Study of the extinction of a note in reed instruments

André Almeida (1)

1 LAUM - Laboratoire d'Acoustique de l'Université du Mans

In a musical note, the transient is a starting or ending period in which the sound builds up or is extinguished. Though usually brief, it is important for the recognition of the timbre of a musical instrument. In sustained musical instruments such as wind instruments or bowed strings the transient can be controlled by the actions of the musician, by changing key parameters such as blowing pressure or bowing force. This study focuses on the extinction transients in reed instruments. Firstly, the most relevant methods for characterising the extinction of the note are briefly discussed. The extinction duration of recorded notes using different playing techniques is related to the natural damping coefficient of the resonator with different boundary conditions. Analysis of time-variation of the overall sound intensity and individual partials in recorded note endings will be compared to simulations and theoretical models of reed instruments.

Mots clés: transients; reed instrument

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

André Almeida. Study of the extinction of a note in reed instruments. Acoustics 2012, Apr 2012, Nantes, France. ⟨hal-00810987⟩