After the core material, the winding material is the next most influential element on a string’s tone. The following diagram shows string winding progression, from darkest to brightest:
Darkest/slowest response —————————-> Brightest/quickest response
Gold Silver Aluminum Chromium Steel Titanium Tungsten
Gold
Since gold is the softest of the winding metals, it has the darkest sound. It is occassionally used for some violin E-strings, and the winding is generally gold-plated rather than pure gold.
Silver
Silver is a much more common winding material than gold. Silver will usually create a richer, rounder sound than Aluminum or Chromium. It has a slightly slower response time than Aluminum.
Aluminum
Aluminum is probably the most common winding material. Aluminum gives a fairly bright sound without too much surface noise.
Chromium (aka. Chromesteel)
Chromium has a bright sound and a quick response.
Steel
Steel has a very bright tone. It is more commonly us as a core material than winding material.
Titanium
Titanium is rarely used as a winding, though it projects well.
Tungsten
Tungsten is the brightest of all the windings. It is commonly used on rope core strings for cello to give the lower strings more projection and clarity.
