Abstract

This paper describes a design procedure for a musical instrument based on inharmonic (nonuniform) strings. Fabricating nonuniform strings from commercially available strings constrains the possible string diameters, and hence the possible inharmonicities. Detailed simulations of the strings are combined with a measure of sensory dissonance (or roughness) to help narrow down the remaining possibilities. A particularly intriguing variation is a string that consists of three segments: two equal unwound segments surrounding a thicker wound portion. The corresponding musical scale, built on the 12th root of 4, is called the hyperoctave. A standard piano is modified to play in this tuning using these inharmonic strings; this instrument is called the hyperpiano.

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