Effect of bell size on sound characteristics of cymbals

Abstract

Cymbals are percussion instruments that vibrate and radiate sounds when hit with a stick. A bell is the raised section in the middle of the cymbal and its size produces different sounds. In this study, we investigate the effect of bell size on the sound characteristics of cymbals. The radiated sounds and vibrations for cymbals with two different bell sizes are measured. In addition, the natural frequency and mode shape are obtained by finite element analysis and the sound radiation efficiency is calculated for each mode. The measured results indicate that the sound frequency characteristics for the large bell show three peaks with large sound pressure within the range of 1000 to 3000 Hz and the sound pressure for the small bell is larger than that for the large bell within the range of 4000 to 5000 Hz. The vibration frequency characteristics show there is no remarkable difference between the large and small bells. The sound radiation efficiencies indicate that the large bell has many modes with high radiation efficiency within the range of 1000 to 3000 Hz and their modes have a small number of nodal diameters and a large deformation at the bell. The small bell has many modes with high efficiency within the range of 4000 to 5000 Hz. This is reason for the difference in sound characteristics between the large and small bells.