Sympathetic string modes in the concert harp

Jean-Loic Le Carrou (1) , François Gautier (1) , Roland Badeau (2)

1 LAUM - Laboratoire d'Acoustique de l'Université du Mans
2 LTCI - Laboratoire Traitement et Communication de l'Information

The concert harp is composed of a soundboard, a cavity with sound holes and 47 strings. When one string is plucked, other strings are excited and induce a characteristic 'halo of sound'. This phenomenon, called sympathetic vibrations is due to a coupling between strings via the instrument's body. These sympathetic modes generate the presence of multiple spectral components in each partial of the tone. Resolution of Fourier analysis does not permit their identification. A high resolution Method, called ESPRIT, is used to separate the spectral components which are very close one to another. Some of the measured spectral components in the analysed partials correspond to the response of sympathetic modes. The eigenfrequencies and mode shapes of these modes are investigated using a suitable model of the instrument : this model is based on a waveguide approach in which bending and longitudinal motions of 35 strings connected to an equivalent beam representing the soundboard are described. Identified experimental sympathetic modes are very well captured by the model.

Domaines: Traitement du signal et de l'image [eess.SP]; Traitement du signal et de l'image [eess.SP]

Jean-Loic Le Carrou, François Gautier, Roland Badeau. Sympathetic string modes in the concert harp. Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 2009, 95 (4), pp.744--752. ⟨hal-00945199⟩