Analysis of overtones

Premier Sponsors

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue, we will assume that you agree to our privacy policy which includes details of cookie usage. Hide this notice

Banjo Nerds

Join This Group

Are you an ENGINEER, SCIENTIST, PROGRAMMER, DOCTOR or otherwise nerdy individual who also loves the banjo? Join us!!

103 Members, Created 2/7/2011 -

Administrators: rachel.love (owner)

< Back to Home

From answerguru on 5/16/2011 10:30:50 AM

Ok, here's something that's been rattling around my brain for a while. I tend to change my strings fairly often, say every few weeks depending on how much I'm practicing / gigging. The telltale sign for me is when I tune a string, the tuner says it's in tune, but it still doesn't sound right to my ear or along with the other strings.

My theory is that as the string stretches and wears, the overtones produced by it change. This is something that the tuner would NOT pick up. I think that if I took some recordings of new and old strings under the same circumstances, that I could run it through some frequency analysis in MatLab / Octave to reveal the answer.

Maybe it's just my ear, but I predict the data would support my insanity.

Thoughts?

4 Comments
	gnatman says: 5/16/2011 11:43:53 AM I would love to see that recording done before and after. I've never changed my strings, but I've only had my new banjo for about 3 months, and my old banjo was so cheap I wouldn't notice any difference, but that seems like quite a bit of string changes to go through.
	answerguru says: 5/17/2011 8:17:57 PM If I ever find the time to run this little experiment I'll post the recordings for sure (and the data!).
	dpskala says: 5/19/2011 5:31:44 PM Well, I've been messing with the banjo off and on for about 45 years (and, boy are my fingers sore!). Back in the mid-sixties, I played in a group, and probably changed my strings maybe every other month. I used Black Diamonds back then. After several months, the surface of the strings changed - I want to say mildly corroded, but I'm not sure about that. Changing the strings did improve the tone of the instrument. Flash forward to today. I play a lot less, and change strings maybe twice per year, and don't really notice much change when I do. Are steel strings better now?
	phwill says: 6/6/2011 10:15:49 AM I think most strings are pretty much the same as they were back then, Dennis, with a few possible exceptions. The more you play, the more salt/oil/dirt gets transferred to the strings so they will develop some surface corrosion with time. I've never found it to be as pronounced on banjo strings compared to guitar strings, but I think the main difference there is the wound strings. Since the banjo only has one wound, it doesn't seem to show up as much to my ear. I usually just change strings when I start having trouble keeping one (or some) in tune, it's like it's telling me it's time for a new batch.
Post a Comment
You must be logged in and a member of this group to post a comment.

Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by maryzcox 3 years ago
Blog Entry: Hogfiddle Sessions here ! Linked by maryzcox 4 years ago: Hogfiddle sessions here :)
	Winder Slide Linked by maryzcox 5 years ago
	Mary Z. Cox A Secret Life Banjo & Dulcimer Virtual Concert Linked by maryzcox 5 years ago
	John Stinson’s #2. Banjo 2021 BlueRidge Mountains Linked by maryzcox 5 years ago: Good morning banjo
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by maryzcox 7 years ago: 2019 Carolina Banjo Tab book here :)
	Got no use for this old banjo Linked by maryzcox 8 years ago
Blog Entry: New CD--Good Mornng Banjo & Good Morning Banjo Tab book are here ! Linked by maryzcox 9 years ago
	Good Morning Banjo Tab Book Linked by maryzcox 9 years ago
	2017 Banjo Babes Calendar & CD Linked by maryzcox 10 years ago: www.maryzcox.com