Books and Press

Books

Publications exploring the relationships between musical thought, movement, acoustics and musical experience.

Published

L'archet au cœur de l'acoustique, du geste et de la pédagogie

Gilles Saurais
Published by Symétrie, France, in 2026.

The book at the origin of Isophonia.

Written in French, this book introduces the central relationships between the bow, sound production, biomechanics and musical learning.

It examines the bow as an acoustic interface: the place where musical intention, movement and mechanical energy are transformed into sound.

The book brings together musical experience, acoustics, instrument making and pedagogy, proposing a systemic understanding of the relationship between the musician, the bow, the instrument and listening.

Language: French

Publisher: Symétrie

ISBN: 978-2-36485-349-2

The book at Symétrie

Press

What the press has said about the book

“An essay as ambitious as it is stimulating.”

Diapason, no. 759, October 2026. Review by Elsa de Lacerda, « L’autre voix du violon », which describes the author as a bow maker and researcher (« archetier-chercheur ») and the book as « un essai aussi ambitieux que stimulant ».

La Lettre du Musicien, September 2026. Presentation of the book in the publications section: at a time of restrictions on pernambuco and of new questions about the ergonomics of musical gesture, the book asks what makes a bow perform.

Papers and Notes

Shorter publications

Musical Fidelity, Working Paper No. 1, July 2026: the Isophonia framework, and the bow as an acoustic encoder at the centre of musical performance.

Two Clocks, One Student, Research Note No. 1, October 2026: why teachers ask for a sound the bow cannot give.

The First Step, Research Note No. 2, October 2026: why so many beginners learn to play without listening, and how the bow decides it.

All publications

In Preparation

The English edition

The English edition, substantially extended, is in preparation. It follows the complete chain from musical intention to the listener’s experience, drawing on twenty years of comparative testing, field observation of students, teachers and professional musicians, and the historical sources of bow making and string pedagogy.