The Solitary Band

FOREWORD

The present volume has been prepared, at the request of several correspondents in the eastern provinces, as an inexpensive substitute for formal classroom instruction in the mechanical arts of the single rubber band. The student is presumed to have, at minimum, one (1) rubber band of standard No. 32 dimension, a flat working surface, adequate light by which to read, and a willingness to be patient with himself or herself during the early exercises. Auxiliary equipment — pins, paper clips, a small marble, a teaspoon — will be specified per exercise where it is required.

It must be stated at the outset that this manual concerns the rubber band in the singular. The student is asked, in the strongest possible terms, to resist the temptation of the pair, the trio, or the bouquet. The discipline of elastometry begins with one band and one band only. The pluralities will follow in their proper time, in Volume III, which is presently in preparation.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I · FIRST PRINCIPLES

PLATE I — A representative population of bands at rest. The student should select only one. The remainder may be returned to the drawer.

The rubber band, considered as a mechanical object, is a closed loop of vulcanized latex, manufactured under tension and stored under repose. Its principal virtue is recoverability: that is, its tendency to return to a shape at or near its rest length following the cessation of an applied force. Of this single property a great many useful behaviors follow, and it is these behaviors which the practiced student learns to elicit and direct.

Before proceeding to the exercises proper, the student is asked to perform the following preliminary observation. Set the band upon the table. Observe it for the space of one minute. Note its slight ovality at rest; the imperfection of its circle; the faint dusting of talc upon its surface; the small ridge along the seam where the latex was joined in manufacture. This humble object, no greater than the eye can encompass, is the subject of all that follows in these pages.

CHAPTER II · THE FOURTEEN EXERCISES

Exercise No. 1 — The Phalangeal Tether (approx. 30 seconds)

Place the band over the index and middle fingers of the dominant hand. Spread the fingers gently apart, observing the band as it elongates between them. Hold for the count of four. Allow the fingers to return slowly to repose. This is the fundamental tethering action, and it is the parent of all subsequent manipulations. The student should repeat the exercise three times before continuing, paying particular attention to the manner in which the band communicates the position of the fingers to the eye.

It is the considered opinion of the Faculty that no student should attempt Exercise No. 2 before he or she is comfortable with the Phalangeal Tether. The Tether is the alphabet; the remaining exercises are the words.

Exercise No. 2 — The Cantilever Catapult (requires: one paper clip)

Pinch the band between thumb and forefinger of one hand, allowing the remainder to hang freely. Engage the loop with the bent end of a paper clip held in the other hand, and draw the clip rearward in a measured fashion until a tension of approximately four ounces is achieved. Release the clip in a forward and slightly upward direction. The clip will travel some distance.

The student is reminded that the trajectory of the catapulted object is a function of (a) the initial tension of the band, (b) the angle of release, and (c) the mass of the projectile, in approximately that order of consequence. A graph of these relationships may be found in the Appendix, where space permits.

Exercise No. 3 — The Tonal Pluck (an acoustic demonstration)

Stretch the band between the thumbs of both hands to a tension of approximately six ounces. With the index finger of either hand, pluck the band as one would the string of a small harp. A note will be produced. The pitch of the note is governed by the tension of the band and its effective vibrating length; the student may demonstrate this by adjusting the distance between the thumbs and observing the resulting variation in pitch.

It is the modest claim of the Department that a single No. 32 rubber band, properly tensioned, is capable of producing a usable musical interval of approximately one octave. The student possessed of a good ear may attempt to tune the band to a familiar pitch — the A above middle C is a worthy ambition — though the Faculty does not encourage the formation of rubber-band ensembles, which are unsatisfactory.

Exercise No. 4 — The Standard Loop (the foundational topology)

The Standard Loop is the configuration to which all single-band practitioners must eventually return, and it is the configuration from which the great majority of the further exercises depart. The student is referred, with the Faculty's apologies, to Figure 4, below, for the canonical illustration of the Loop in its prepared state. Until such time as the figure is recovered from the engraver in Trenton, the student must rely upon the verbal description that follows.

The student is encouraged, in the absence of Figure 4, to construct the Standard Loop by feel: hold the band lightly in the fingers of one hand, allow it to settle into its natural ovality, and then draw the long axis of the oval into the horizontal. This is the Standard Loop. Many of the exercises that follow will assume the student can return Margaret to this state at will, and so a thorough drilling is warranted.

Exercise No. 5 — The Door-Latch Defeater (application: domestic)

The student observes that a sprung door latch may be temporarily defeated — that is, prevented from engaging the strike plate — by the application of a single rubber band drawn in a figure-eight over both door-knobs. The band must be of sufficient tension to retract the latch, but not of such tension as to mar the finish of the knobs. The Faculty considers this exercise a particularly elegant illustration of the principle that a small applied force, sustained over time, accomplishes what a large applied force, sustained briefly, cannot.

It is for the student's own sense of propriety to determine the circumstances in which the Door-Latch Defeater is to be deployed. The Department offers no guidance on this point beyond noting that one's own doors are the unambiguous case.

Exercise No. 6 — The Wrist Mnemonic (application: mental)

The band, worn loosely about the wrist of the non-dominant hand, serves as a mnemonic of considerable subtlety. The student, upon receiving a charge to remember a thing — a name, an errand, a debt — transfers the band from the right wrist to the left, or back again, as the case may be. The presence of the band in its unaccustomed location, observed at intervals throughout the day, produces in the wearer the regular question, now, what was it I was to remember?, and this question, asked often enough, eventually yields the answer.

The student is cautioned that the Wrist Mnemonic loses efficacy with overuse. The band must remain a slight surprise upon the wrist; should it become habitual, it ceases to mnemonate, and becomes merely jewelry.

Exercise No. 7 — The Page-Marker, Provisional (application: literary)

A single rubber band, drawn vertically about the boards of a closed book, will retain the volume at the page upon which it was placed, provided the band is of appropriate tension and the book is not unduly thick. The Department prefers the Page-Marker for novels of fewer than three hundred pages and is uncertain of its performance beyond that bound.

The student is reminded that the Page-Marker is provisional. A proper ribbon, sewn into the binding, is and remains the gentleman's preference. The rubber band serves where the ribbon is absent, or where the absent ribbon is keenly felt.

Exercise No. 8 — The Lid-Gripper (application: culinary)

The student wraps the band twice about the circumference of a stubborn jar lid and then attempts the rotation. The band increases the coefficient of friction between hand and lid by a factor of, by the Department's measurement, between three and seven, depending upon the dampness of the hand. Few applications of the rubber band are so satisfying as the sudden, audible defeat of a long-resistant lid, and the Faculty encourages the student to savor the moment briefly before proceeding.

Exercise No. 9 — The Cable-Tamer (application: organizational)

A length of cable — telephone, lamp, or otherwise — is coiled to a diameter of approximately four inches and secured with a single band drawn in the manner of the Phalangeal Tether (q.v., Exercise No. 1). The cable, so coiled and tamed, may be stored at length without entanglement. The student of advanced years will recognize this exercise as a small mercy of considerable cumulative value.

Exercise No. 10 — The Drawer-Slug (application: stationery)

The student inserts a single rubber band, doubled, into the runner of an over-eager drawer — one which insists upon closing of its own accord. The band, properly positioned, provides a slight and constant counter-tension which holds the drawer ajar against the unwanted return. This exercise is included primarily for the benefit of readers in coastal climates, where humidity is the chief antagonist of the stationery cupboard.

Exercise No. 11 — The Hair-Restraint, Interim (application: tonsorial; for emergency use only)

In circumstances of urgent need — the unexpected gust, the unfortunately-timed soup — a single rubber band may be employed to bind the hair behind the head in the manner of a queue. The student is advised that this is an interim measure only; the latex is not friendly to hair over the long term, and a proper elastic is to be substituted at the first opportunity. The Faculty considers the omission of this caveat from earlier editions of the present manual to have been an oversight, and the Department has received a number of corrective letters on the matter.

Exercise No. 12 — The Slingless Sling (application: improvisational)

The single band, held between the fingers of one hand in the manner of the Cantilever Catapult (Ex. 2) but without an auxiliary projectile, may be used to launch itself. The student grips one end firmly, draws the other end rearward, and releases. The band travels a distance of some feet, often unpredictably. This exercise is included not for its utility — it has very little — but because it teaches the student the unwelcome lesson that the rubber band, given the chance, will become its own missile.

Exercise No. 13 — The Demonstrative Snap (application: pedagogical)

The student stretches the band slowly between the hands and observes the increasing resistance. The relationship between the applied force and the extension of the band, while not perfectly linear in the manner of an idealized spring, is a useful illustration of Hooke's Law to a young audience. The band is then released gently, not allowed to snap; the snap itself is to be reserved for the conclusion of the demonstration, when its rhetorical effect is greatest.

Exercise No. 14 — The Restful Coil (application: storage)

At the conclusion of the day's practice, the student returns the band to its place. The Department recommends a small wooden box, lined with tissue, kept in a cool drawer. The band, allowed to rest unstretched in such a chamber, will retain its serviceable properties for upwards of fourteen months, by which time the student will have advanced to Volume II and Margaret may be retired with honors.

CHAPTER III · A BRIEF LATEX GLOSSARY

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Allardyce, P. R. Notes Toward an Elastometry, with Remarks on the Sling-shot Question. Trenholm & Co., Philadelphia, 1923.
2. Beardsley, Miss C. The Rubber Band in the Schoolroom: A Teacher's Companion. Privately printed, Iowa City, 1947.
3. Faculty of the Department of Elastometry. Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting on the Single Band. Vol. I., Quartzwood Press, 1962.
4. Henslow, R. M. "On the Tonal Properties of Latex Loops Under Variable Tension." Journal of Minor Acoustics, vol. 11, no. 3 (Autumn 1968), pp. 414–429.
5. Quillen, Dr. T. The Compleat Slingless Sling: Why You Should Not. Cresswell, 1978. (Cited primarily for the introduction.)
6. Wormley, A. & A. Cordage, Cables, & the Domestic Tether. Second edition, revised. Pinkerton & Daughters, 1955.