The use of raven feathers for quills

Raven quill after voicing

 

        The quill slot is angled slightly upwards and the tongue is angled slightly backwards in the jack, so the quill has quite a strong angle above the horizontal as it plucks the string.  This upward angle helps to push the quill and tongue away from the string on it's return to its neutral position.  The upward angle also pulls the string toward the jack during plucking so that the string is released with a minimum sideways motion.  Since the soundboard is able to vibrate only in an up-and-down direction, the reduction in any sideways movement in the string imparts the greatest amount of energy possible to the soundboard resulting in a strong clear sound.

        This photograph shows a quill before the final voicing has begun.

 

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