Studying guitar acoustics with modular software synthesizers.
Michael Steppat · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2010
The contructional details of the guitar top plate have a great influence on the percepted sound quality of the instrument. Modeling the whole body with the finite element method provides a good analysis of the mechanical frequency response, with respect to the different spacings of the struts, though it is difficult to calculate it in real time. Modular software synthesizers can be used to simulate the mechanical behavior of the particular components, such as the strings, top-plate, back-plate, and the sound hole. The vibration of each coupled component is calculated real time by a numerical solution of the related differential equations. The results can be used for listening tests to determine the influence of the different individual components.