Shigeyoshi Osaki, Nara Medical University, Japan, made violin strings by twisting together thousands of spider silk fibers. The twisting is found to change the cross section shapes of filaments from circular to polygonal. This optimizes the packing structure with no openings among filaments providing mechanically strong and elastic strings.

The spider string signal peaks of overtones for the violin are relatively large at high frequencies, generating a soft and profound timbre. Such a preferable timbre is considered to be due to the unique polygonal packing structure which provides valuable knowledge for developing new types of materials.

• Spider Silk Violin Strings with a Unique Packing Structure Generate a Soft and Profound Timbre,
  Shigeyoshi Osaki,
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 2012, 108, 154301–154306.
  DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.154301