Physics Commons^™

Vibration Damping Characteristics Of Typical Harpsichord Strings, Jack Lee Simmons

Dissertations and Theses

Present-day builders of harpsichords disagree as to the use of iron or carbon-steel wire in their attempt to duplicate the tonal qualities of the early 16th century instruments. The variations in tone produced by vibrating iron and steel wires may be due, at least in part, to differences in their decay characteristics. A wire was set into vibration by placing a section in a magnetic field and passing a variable-frequency alternating current through it. A condition of resonance was established by appropriately selecting frequencies, lengths, and tensions that would simultaneously satisfy the relationship: fr = n/2L(T/p)1/2. Then measurements of decay …