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Operational transfer path analysis of a piano

Operational transfer path analysis of a piano
Operational transfer path analysis of a piano

The piano sound is made audible by the vibration of its soundboard. A pianist pushes the key to release a hammer that strikes the strings, which transfer the energy to the soundboard, set it into vibration and the piano sound is heard due to the compression of air surrounding the soundboard. However, as piano is being played, other components such as the rims, cast-iron frame and the lid are also vibrating. This raises a question of how much of their vibrations are contributing to the sound as compared to the soundboard. To answer this question, operational transfer path analysis, a noise source identification technique used widely in automotive acoustics, is carried out on a Bösendorfer 280VC-9 grand piano. The “noise” in a piano system would be the piano sound while the “sources” are soundboard and the aforementioned components. For this particular piano, it is found out that the soundboard is the dominant contributor. However, at high frequencies, the lid contributes the most to the piano sound.

Operational transfer path analysis, Piano acoustics, Source identification, Structural vibration
0003-682X
39-47
Tan, Jin Jack
d64d3e90-d033-4af1-87fd-3307905008d4
Chaigne, Antoine
e9983b28-6d0d-4a83-adac-1052af7dbb0e
Acri, Antonio
ebc91256-b604-48c3-9146-e1d90cbefd07
Tan, Jin Jack
d64d3e90-d033-4af1-87fd-3307905008d4
Chaigne, Antoine
e9983b28-6d0d-4a83-adac-1052af7dbb0e
Acri, Antonio
ebc91256-b604-48c3-9146-e1d90cbefd07

Tan, Jin Jack, Chaigne, Antoine and Acri, Antonio (2018) Operational transfer path analysis of a piano. Applied Acoustics, 140, 39-47. (doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2018.05.008).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The piano sound is made audible by the vibration of its soundboard. A pianist pushes the key to release a hammer that strikes the strings, which transfer the energy to the soundboard, set it into vibration and the piano sound is heard due to the compression of air surrounding the soundboard. However, as piano is being played, other components such as the rims, cast-iron frame and the lid are also vibrating. This raises a question of how much of their vibrations are contributing to the sound as compared to the soundboard. To answer this question, operational transfer path analysis, a noise source identification technique used widely in automotive acoustics, is carried out on a Bösendorfer 280VC-9 grand piano. The “noise” in a piano system would be the piano sound while the “sources” are soundboard and the aforementioned components. For this particular piano, it is found out that the soundboard is the dominant contributor. However, at high frequencies, the lid contributes the most to the piano sound.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 4 May 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 May 2018
Keywords: Operational transfer path analysis, Piano acoustics, Source identification, Structural vibration

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 433573
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/433573
ISSN: 0003-682X
PURE UUID: 04ab7361-4484-4ca8-86be-e0347557e0c8

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 28 Aug 2019 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 12:33

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Contributors

Author: Jin Jack Tan
Author: Antoine Chaigne
Author: Antonio Acri

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