Bridge (string instrument)
The bridge is that part of a stringed instrument that transfers the energy of the vibrations of the tensioned strings to the body . Depending on the instrument, there are different designs and designations. The bridge limits the freely swinging string length ( scale length ) at one end, the saddle at the other end.
With lutes and most guitars (exceptions are, for example, string guitar , archtop guitar and resonator guitar ), the bridge has a double function: it not only serves as a scale limiter, but also to secure the strings. So here the bridge and tailpiece are combined in one component. Especially with electric guitars , the English name is in the German language for the web frequently Bridge uses this word or Germanized as a bridge .
position
The bridge is located on the sound-producing resonator; usually the ceiling is used here. Depending on the position of the bridge and the shape and architecture of the ceiling and the sound box, a different sound is created. It usually stands on wooden structures, such as the body of the guitar, violin or viol. But there are also other options, such as the banjo : There it stands on a taut skin, which is also stimulated to vibrate by the string vibration.
The correct position of the bridge is particularly important for the intonation of an instrument that has frets , see octave purity .
String instruments
With string instruments such as the violin , the bridge, usually made of maple wood , is placed on the top and the pressure of the strings alone hold it in position. It stands between the F-holes almost directly above the sound post and bass bar .
Due to its shape, it not only transmits the pressure on the top that the strings cause by vibrating, but also the changes in length and position of the strings. This is how you imagine a deflection within the string plane: The deflection of the string increases the tensile force and causes the bridge to tilt slightly towards the fingerboard . In addition, more power is shifted, either to the bass or treble foot of the bridge, depending on where the string is being deflected: The bridge dances from foot to foot in the frequency of the basic string vibration. These details also determine the balanced sound of the violin.
This shape of the bridge can be found on instruments of the violin family (violin, viola , violoncello ), the viol family and the double bass . Similar bridges can be found on the Crwth , the Banjo or the Mandolin .
Acoustic guitar
In the case of western or concert guitars , the bridge is glued to the top, and in the case of cheap mass productions it is often even screwed on. It consists of the same scheme for almost all acoustic guitars and contains three important components.
- the actual bridge chassis ; it is firmly attached to the ceiling
- the tailpiece; Here the strings are attached (concert guitar) or inserted and secured with pins (western guitar)
- the saddle; it is inserted into a notch and only held in this notch by the pressure of the strings. Bridge inlays are usually made of ivory , bone or, in the case of simple instruments, plastic. The height of the strings determines the position of the strings ; the saddle is often lower on the treble side than on the bass side. Their inclination in relation to the saddle contributes to the purity of the waistband .
Here, too, more forces are transmitted than just the pure pressure of the vibrating string, but due to the lack of leverage and the design of the overall construction for this mode of action, they do not appear.
On a resonator guitar , the bridge is in the middle on a metal membrane. Similar to the violin, the tailpiece is located on the lower edge of the lower bow .
Archtops usually have a floating bridge that is fixed by the tension of the strings.
Electric guitars
With acoustic instruments, besides the saddle, often only the bridge is the transferring and boresurface-limiting part, with the electric guitar it is an interplay of many smaller components, mostly made of steel. Because the sound is picked up by induction pickups, the vibration-transmitting function of the bridge is not of primary importance, as the string vibration is converted directly into an electrical voltage. The interaction of the body vibration in connection with the vibration that is picked up by the saddle determines the sustain and the basic timbre of the electric guitar. The bridge serves primarily as a scale limitation and only secondarily as a transmitter of the vibrations to the body.
Vibrato systems
The widely used Floyd Rose vibrato system consists of a metal base plate on which saddles are attached. Each saddle acts as a single bridge for each string. The vibrations are dampened at the contact points. Finally, the metal plate rests in equilibrium, only connected to the body by two to four springs and two blade tips. Due to the few contact points, the relatively large resonance capacity of the entire system and the absorption capacity of the springs, a lot of the energy of the string vibration is lost here. By picking up the sound directly on the vibrating string with the help of electromagnetic pickups , this does not matter and has no far-reaching effects on the sound, because even with acoustic instruments the energy is transferred as sound into the air.
The Ibanez ZR (Zero Resistance) tremolo vibrato system is different from the Floyd-Rose system. The chassis, on which the saddles and fine tuners are located, is not only connected to the body with two blade tips, but also with a ball-bearing axle. Due to this larger contact point in connection with the own resonance capacity of the base plate, more energy can be transferred to the body.
The special construction of this bridge variant results in new ways to play the pitch change ( vibrato ). Audio examples and references to well-known instrumentalists who use this component can be found in the main article on the tremolo system.
Fixed bridge
As the solid web and solid bridge (English fixed bridge , there are all the non-moving webs so referred to) is referred to a web with electric guitars, which is firmly connected to the body and can be moved in any way. Examples here are the Telecaster from Fender or the Les Paul from Gibson .
In the Telecaster or in some Stratocaster models and their bases or copies, the saddles are found as individual components, which are usually mounted with a retaining screw, the so-called octave screw, on the base plate, which is attached to the body. There is one saddle per string or, especially with Telecaster models, two strings run over one saddle. The base plate of this construction is attached to the body with two or six screws. This variant is very popular with copies from the Far East.
The Les Paul guitars and many other models, such as those from the manufacturer ESP and also all leanings and copies, have a different shape of the fixed bridge. The extensively adjustable Tune-O-Matic Bridge from Gibson is connected to the body with two screws, on which it rests loosely (as a floating bridge ) and is only held in position by the string pressure. The screws can also be used to adjust the height in relation to the body surface in order to configure the string position. While the strings are held at the upper end with the machine heads, they are held in place just behind the bridge with the tailpiece, which is also only held in its anchoring screws by the string tensioner. This tailpiece is usually called a stop tailpiece or stopbar , because it is not located on the rear frame , but rather "stops" the course of the strings beforehand.
Other instruments
In principle, bridges are found on most stringed instruments. Exceptions include the seamless harps , musical bows and African trough zither . The counterpart to the bridge is the saddle, which is why most instruments have a bridge and a saddle, whereby the vibrations are only transmitted from the bridge to the resonance body. Box zithers, such as the dulcimer or the santur, have two bridges, which equally transmit the string vibration to the top.
A special feature are the raised notch ridges in which the strings are not run parallel to the top , but rather perpendicularly over the frame or sound box, similar to a harp. In the West African bridge harps Kora and Ngoni , developed from a lute instrument , the bridge is upright on the skin of the resonator. In the notched Zither Mvet played in Cameroon and Gabon , a bridge is erected in the middle of a straight stick, on which four to six strings are hung in notches on the side.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Tony Bacon, Paul Day: The Ultimate Guitar Book. Edited by Nigel Osborne, Dorling Kindersley, London / New York / Stuttgart 1991; Reprint 1993, ISBN 0-86318-640-8 , p. 188.