Improving traditional instrument-making techniques

The characterization of the quality of instruments is a research subject that this team has taken up again, this time with wind instruments, in the PAFI project.

Research results have prompted various different projects based on expanding the possibilities of musical instruments. These projects aim to respond to a musical demand and offer composers a broad array of new possibilities.

Following the broadening of the range of mutes for brass instruments and a system for automatic tuning for the kettledrum and the creation of a variable volume mouthpiece for the clarinet, the team is now studying the development of a pressure sensor that is attached to a bow at the point of contact with the string. Initially designed to measure one of the parameters of the violinist's movements, this system can also be used to characterize the mechanical properties of bows.

Photo: Artificial mouth used for measuring the acoustic characteristics of the trumpet

Participants