NOTATIO

So I need to know: is the following symbol recognized as meaning "down/up bowing ad lib"?

I've had 2 different string players now ask me, since they had never seen the symbol before.

It's in SMuFL, as an alternate, with the word "Pricope" beside it. I've no idea what that means. A composer/theorist?

I would certainly guess that it was a down/up symbol.

for simply down/up one would write the two complete bow markings in a set of brackets (nv), or would place them where they are required (ie: on the beats they would apply to).

my understanding was that this specific "conjoined" symbol was the indication to continue to alternate down/up bows.

If this IS the case, it's very useful where horizontal space is limited on a staff, and where there is no room for footnotes in the parts themselves.
Otherwise, trying to include text to explain the type of specific bowing could get messy, especially where multiple languages are required.

This is a symbol that Bass players would instantly recognize. It does, as benwiggy wrote, mean down/up bow. For free bowing, best to indicate that explicitly.

I've rarely seen this used for the other strings.

If there's room to add ad lib. after the sign, I think its meaning would be clear to all.

MichelRE wrote: ↑25 Aug 2022, 14:38 So I need to know: is the following symbol recognized as meaning "down/up bowing ad lib"?

I've had 2 different string players now ask me, since they had never seen the symbol before.

As an orchestral musician (violinist) I have never seen it, but I would be able to guess what it supposed to be. Perhaps it is some "contemporary music" symbol, found in the literature by a recognized composer. I would simply avoid it since it does not save any space and looks to me as a printing mistake.

If you need up and down ad lib. - just write the first stroke and the opposite stroke next to it with "ad lib". But usually they are not placed so very close as in the picture, since I could think "quick down and than up" that would result with an accent.

But in your case (however not knowing the tempo and dynamics) I would almost automatically play with the free bowing (as decided by the leader of the group), so it is not "so very" necessary.

the desired effect is of completely free bow changes, sort of like crowd noises? It's not a tremolo, nor is it a long sustained note with invisible bow changes.

I ended up putting a footnote in the score/parts. I was able to squeeze just enough room out of the bottom of each part's last page, and the score's last page, to include a small text block with the instructions in both English and French.