fun! If you want a more in depth explanation of Symphonie Fantastique, click here. 

Sul Ponticello is a effect in which the musician bows the strings over the bridge of the instrument, producing an ethereal, flute-like sound. This technique has been around for quite some time, and the first time it was used in a formal score was Haydn's Symphony 97, movement 2.

Composers have used creative means to notate different techniques, and the advent of digital software like Sibelius and Finale have only widened the opportunity to write a very interesting score. There are some tried and true tested notation, like that of artificial harmonics - but composer beware the capabilities of a stringed instrument! Even the giants manage to make mistakes: Stravinsky wrote passages calling for artificial harmonics that aren't even possible on that instrument.

As long as there have been string instruments, string players have been finding new and creative ways to use their instrument. Over the bridge, under the bridge, harmonics, using the back end of the bow, using the bodies as percussion instruments, they have done it all. This article is FAR from inclusive of string techniques: there are many different options for bowing that I didn't even bother to write about, because there are many wonderful guides on the internet for composers and string players, and I would not do that justice.

All I can tell you is, if I knew how to play cello, I would spend all day making that seagull sound.