Regime change thresholds in flute-like instruments: influence of the mouth pressure dynamics

Since they correspond to a jump from a given note to another one, the mouth pressure thresholds leading to regime changes are particularly important quantities in flute-like instruments. In this paper, a comparison of such thresholds between an artificial mouth, an experienced flutist and a non player is provided. It highlights the ability of the experienced player to considerabily shift regime change thresholds, and thus to enlarge its control in terms of nuances and spectrum. Based on recent works on other wind instruments and on the theory of dynamic bifurcations, the hypothe- sis is tested experimentally and numerically that the dynamics of the blowing pressure influences regime change thresholds. The results highlight the strong influence of this parameter on thresholds, suggesting its wide use by experienced musicians. Starting from these observations and from an analysis of a physical model of flute-like instruments, involving numerical continuation methods and Floquet stability analysis, a phenomenological modelling of regime change is proposed and validated. It allows to predict the regime change thresholds in the dynamic case, in which time variations of the blowing pressure are taken into account

Is the jet-drive flute model able to produce modulated sounds like Flautas de Chinos ?

Flautas de chinos - prehispanic chilean flutes played during ritual celebrations in central Chile - are known to produce very particular beating sounds, the so-called sonido rajado. Some previous works have focused on the spectral analysis of these sounds, and on the input impedance of the complex resonator. However, the beating sounds origin remains to be investigated. Throughout this paper, a comparison is provided between the characteristics of both the sound produced by flautas de chinos and a synthesis sound obtained through time-domain simulation of the jet-drive model for flute-like instruments. Jet-drive model appears to be able to produce quasiperiodic sounds similar to sonido rajado. Finally, the analysis of the system dynamics through numerical continuation methods allows to explore the production mechanism of these quasiperiodic regimes.Comment: Stockholm Music Acoustics Conference, Stockholm : Sweden (2013

Flute-like musical instruments: a toy model investigated through numerical continuation

Self-sustained musical instruments (bowed string, woodwind and brass instruments) can be modeled by nonlinear lumped dynamical systems. Among these instruments, flutes and flue organ pipes present the particularity to be modeled as a delay dynamical system. In this paper, such a system, a toy model of flute-like instruments, is studied using numerical continuation. Equilibrium and periodic solutions are explored with respect to the blowing pressure, with focus on amplitude and frequency evolutions along the different solution branches, as well as "jumps" between periodic solution branches. The influence of a second model parameter (namely the inharmonicity) on the behaviour of the system is addressed. It is shown that harmonicity plays a key role in the presence of hysteresis or quasi-periodic regime. Throughout the paper, experimental results on a real instrument are presented to illustrate various phenomena, and allow some qualitative comparisons with numerical results

To what extent can a linear analysis predict the behaviour of a flute model ?

International audienceAlthough they have been widely studied for years, some aspects of the behaviour of flute-like musical instruments remain poorly understood. The study of a physical model of the instrument has demonstrated its interest in the understanding of various phenomena, such as the hysteresis related to regime changes or the variations of the frequency with the blowing pressure. As it involves both nonlinear and delayed terms, an indepth study of the state of the art flute model requires specific numerical methods, which are often computationally expensive. The simplification of the model through its linearisation around a non-oscillating trivial solution is thus particularly interesting, due to the simplicity of the calculations. The information provided by such an analysis in terms of oscillation frequency or oscillation thresholds of the different periodic solutions has been highlighted in previous work . Surprisingly enough, the present study shows that this simple linear analysis provides information about the stability zones of the different periodic solutions (i.e. the different registers), and allows to predict, in some cases, the register resulting from a transient of the mouth pressure. Such information can be obtained without solving the nonlinear equations and without computing the steady-state oscillations of the model

Experimental Study of Attack Transients in Flute-like Instruments

International audienceThe stationary behavior of flute-like instruments is fairly well understood. Models and experimental studies allow to predict and to understand the influences of the principal parameters (flow velocity, position of the edge, etc) on the sound if these parameters stay constant in time. Depending on the instrument, these parameters can be fixed by the flute maker or by the musician. In musical playing, the musician plays on them to act on the sound. Some parameters can vary rapidly, like during the attack transients. The response of the instruments to these variations is crucial to determine their quality, in musical use. The target of this study is to understand the influences of these parameters on the characteristics of attack transients. The study presented is based on measurements on an actual recorder in musical context. Parameters of attack transient for acoustic and musician control are extracted from the data. Relations between these parameters are searched by taking into account the characteristics of the instruments. This study is a first step in the understanding of the possibilities of the musicians' control and of the physical limitations

Diversity of ghost notes in tubas, euphoniums and saxhorns

The ghost note is a natural note which can be played exclusively on bass brass instruments with a predominantly-expanding bore profile such as tubas, euphoniums or saxhorns. It stands between the pedal note-the lowest natural note playable, or first regime-and the instrument's second regime. However, if the interval between the pedal note and the second regime remains close to an octave regardless of the instrument, the interval between the pedal note and the ghost note vary from a minor third to a perfect fourth. References about this note are very scarce, and it is not commonly known among tuba players.This study shows that an elementary brass model describing the player coupled to the instrument is capable of bringing both the ghost and the pedal note to light. Here, we adopt a dynamical systems point of view and perform a bifurcation analysis using a software of numerical continuation. The numerical results provided in terms of frequency intervals between pedal note and ghost note are compared with frequency intervals experimentally inferred from recordings of seven different types of tuba, each of them being played by two professional tuba players.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2112.0875

Analysis of regime transitions in flute-like instruments

La diversité des régimes des instruments de la famille des flûtes a été mise en évidence à de nombreuses reprises : régimes statiques, périodiques, ou non périodiques. Cependant, de nombreux aspects de la dynamique de ces instruments demeurent mal compris. Pour les musiciens comme pour les facteurs d'instruments, les transitions entre régimes revêtent une importance particulière : d'une part elles correspondent à des changements de notes, et d'autre part la production d'un régime donné est conditionnée par les paramètres de facture (liés à la fabrication de l'instrument), et de contrôle (ajustés en permanence par l'instrumentiste). On s'attache dans ce document à caractériser les transitions entre régimes dans les flûtes, en lien avec des problématiques de facture et de jeu. Différentes approches sont mises en place. Des approches expérimentales d'une part, avec des mesures sur musicien et sur bouche artificielle. Par ailleurs, un modèle physique de l'instrument - un système dynamique à retard de type neutre - est étudié, par intégration temporelle d'une part, mais également par collocation orthogonale et continuation, donnant ainsi accès aux diagrammes de bifurcations.Croiser les résultats de ces différentes approches permet de mieux appréhender différents phénomènes : hystérésis associée aux changements de régime, ou mécanisme d'apparition des régimes non périodiques. L'influence de paramètres de facture et de contrôle est également étudiée : le rôle majeur de la géométrie interne du canal des flûtes à bec est mis en évidence, et l'influence de la dynamique de la pression dans la bouche du musicien sur les seuils de changement de régimes est caractérisée.Various studies have highlighted the diversity of regimes in flute-like instruments : static, periodic or non periodic regimes. However, some aspects of their dynamics remain poorly understood. Both for flute players and makers, transitions between regimes are particularly important : on the one hand, they correspond to a change of the note played, and on the other hand, production of a given regime is determined by parameters related to making and to playing of the instrument. In this document, we are interested in caracteristics of regime change in flute-like instruments, in relation with making and playing issues.Different approches are considered. First, experimental methods, with measurement on both musician and an artificial mouth. On the other hand, a physical model of the instrument - a system of delay differential equations of neutral type - is studied, through time-domain integration, and using orthogonal collocation coupled to numerical continuation. This last approach provides access to bifurcation diagrams.Considering results of these different methods, it becomes possible to better understand different experimental phenomena, such as regime change and associated hysteresis, or production mechanisms of non periodic regimes. Influence of different parameters is further studied : the crucial importance of the channel geometry in recorders is highlighted, and the influence of the mouth pressure dynamics on regime change thresholds is analysed

Instruments de la famille des flûtes : analyse des transitions entre régimes

Various studies have highlighted the diversity of regimes in flute-like instruments: static, periodic or non periodic regimes. However, some aspects of their dynamics remain poorly understood. Both for flute players and makers, transitions between regimes are particularly important: on the one hand, they correspond to a change of the note played, and on the other hand, production of a given regime is determined by parameters related to making and to playing of the instrument. In this document, we are interested in caracteristics of regime change in flute-like instruments, in relation with making and playing issues.Different approches are considered. First, experimental methods, with measurement on both musician and an artificial mouth. On the other hand, a physical model of the instrument - a system of delay differential equations of neutral type - is studied, through time-domain integration, and using orthogonal collocation coupled to numerical continuation. This last approach provides access to bifurcation diagrams.Considering results of these different methods, it becomes possible to better understand different experimental phenomena, such as regime change and associated hysteresis, or production mechanisms of non periodic regimes. Influence of different parameters is further studied : the crucial importance of the channel geometry in recorders is highlighted, and the influence of the mouth pressure dynamics on regime change thresholds is analysed.La diversité des régimes des instruments de la famille des flûtes a été mise en évidence à de nombreuses reprises : régimes statiques, périodiques, ou non périodiques. Cependant, de nombreux aspects de la dynamique de ces instruments demeurent mal compris. Pour les musiciens comme pour les facteurs d'instruments, les transitions entre régimes revêtent une importance particulière : d'une part elles correspondent à des changements de notes, et d'autre part la production d'un régime donné est conditionnée par les paramètres de facture (liés à la fabrication de l'instrument), et de contrôle (ajustés en permanence par l'instrumentiste). On s'attache dans ce document à caractériser les transitions entre régimes dans les flûtes, en lien avec des problématiques de facture et de jeu. Différentes approches sont mises en place. Des approches expérimentales d'une part, avec des mesures sur musicien et sur bouche artificielle. Par ailleurs, un modèle physique de l'instrument - un système dynamique à retard de type neutre - est étudié, par intégration temporelle d'une part, mais également par collocation orthogonale et continuation, donnant ainsi accès aux diagrammes de bifurcations.Croiser les résultats de ces différentes approches permet de mieux appréhender différents phénomènes : hystérésis associée aux changements de régime, ou mécanisme d'apparition des régimes non périodiques. L'influence de paramètres de facture et de contrôle est également étudiée : le rôle majeur de la géométrie interne du canal des flûtes à bec est mis en évidence, et l'influence de la dynamique de la pression dans la bouche du musicien sur les seuils de changement de régimes est caractérisée