Experimental Analysis Of Vibration Measurement Techniques Used In Stringed Musical Instrument Making

Sound production in stringed instruments is largely determined by the vibrational characteristics of the parts of the instrument. The major objective of this study was to investigate vibration measurement techniques used in musical instrument making. The necessary measurement equipment and software for carrying out these techniques have been examined. For this, various measurements were made on a spruce rectangular plate which is under vibration-free conditions. The test data obtained from similar measurement techniques are compared with each other to reveal the superiority and weakness of these methods. For this, the Chladni method, roving impact test, and finite element analysis—which is used to observe the vibration patterns, in particular—have been examined in a group. In the other group, the frequency response functions obtained from Pulse-FFT analysis software and the spectrum analysis obtained from the Audacity program were compared in order to examine the tap-tone test. From the obtained results, the measurement methods that can be easily used in the instrument making workshops were determined as the Chladni method and spectrum analysis. In addition, some suggestions have been made about how to use these methods in determining the elasticity properties of wood materials and in the important processes related to instrument construction, such as free plate tuning, and instrumental acoustic studies.