Bows, Strings, and Bowing

It is to the credit of Francois Tourte (Paris, ca. 1747–1835) that modern bows give a more direct impact on the string than their predecessors. This feature is of utmost importance when applying off-string, bouncing techniques such as spiccato and ricochet, but even for a stroke such as martele, where quick reduction of bow force is required during the attack. With Tourte’s concave-cambered bow, the bow force increases rapidly when the bow stick is falling or pressed against the string. With the old concave or straight bows, more movement, and thus time, was required for establishing comparable bow force.