Abstract
Background in organology and in the history of instrument bows. As the constitutivematerial of many musical instruments, woods contribute to their identity (musical, structural,aesthetical) and play a role in their design and/or evolution [1]. Since the introduction of bows inEurope, they underwent successive developments in their shapes and in the chosen wood species, inlink with evolutions in performance modalities and in repertoire [2,3], before the adoption of themodern model of bow and of pernambucco wood. But the range in historically used woods is verylittle known.Background in mechanics and wood sciences applied to instruments. The differentparts/functions of musical instrument involve different categories of physical and mechanical,including vibrational, properties [4]. But the vast majority of studies concern a few archetypal woodsfor western instrument in their modern configuration. Thereby, in the case of bows, characterizationsmostly addressed the mechanical properties of pernambucco [5-10], while the properties of woodsthat were used before the generalization of its use are virtually unknown.Aims. The general goal is to better understand the contribution of wood choice to the cultural andmusical identity of instruments, depending on regions or epochs. More specifically, this paper aimsat exploring the relationships between the evolutions in playing modes that are associated to differentmodels of bows on one hand, and the mechanical properties of the different woods that were used inhistory.Main contribution. A survey of woods used in instrument making from different culture has beenmade. Such uses can be set against a database on mechanical properties of 450 species, which gathersnumerous experimental characterizations together with synthesis of existing literature data. Aresearch into historical sources (written and iconographic, surviving bows) has led to an inventory ofdifferent species that may have been used in European bows from Middle Age to the XIXth century.Mechanical properties were assessed on woods actually used in the building of reconstructions ofbows for the interpretation of early music. The possible relationships between wood properties,shapes of the bows, and possibilities of playing modalities are explored. Woods used in thereconstruction of different historical models show distinct ranges of properties. The comparison,allowed by the database that has been created, of the properties of numerous other species usedacross centuries suggests progressive transitions in terms of wood choice. Availability of woodresources seems to have played an important role in the evolution of bows, and probably of that ofmusical possibilities, insofar as baroque and later bows probably could not have been developedwithout the woods of very high density and rigidity imported from Latin America.Implications. Presented works allow to better understand the relationships between wood choice(including availability), evolution of the making and structures, and possibilities of musicalexpression. Some « transitional » epochs are characterized by their variety of experimentations.Notably, the beginnings of the modern bow in pernambucco coexist with quite a few other usedspecies, before the standardization of the XIXth century. Such historical trends in the commonevolution or adaptation between the bow structure and materials can provide inspiration sources forfuture development. Notably, the data collected about the diversity of mechanical properties ofwoods could, in combination with analyses on the structure per se, [3], open the way to noveladaptations between woods and geometry to overcome the foreseeable difficulties in pernambuccowood availability.