What are violin strings made of now?

Answer 1

Violin strings are made of a variety of materials. Originally, strings were made of real animal tendons called gut strings. These are very affected by humidity and lose their tune very easily, but these produce the dark, rich sound that many people desire. These are very difficult to play and are also expensive to the point that only professionals even attempt to use them. Student strings are typically made of a single strand of steel or a few strands of steel wound together. Although to a professional ear the sound is bright and harsh, these strings tend to last forever. Today, many strings are made of synthetic materials such as perlon or nylon. These strings provide the rich tone and also the durability and stability. These strings, although they cost a little more than steel strings are very worth the money for the sound.

Answer 2

The strings on the Violin used to be made from catgut, but now are ore commonly made fro metal, usually a different type of metal inside, with a thinner metal braided around it.. The bow hairs, on the other hand, are made from horse hair.

Answer 3

Violin family strings (for Violin, Viola, Cello and Bass) were traditionally made from sheep gut serosa, twisted to make a more supple, flexible string with a round cross section. Much of the technology of string making prior to the 19th century has been lost, although some modern string makers have revived or recreated techniques which allow them to make strings which fulfill written descriptions from the time. Lower strings, requiring greater mass to produce the lower pitches under similar tension and within the length limits from bridge to nut. One technique had been to supplement the mass of gut by catching powders of heavy salts in the serosa ribbons as they are twisted. Another technique was to overwrap the gut with metal wire, often copper, silver or other malleable metal. One interesting, but no longer used possibility was that the metal windings were not 'close', i.e., while even, the wraps had space between them. Adjusting the space would allow finer control over string mass, but would result in 'clicking' when tuning as each winding passed over the edge at the nut or bridge. Another process, mentioned in the Renaissance with regard to lute and viol strings (which, if it were used in this form, might also have been tried on violin family instruments) was "gimping". We have no idea exactly what "gimping" was, but some organologists believe it was related to "gimped lace", where wire was used in tying lace, for shaped collars and such. In this case, a wire or multiple wires are twisted into the gut, providing a smooth gut surface and the required increase of mass.

Modern strings for bowed instruments are often made of silk, metal and gut or synthetic polymers formulated to provide similar characteristics to gut. In some cases (the highest strings of String Basses, for instance) gut is still used, often colored red or black. Usually, modern strings have a winding over a core, with the core being made of silk strands, gut (twisted in the traditional manner), synthetic polymer, or metal. Windings can be round-cross-section wire, "flat" (rectangular-cross section wire), "half-round" (starting with round wire and polished mostly flat after winding).

The bows used for violin-family instruments are usually referred to as having "hair" rather than "strings". The traditional hair used for bows is horse hair, usuallly white (either naturally or via bleaching) or black. Some newer bows (often lower-priced and aimed at beginner students) have synthetic hair, but the quality of synthetic hair has not yet risen to the point where it takes rosin and produces a reliable sound. Natural or dyed horse hair also varies in quality, but generally, "Mongolian Horse Hair" is considered very good. (In my day, it was "Siberian Horse Hair", but it seems that the source has migrated.)