Harpsichord inharmonicity

[Barb Barasa]

I have heard two different physicists give two completely different
explanations for inharmonicity.  One was the one you are refering to:
that it is a function of the stiffness,length and diameter of the
string.  The other, which I heard in a talk at Fermilab by a
physicist who also makes violins, is that a struck/plucked string will
display inharmonicity whereas the same string when bowed will not.

I have no clue, altho I am a tuner and a violinist.

I can point you in the right direction if you want to pursue research
in this area.

Barb Barasa
Ashland, OR

>     Why wouldn't harpsicords need some stretch tuning?  Admittedly the
> thinner strings have less resistance to bending, which is the source
> of inharmonicity, but it shouldn't be zero, should it?
>
>     -Bob Scott

"When nothing is sure,
     everything is possible."