The aptly-named NoiseAddicts online magazine delves into some unusual research as Norwegian acoustic scientists study violinist Mari Kimura, who’s able to play sounds that she should not be able to make:
The tones she playes are in the register of a cello, and usually cannot be made from a violin. Even she is stumped about how it works. “I don’t really know what it is I do,” she said, because she learned it by “trial and error.”
A team of scientists in Norway, is the latest to take a crack at the puzzle. Kimura has said that she has been making these sounds for more than ten years. She demonstrated her ability to top scientists in the US, but they gave up trying to find out how the effect happens.
They call them subharmonics, and there are audio samples at the link. Also, they’re promising more information as it comes. Worth watching, if you’re into science and music.