Why does an orchestra have many people playing the same instruments? How does it add to the overall performance?
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You place the horsehair of your bow atop the violin string and pull. The rosin effects a friction that causes the string to vibrate. This vibration resonates through the cavity of the violin to produce a sound quite different than the simple sine wave of the string’s vibration. It makes a sound that is beautiful and pleasant and musical, reflective of the unique characteristics of the violin’s constituent wood and of the exact shape and size of the resonant cavity within.
Ten people place the horsehairs of their bows atop their strings and pull. They are all playing the same note. Their violins are the same size–or are they? They are almost the same size, but not quite; the margin of error in manufacturing is small, but greater than zero. The violins are made of different wood from different trees, each with its own voice. Each performer is pulling their bow at a slightly different speed. Their fingers are all placed expertly on the exact spot they need to be placed on their fingerboards, but as the violin is a fretless instrument, each finger is placed very slightly differently to all the rest, offering a barely discernible difference in pitch.
The pitch and timbre of each individual tone is unique among the rest. Combined, they are far louder than any one of them could be alone; this is vital in eras before (and venues without) electronic sound reinforcement. But this is not all; combined, they offer variegated and living ideas as to the interpretation of the sterile and static sheet music in front of them. Together, they are something different than they could ever be apart. They are the choir to the soloist; they have crowdsourced greatness.
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