By: Yorgos Kertsopoulos
It’s a reality. The guitar plays successfully in the tuning range of the violin and even more.
At 32.5 cm. (usual) string length, the violin gets its strings tuned an octave higher than the guitar and Don Antonio de Torres Jurado eventually settled for a 32.5 X 2 = 65 cm. for the guitar’s string length. Modern guitars range from 64 to a 66.6 or even 67 cm. string length but the 65 cm. established by Torres is a very often used standard.
If one takes the violin string as a standard and doubles the string length, it is acoustically natural and evident to end up with an octave lower tuning under the same - as the violin’s - applied tension. So, we end up naturally with our known guitar tuning, with parallel string tension approximations existing there.
The how and the why in strings.jpg
The “Kertsopoulos” nylon, metalonylon, metalonymatic strings for normal, high and re-entrant tuning with multi-tuning & multi-timbre possibilities.
The violin bridge has a sound post underneath it, which sits tight in-between the top and the back plates, providing extra support to the bridge, which however is under a vertical applied force exerted by the tension of the strings.
This does not exist in a guitar (the top - soundboard and the back do not bond with any sound post) and the guitar’s bridge is under different torque tension vectors exercising synthetic forces on the bridge and the soundboard (in turn) and in various other vertically inclined directions in regard to the position of the saddle.
[media]https://youtu.be/af-0RprGXAQ[/media]
The tuning is 9 semitones higher than normal to aim for a harpsichord related interpretation.
All these peculiarities make it quite an extremely difficult task to construct guitar strings, which will be capable to be tuned an octave higher than normal, meaning to play in the range of the violin possessing however, a doubled string length. Theoretically and practically, it has seemed impossible, if one considers also the synthetic forces that are applied to the saddle and the bridge of the modern classical guitar.
Additionally to the above, we would like to be able to obtain this high tuning on the guitar without increasing the overall tension more than what the normal tension of the strings is expected to be and also, to provide a considerable mass for each string gauge so that the sound has the appropriate body, volume, sustain, attack and desirable timber.
So, one needs to have quality high-tuned strings in order to produce a high-pitched guitar.
It has been done successfully - first presented worldwide in 1994 - through a very especially applied technology by the author and the acoustical and musical results are shown through the different interpretations in the videos presented.
[media]https://youtu.be/PA5_T1QDDuw[/media]
S.Gregoriadou interpreting on a high tuning 5 semitones higher than normal – a keyboard (true to the period/harpsichord) aimed timber and sonority interpretation.
Attention: Please do not attempt to tune your guitar strings higher than normal because there is a danger of damaging your instrument. To get the high-pitched tunings for your guitar, it is necessary to use especially designed and constructed strings for this purpose.
To be continued...
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