Acoustical properties of pure sound piano wire.

Abstract

Pure sound piano wire is a stainless‐steel wire that has only recently entered the U.S. market. Because of its different composition, which makes the wire more malleable, it should have a considerably lower amount of inharmonicity compared to regular steel wire. Measurements were conducted on several pianos with regular piano wire (Rosslau and Mapes) and pure sound in order to assess their differences in inharmonicity and tonal qualities. The pure sound wire produced measurably less inharmonicity than regular wire on the same kind of piano. However, this difference is much smaller compared to the difference between small and large pianos. This presentation will explain the methods of measurement and analysis, as well as simulations that were implemented in order to analyze the effect that inharmonicity has on the temperament, octave stretching, and interval patterns. [The Brigham Young University Department of Physics is acknowledged for the funding it provided for this research.]