Have you ever wondered how string instruments make sound? Very simply, you pluck, strum, strike, bow, or otherwise agitate the string so that it vibrates at a certain pitch. You can see it happen faster than sight in real time, but in order to see the vibrations, you need a very specialized piece of equipment known as a high shutter speed video recorder. As shown in the above video, you can see the individual undulations in real time as the bassist plucks the strings. It’s fascinating to see the minuscule machinations that create the music that we hear every day.

What Sparks Our Fire: Using technology to see things in ways we never thought we could.

Does this change the way you see stringed instruments?