An Experimental Study to Find the Acoustic Quality Indicators of Mulberry Wood
Hossein Mansour, Mehdi Behzad · 2010
Morus Alba or mulberry is a wood species that is broadly used in making musical instruments in Eastern countries. However, the mechanical and acoustical properties of this type of wood are not investigated properly. In this study a set of features, previously examined for other species, are applied to this wood and its acoustic quality is evaluated. Setar, a Persian musical instrument made of mulberry wood, is selected as the test case of this experiment. Different samples of wood are gathered and categorized based on their appropriateness for Setar construction. The quality of each sample is identified based on the Perceptual knowledge of professional Setar makers. The most effective features are then selected and their average values are calculated for high quality samples. The result of this study helps Setar makers to select proper raw material before making an instrument. In addition, this approach can be applied to other wood species used in music industry.