Pirastro

2012 Review #73: Founded in 1798, Pirastro is one of the big names in strings for orchestral string instruments. Pirastro makes 14 varieties of strings in 3 main types: gut core, synthetic core, and steel core.
You may think– wait, did she say gut? Yes. Yes I did. Once upon a time, sheep gut was the main resource for instrument strings. Plain gut strings sound very quiet in comparison to a modern string. They stretch out, vary with humidity and temperature changes (they are flesh, after all), go out of tune pretty much constantly and are now typically played only on Baroque instruments. If you ever go to a period performance or a Baroque performance, not just a performance of Baroque music, you would maybe hear this type of string. Suffice it to say– they are weird. Pirastro is one of the few string manufacturers in the world that still makes gut strings of any type. They make plain gut strings, as well as gut-​core strings then wound with various metals. This gives stability to a gut string, enabling it to stay better in tune.
The synthetic core variety of Pirastro string is their newest innovation. I don’t know what «synthetic» even means technically speaking, but with this quality, I don’t care. My favorite are Evah Pirazzi’s, which are beautiful, passionate sounding strings that project like crazy, give a big powerful sound and are extremely responsive. You want to go from pp to ff on the E string within 1 sixteenth note? These are the strings for you. The E string is not mousy or squeaky, though I have had them go false on me pretty quickly (IE it just starts to sound like… well. you know…). The G string is particularly impressive, especially since my instrument has a powerful lower range. It gets a great sound, and continues to project well into the upper positions.
Pirastro also has a line of steel strings, which basically means «cheap». Pirastro’s are not cheap; a set of Pirazzi’s runs around $ 75 for violin, $ 200 for cello and bass. The steel-​core strings are less than half the price for violin sets, so they are a good student option. They advertise that their steel core strings have a «non-​whistling E» which is sort of a hard thing to pull off in a steel string. I’ve never used them so I can’t speak to how accurate that claim is, but I can say that if you are willing to cough up the money, these are the strings that will make you sound like a rock star, even if you’re aren’t one.