Designing inharmonic strings

• Published in: Journal of mathematics and music (Society for Mathematics and Computation in Music) Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 107 - 122
• Main Authors: Sethares, William A., Hobby, Kevin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Baton Rouge Taylor & Francis 04.05.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Design; Harmonic analysis; inharmonic oscillations; inharmonic sounds; Inverse problems; Mathematical analysis; musical instrument design; Musical instruments; non-uniform strings; Stringed instruments; Strings; vibrations of strings

Uniform strings have a harmonic sound; non-uniform strings have an inharmonic sound. Given a precise description of a non-uniform string, its inharmonic spectrum can be calculated using standard techniques. This paper addresses the inverse problem: given a desired/specified spectrum, how can string...