Inharmonicity - causes

[Gilreath@aol.com]

Hello list,

Hmmm, this discussion has gotten pretty interesting.  Weighing with a few
thoughts, some references and a further question or two.

First, there's little that I can add as far as original thought other than
that I hope to do a little research in the near future and plot the different
factors that occur in various wind instruments, stringed instruments, etc.
Bob's comments have made me wonder a little.  Also hope to try a few things
and see if I can chase down, and properly understand, a few of Del's ideas.

Second, as I usually do when a question arises, I started doing a little
research and just happen to be reading Arthur Benade's "Fundamentals of
Musical Acoustics."  (Dover Press, ISBN 0-486-26484-X) He goes into a fairly
detailed discussion of the causes and effects of inharmonicity in the
theoretical and the real world, beginning on page 313.  Perhaps those of you
with access to a better library can find this and make more sense of it than
my meager interpretation.  I won't go into the formulas, but essentially it is
a discussion of the "bar-like" vibrational effect that a stiff string under
tension has as opposed to a flexible string under tension.

This brings me to my third point; is there a way to access back issues of the
"Journal of the Acoustical Society of America" online?  The local college
library doesn't carry back issues at all, much lass those dating back to the
'30s, '40s. 60s, etc.  Would like to refer to these articles that he cites as
sources and see about re-creating some of their experiments and maybe lay some
real groundwork.  Anyone interested in working in this one?

A few thoughts from the rainy south,

Allan

Allan L. Gilreath, RPT
Gilreath Piano & Organ Co.
Calhoun, GA USA
Gilreath@aol.com