Alexander Mayer

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• lab director at University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

This study investigates the influence of string properties on bowed string attack playability. To assess the attack playability of different string types, a variety of bow forces and bow accelerations were chosen to excite the strings and measure the transient response under different bowing control parameters. The experimentally obtained playabili...

Numerous experimental and theoretical methods have focused on the bow–string interaction in bowed string instruments, including several artificial bowing setups. The current research aims to present an experimental approach to reproduce bowing techniques using a robotic arm. First, optical motion capture is used to track the 3D kinematics of the bo...

Understanding the dynamics of bowed-string attacks involves exploring the relationship between bow acceleration, bow force, and the generation of Helmholtz motion during transients. This study addresses the following research question: How do theoretical limits of “playability” predict these parameters? Motivated by the need for experimental eviden...

Experiments on the bowed string are often carried out on monochord setups [1] and with specialized bowing machines [2, 3, 4, 5] in order to study the excitation in detail. These setups simplify the equipment with the necessary sensors. Furthermore, by using rigid body monochords, measurement uncertainties can be minimized by eliminating vibrating c...

The playability limits in the bow force and bow acceleration parameter space (usually visualized as a Guettler diagram) define the conditions for establishing Helmholtz motion during bowed attacks in bowed-string instruments. Despite few theoretical and numerical studies, there is little empirical validation of these limits. The experimental scanni...

The interaction between the bow and the bowed string has been analysed through numerous experimental and theoretical approaches, including the use of artificial bowing setups. In this study, with the objective of providing an experimental setup in which the string is bowed under realistic conditions, a robotic arm is used to reproduce the bow motio...

This technical report provides the construction details and solutions of the further development of a reed-instrument artificial mouth (RIAM), which is an artificial blowing device used to analyse single-reed musical instruments. Among other aspects, the extension by a special seal, which flexibly encloses the mouthpiece, and the introduction of a...

In bowed-string instruments, the force exerted by the string on the bridge may be used for analyzing the excitation process. This force is caused by the vibration of the string due to the musician's bowing action. The dynamic component of this force has been investigated in the relevant literature. In this study, focusing on a monochord, an approac...

In bowed-string instruments, the force exerted by the string on the bridge may be used for analyzing the excitation process. This force is caused by the vibration of the string due to the musician’s bowing action. The dynamic component of this force has been investigated in the relevant literature. In this study, focusing on a monochord, an approac...

The action of the bow on the string is one of the key aspects of the player-instrument interaction in bowed string instruments. For the analysis of this interaction, it is common to use custom-built artificial excitation mechanisms, where the human arm is substituted by a mechanical setup. Such artificial means allow recreating the excitation mecha...

This report is intended to help to understand the connection to the UR robot via the Real‐Time Data Exchange (RTDE) interface. This report also presents an example and a method of how this can be achieved with LabVIEW.

Cello position and playing posture are of great importance in the cello learning process as well as for the players’ technique. To gain more information on this topic, a study is conducted in which advanced cellists are recorded using optical motion capture technology to examine their posture, cello position and bow movement. In addition, this stud...

Sehr schnelle Triller und Tonwiederholungen, wie sie in der Klavier Solo-Literatur üblicherweise gefordert werden, konnten bisher nur auf Flügeln mit Doppelrepetitionsmechanik realisiert werden, nicht aber auf Mechaniken von Klavieren (Pianinos, upright pianos). Für eine schnelle Repetition ist es notwendig, dass ein weiterer Anschlag durchgeführt...

No PDF available ABSTRACT In string instruments, while the vibrations of the wooden bodies can be mostly described as linear, the excitation mechanism is usually nonlinear. For instance, the frictional forces that excite bowed-string instruments have undergone both theoretical and experimental studies due to the underlying complexity. In order to a...

This paper investigates how two-port network theory as a means for system identification can be applied to the analysis of brass instruments. A special focus is placed on the energy conversion efficiency as this is limited by inner damping, which receives much attention by expert players and makers of brasses. Theory suggests that a reconstruction...

Physics-based sound synthesis allows to shape the sound by modifying parameters that reference to real world properties of acoustic instruments. This paper presents a hybrid physical modeling single reed instrument, where a virtual tube is coupled to a real mouthpiece with a sensor-equipped clarinet reed. The tube model is provided as an opcode for...

Varying air moisture is an issue timpanists using natural skins have to deal with. Moisture, which in concert halls is often created by the audience or by the musicians on the stage, causes natural skin to loose its tension and therefore flattens the pitch of the instrument. The present paper deals with the effects of moisture on the pitch of timpa...

In sound production on single-reed woodwind instruments the reed is oscillating in a frequency related to the length of the resonator. Strain gauge sensors attached to single reeds have been used to capture the vibrations of the reed to investigate articulation techniques on saxophone and clarinet. Reeds can be made from natural cane and also from...

Clarinet reed makers label the reed strength of a reed according to the playing ease. For the labeling reed makers primarily use two methods. They use reed characterization machines which either (1) measure the mechanical stiffness or (2) the material's hardness. Nowadays also synthetic materials are used for clarinet reeds. In this study both char...

Novel equipment for single reed motion analysis with minimal intrusiveness has been designed in order to analyse the reed behaviour inside the player's mouth during performance. The experimental setup consists of a strain gauge sensor fixed on the flat side of the reed which gives a voltage signal proportional to the applied tensile or compressive...

Electronic pickup systems for acoustic instruments are often used in popular and contemporary music performances because they allow amplification and modification of a clean and direct signal. Strain gauge sensors on saxophone and clarinet reeds have been shown to be a useful tool to gain insight into tongue articulation during performance but also...

Experimental measurements are often used in conjunction with physical modeling to characterize sound generation in musical instruments. Focusing on single-reed woodwind instruments, such analyses have provided accurate descriptions of the coupling between the sound excitation mechanism and the resonator during steady-state regimes. For note transie...

The object of this paper is the acoustical research of the Wave-line flute. For an overall length reduction of this special children instrument, an omega-shaped joint instead of a straight tube is placed between the flute's head and the main tube. For this analysis the flute is alternately combined with four joint prototypes varying in bore. These...

Obtaining data on the directional characteristics of musical instruments can be both time-consuming and demanding in terms of equipment. This paper explains the construction of an affordable automatic turntable system, for measuring the radiated sound as a function of angle and frequency in one plane. An initial test was carried out on two brass in...

This paper presents a setup to pick up saxophone reed vibrations directly, in an attempt to monitor the saxophone signal without risky feedbackloops despite drastic dynamic manipulations. We pre- pared synthetic saxophone reeds with strain gauge sensors and proposed a circuit to connect the sensor reed to a line-level soundcard input. Furthermore,...

Often musical instrument makers need to compare instruments in terms of sound quality. An objective comparison can help the instrument maker to retrace changes in the building processes, as well as in changes on the instrument itself. But how to excite the instrument reproducible? In this paper, a method for comparing the acoustics of hammered dulc...

The influence of braces on the playability, response and sound properties of the trumpet is an intense discussed subject for players and instrument makers. In addition to the problem of finding the proper position of the braces, inserted braces can produce stress between the instruments tubes. In this paper the influence of the tube stress is inves...

The question whether wall vibrations of wind instruments do or can affect the radiated sound has not been finally answered yet. Instrument makers and musicians make a strong claim that wall thickness, material and conditioning are crucial factors for sound quality and response of wind instruments, while acousticians rather tend to question that cla...

The question whether wall vibrations of wind instruments can affect their radiated sound has not finally been answered yet. It was and still is a very controversial issue. Acousticians hold that it is the resonant air column which is responsible for the radiated sound and wall vibrations neither have enough potential to radiate nor to significantly...

Brass player and teacher usually stress the importance of the applied mouthpiece force while playing the instrument. First publications by Barbenel et al (1986) and Petiot (2003) proved some myths wrong: Wind musicians are not aware of the real magnitude of this pressure. Its range is between 5N and 40N depending on dynamic range and pitch. Today b...

The question of whether the influence of wall vibrations of various musical instruments involving resonant air columns like brass wind instruments, wood wind instruments, organ pipes and so on, is strong enough to be objectively observable in their radiated sound is still a controversial issue. Instrument makers and musicians are making a strong cl...

The bow hair is considered to be an essential component of the sound production in bowed string instrument playing. Despite of this there is hardly any literature dealing with the acoustic and mechanical properties of bow-hairs. The purpose of this paper is to show the broad range of various kinds of bow-hairs and their properties. For the study ei...