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What makes strings sound "sweet"?

I have always wondered about this. If you listen to many recordings of bowed string instruments, then you know that the upper registers can sometimes have a sweet tone. I define this by what it is not - edgy, brittle, dry and rough sounding. It is smooth and inviting. I used to assume this was due to rolled off highs or an emphasized midrange, but I am not so sure. It varies by recording, or course, but I have often wondered what, in the recording or reproduction process, causes strings to either sound brittle or sweet. Is it the acoustic of the original recording venue? A frequency balance issue? I would love to hear from those who might know. Thanks!
bondmanp
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,341 posts
 
Agree also that distortion of any kind including IM will surely wreck havoc with the sound of strings especially. Getting strings to sound good along with everything else is one of the most elusive things to accomplish with a system I have found.
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
More even order harmonic distortions than odd order harmonic distortions.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Screw high order harmonic distortion. Harmonic distortion is related to the signal itself. IM distortion is, by definition, enharmonic, and much worse. Many factors contribute to sweet sound, frequency response, harmonic distortion spectra, amp behavior at clipping, room treatment, etc., but a lack of IM distortion is certainly one of them.
Viridian, I agree with your comments about the importance of having minimal IM distortion, and I would additionally mention TIM distortion.

But note that I referred to harmonic imbalance, not harmonic distortion. The distinction being that I was using the term "imbalance" to encompass a much broader set of ways in which the harmonic structure of a musical note can get messed up (just one of which is harmonic distortion), including frequency response unevenness and the other variables I mentioned in my earlier post.

Regards,
-- Al
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,242 posts
 
Strings shouldn't sound overly aggressive, but they also shouldn't sound too sweet. Depending upon the instrument and the player it can be very appropriate to have a little bite or even rasp to the sound. The choice of microphone and its placement are the biggest factors in string recorded sound quality.
rodman99999
6,160 posts
 
What Onhwy61 said is exactly on the mark, as LIVE stringed instruments can sound very strident, when bowed aggressively. Good recordings will reproduce the edginess/bite, epecially if the mic was placed in front of the instrument.
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