upside down

RE: zähmungen #2 : bogenwechsel

( In this module the strings play with a modified bow, with magnetic tape instead of hair. The tape-head is attached to the instrument. )

It is evident: when you play your bow with your violin, the whole reference system is upside down: a down bow, which is a movement from left to right, is written in the score from up to down and in fact the tape-head is reading from right to left. The real question is: when should the tape go forward: by upbow or by downbow?. The physical intuition would say downbow: this has been the tradition for quite many years. Strong beats are downbow, upbeats are, well, up.

The notation is a bit mind-bending: instead of a body-clef (or Lachenmann clef) we need a bow-clef. It looks like this:

The first version (on the left), with the frog pointing up is the one I am using. It all makes sense when the paper is turned 90° clockwise. It is still disconcerting that a movement that requires a left to right shifting of the bow would be notated as a line going from right to left, since what is actually notated is the point of contact between the bow and the tape-head.

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