Double bass strings from sheep intestines? Sounds good!
(28-04-2022) Nils Vermeulen is a PhD student and instrument builder. He makes strings for double basses, based on sheep intestines. Because those materials show some similarities with textile yarns/ropes/.. he came to us to see if we could characterize them.
At the Centre for Textile Science and Engineering (CTSE), we are now doing several tests on them so that he can estimate which of his processes yield the best strings in terms of properties. The sound is of course something else...
Curious? Nils visited national radio station Klara where he talked a.o. about his research (in Dutch):
Watch a short clip including a sound fragment of the strings