Measurement and Visualization of Sanshin

Abstract

  String, bridge, and sound board are considered as the main component of the timbre of the string musical instruments from the musical acoustic points of view. However, Sanshin, which is an Okinawan traditional string musical instrument, has been thought that the sao (neck) is most important for the timbre. In this research, the purpose is to elucidate the sound mechanism which include sao. In the analysis of the musical instruments, the “visualization” is one of the very useful methods for the understanding of the coupled vibrations of the instruments. In this paper, we introduce the visualizations of the vibration mode of sao and the sound body. In the vibration of sao, it was found that the vibration mode which the contact point between sao and string becomes the vibration point has the long-lasting resonance. In the vibration of the sound body, it was found that the shin (a part of sao) , which is inserted in the sound body, affects to the change of the amplitude and the frequency of the sanshin sound.