How Do Un-fretted Instruments Work?

[scottrolf]

With regards to all un-fretted instruments such as violin, cello, bass, etc, how is it that you can produce singular clear notes without frets? I realize that the fretboards have compound radiuses and neck relief, but I'm still puzzled why the strings don't (for the most part) just lay flat when depressed and buzz without the use of frets to make that distinction.

 

[Jazz Ad]

They work exactly the same as a fretted instruments.
Strings don't lay flat when depressed the same way they don't touch all frets when you play a note on a fretted.

 

[scottrolf]

Strings don't lay flat when depressed the same way they don't touch all frets when you play a note on a fretted.

Good point. It's obvious to me now.
Thanks,

 

[hrodbert696]

It's just the length of oscillating string. You can press it against a fret or against a board, but either way you get a certain length of string vibrating, which produces a note of the corresponding pitch.

 

[elgecko]

"Unfretted" fingerboards have relief carved into them.

 

[scottrolf]

"Unfretted" fingerboards have relief carved into them.

I didn't know that. Thanks.

 

[bholder]

you do get a bit of an sonic effect from fingerboard "buzz" too, we call it "mwah", the way the note "blooms" over time.

 

[Flaked Beans]

I like my italian sausages with beans, tomatoes and roasted red peppers quiet a lot!
And those unfretted instruments work just fine.

.

 

[Jazz Ad]

"Unfretted" fingerboards have relief carved into them.

Usually they don't.
Like other electric basses, they have a trussrod used to control the curvature. Without strings on a fretless neck is flat.

 

[elgecko]

Usually they don't.
Like other electric basses, they have a trussrod used to control the curvature. Without strings on a fretless neck is flat.

I was referring to violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Of course fretless basses have trussrods to counteract string tension induced relief.

 

[David Jayne]

I like my italian sausages with beans, tomatoes and roasted red peppers quiet a lot!
And those unfretted instruments work just fine.

.

Man that sounds good. Is that rosemary ? Damn.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Man that sounds good. Is that rosemary ?

Looks more like thyme to me...
We grow both. The thyme is an annual, the rosemary comes in for the winter...

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

I like my italian sausages with beans, tomatoes and roasted red peppers quiet a lot!
And those unfretted instruments work just fine.

.

Mmmmmm...... Sausages... And beans......and red peppers.....mmmmmm.....

 

[scottrolf]

you do get a bit of an sonic effect from fingerboard "buzz" too, we call it "mwah", the way the note "blooms" over time.

When you refer to "mwah" and "blooms" are you saying that you cannot get a nice sharp staccato effect but rather a swelling?

 

[ArtechnikA]

...are you saying that you cannot get a nice sharp staccato effect...

Sure you can. It's all in the fingers.
It's very subtle. With light pressure, you get a bit of fingerboard buzz; add a bit of vibrato and you get a fully featured mwah. Heavier pressure and no fingertip movement will have a more 'fretted' staccato effect, especially coupled with more pluck attack. Similarly, with the appropriate right-hand technique (soft, side-of-finger DB-style), it's possible to achieve an almost-fretless attack on a fretted bass.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Fret less instruments far outnumber fretted instruments and are far older. Frets are an attempt to make playing them easier, and accuracy intonation of note easier to achieve for the player.
A fretboard is not even a necessary part if a stringed instrument to alter the "playing length" which determines the pitch of the desired note. An example of this are slide guitars.
.

 

[AndyPanda]

For people who love the "mwah" sound of fretless but need frets - you can even buy a bridge that instead of a clean break where the string leaves the saddle these other bridges have wooden pieces that the strings lie on with just the slight amount of angle so the string contact against the wood of the bridge saddle is similar to the string under the finger against a fretless neck - only on the bridge end of the string.

 

[monsterthompson]

...And then Leo put the "P" in "Bass."

 

[carl h.]

What about the other unfretted instruments, like trombones, flutes and bassoons? They've never had frets either.

Calling the "violin" family unfretted is missing the mark as they were never intended to be fretted.

 

[bholder]

When you refer to "mwah" and "blooms" are you saying that you cannot get a nice sharp staccato effect but rather a swelling?

No not really, it doesn't affect the envelope of the overall volume of the note, it's a change of the harmonic content within the note.