For each string, Dr Osaki twisted between 3,000 and 5,000 individual strands of silk in one direction to form a bundle. The strings were then prepared from three of these bundles twisted together in the opposite direction.This also gives us insight into how we can create sounds, change a musical standard and enjoy something new while upholding tradition. Spider silk is an amazing thing, but I'd have never thought to try it for a stringed instrument. Strings must be so perfectly crafted, so uniform to hold the tension required to get the right sounds. I thought spider silk would stretch too much and refuse to stay in tune.
He then set about measuring their tensile strength - a critical factor for violinists wishing to avoid breaking a string in the midst of a concerto.
The spider-silk strings withstood less tension before breaking than a traditional but rarely used gut string, but more than an aluminium-coated, nylon-core string.
A closer study using an electron microscope showed that, while the strings themselves were perfectly round, in cross-section the strands had been compressed into a range of different shapes that all fit snugly together, leaving no space between them.
Dr Osaki suggests that it is this feature of the strings that lends them their strength and, crucially, their unique tone.
"Several professional violinists reported that spider strings... generated a preferable timbre, being able to create a new music," he wrote.
I still maintain my "the only good spider is a dead spider" standards, but at least we can get some use out of the nasty little critters.
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