Timeline for Why does string strummed with finger sound different from the one strummed with pick?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
14 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 16, 2019 at 20:03 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | @CPerkins Tristan was more subtle about it, but his comment also explains how this answer is wrong. It has nothing to do with anything being "faster". | |
| May 16, 2019 at 19:56 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | @CPerkins If by "faster" this answer means "sooner", that's news to me. But the second part about "damping" upper harmonics via longer string contact doesn't have any support in the research I was able to find. That assertion requires a citation. At some point, the string is released and the initial shape of the string is set. I don't see how what happens before release has much effect on the sound, and I haven't found any research suggesting that what happens before release has an effect. The longer contact time leads to more initial displacement, not any kind of "damping". | |
| May 16, 2019 at 19:36 | comment | added | C Perkins | @ToddWilcox Why must you insist that this answer is wrong when your own answer quotes "Thicker picks (tend to) remain in contact with the string longer..."? The key concepts of "faster release" and "remain in contact longer" essentially are describing the same thing. Although this answer is incomplete, it is not "simply wrong". | |
| May 15, 2019 at 17:55 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | @mrpyo You could look at the references yourself and do some web searches. You could also wait and see how the voting goes on the answers and how the comments develop and let the community advise you. In any case, you don't have to hurry to accept, you can wait as long as you want. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 17:49 | comment | added | zduny | @ToddWilcox Well, I'm in a bit of a pickle now - I want to accept an answer, but have no idea which one is correct... | |
| May 15, 2019 at 16:52 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | @mrpyo It's both initial string shape and total string displacement, as documented in my answer. This answer is simply wrong. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 16:11 | vote | accept | zduny | ||
| May 15, 2019 at 17:42 | |||||
| May 15, 2019 at 15:46 | comment | added | Don Branson | @ggcg - I didn't take his answer to imply that, but rather that the release is faster because the process of a string coming off a hard pick is short in duration, while coming off a soft finger takes a longer period of time while the pressure on the string decreases until it finally loses contact. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 15:38 | comment | added | zduny | @Tristan - If I understand correctly, you propose different mechanism: initial string shape vs. string dampening by soft skin proposed by Scott, right? I wonder which one is it, maybe it's both but to different degree... | |
| May 15, 2019 at 15:03 | comment | added | user50691 | The difference in frequency content is more likely due to the difference in material. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 15:02 | comment | added | user50691 | Your answer seems to imply that a guitarist cannot control their pick or hand. It is simply false. One can set up initial conditions for both s.t. the speed and attack are the same. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 14:57 | vote | accept | zduny | ||
| May 15, 2019 at 15:30 | |||||
| May 15, 2019 at 14:30 | comment | added | Carl Witthoft | Might want to expand to define "faster" as " 2nd, 3rd, and higher derivatives of position are much greater :-) . But I suspect (and can't prove without a good o'scope) that you are correct that dampening occurs. I know from experience that (cello) I get significantly different overtones depending on how far from the midpoint I pluck pizzicato. | |
| May 15, 2019 at 14:01 | history | answered | Scott Wallace | CC BY-SA 4.0 |