QuantiForce Strings
Revolutionary Tools for Bowed & Stringed Instruments
Efficiently teach ease of play
QuantiForce Strings supports teachers and students in identifying the situations where the player’s body does not have the suitable amount of tension and where the teaching work should focus to efficiently improve the ease of play. On the other hand, as soon as there is an improvement it is immediately visible for teacher and student, which is a big motivating factor for everyone involved!
Reduce health risks
Our studies have shown that some musicians are using significantly more force than others for playing the same phrases. While many stayed in the range of 0.5 - 1.5 kg of force on the shoulder, some were exceeding 10 kg! And there was no noticeable difference in sound, posture, or motion that would indicate the high force. Such high forces come from strong muscular tension and can seriously harm the musician’s health when accumulated over a career.
QuantiForce Strings makes it is easy to identify such risks and the real-time display of forces supports teachers, students, and musicians to evolve to a healthier playing technique.
Enabling new levels of research
For the first time it is now possible to collect very detailed and informative force and motion data of musicians playing in their natural environment instead of a laboratory setting. The QuantiForce Strings sensors unobtrusively integrate with the instrument and are astonishingly easy to set up with our Logger app. There is no need to hire a technician to use the system.
With the Logger app it is simple to combine different sensor systems. For example you can add QuantiMotion full body motion capture to the same recording and/or use the mobile device’s internal camera to document the entire scene on video. The app displays live data of all sensors and you can record and export the data or use our cloud storage to get centralized access to all collected data.
How does it work?
QuantiForce Strings is a completely new set of sensors that are either integrated into the shoulder rest or are available as thin, flexible foils that can be applied to the instrument or bow at the contact point of the fingers or knees. The sensors continously measure the force between musician and instrument at those contact points and motion of the respective parts. Our Logger app for mobile phones and tablets wirelessly connects to the sensors and displays (and records) the relevant forces and motion data in real time.
"Since I've been using QuantiForce, I've finally gotten my years of neck problems under control."
"The convenient visual representation gives me instant feedback of my effort level as I practice."
"My attention to pressure while playing has become so automated that I can instinctively avoid severe muscle tension even during orchestra rehearsals."
"For many years, I thought neck tension was just part of the professional musician's suffering, until I integrated QuantiForce into my daily practice."
Actively used by teachers in music schools
QuantiForce Strings is actively used by music school teachers. Watch the video to find out how Ulf Prelle, solo cellist at Dresden Philharmonic, uses the system in his lessons. (German audio, enable subtitles (CC) for English.)
We offer QuantiForce sensors for all finger forces on stringed instruments and for chin and shoulder forces on violin and viola.
Contact us for a quote:
store@bonsai-systems.com
Features
Force Display
See the current force in real-time on a clear display with a circle visual element in the app.
Reduced Distraction Display
See the current force in real-time on a color-changing display in the app with no moving elements for reduced distraction during playing.
Time Series Display
See how force varies over time on a time series graph display in the app.
Camera Image Display
Optionally display the live camera image from the front or back camera of the device that runs the app.
Save to Video
Record the live display to a movie file which you can analyze later or share. Everything the app displays is recorded, including the live camera image if selected.
Save to CSV
Record raw sensor data to CSV files for further processing.