Piano string excitation

Abstract

Prediction of piano string motion is challenging for the theorist because the force from the hammer extends over a finite time. Abstract prescriptions for solving this problem with sequences of traveling waves become much more useful when a microcomputer can be assigned to generate all the proper terms and translate their total into graphical output. Sample results will be discussed for a program that includes hammer compliance and can handle any case where the hammer mass is not too much larger than the string mass. How to make adequate allowance for hammer nonlinearity and finite width, string stiffness, and bridge compliance will be considered, along with possible laboratory measurements that could clarify the application of this theory to piano hammer design.