A Modified-FFT Algorithm for Determining the Basic Frequency Tone of Latotou Traditional Music Instrument

Abstract

A Latotou traditional music instrument has not have the standardized frequency tone as other music instruments have. There are two main things required in order to be succeed on constructing that traditional instrument i.e. the creator feeling and the accuracy to hearing the frequency tone. Every single process to make Latotou instrument that usually performed by the hobbiest and expert old people, in practical, a very smooth tone variability existed. Every single Latotou instrument was successfully constructed it will not have the same basic frequency during the setting-up and the tone synchronization performed. To tackle those problems, the conventional method applied for many years was altered. The Matlab GUI interface based on a modified FFT algorithm was designed and installed into a PC desktop/laptop in order to automatically determine the basic frequency tone while the instrument was played. The similar method was applied by other researchers to determine the basic frequency tone of both Gamelan and Suling traditional musical instruments. The FFT based GUI processing exhibited the interesting outcomes in terms of the dissimilarity percentage compared to the tone frequency produced by the referenced Guitar. During the experimental testing by gently hitting each bar/slate element of the constructed Latotou musical instrument, various basic frequency tones were consecutively determined. The whole built in GUI Matlab system applying fast Fourier transform algorithm on detecting the basic tone frequency of Latotou musical instrument has an accuracy with a fairly small error percentage of abruptly 2.5%.