Sound board's Frequency Response Analysis of Classical Guitars

Abstract

The instrument's sound quality assessment is an arduous task to be performed computationally. This work aims to compare high-quality sound characteristics among instruments. The impulse response of the guitar is recording in the time domain and, by means of the Fourier and Continuous Wavelet Transforms the characteristics among high-quality guitars, in the frequency domain, are shown. To discriminate high quality, through experimentation, the criteria are: 1) tuning of notes, sound projection and definition of notes; 2) sound balance at all frequencies and timbre. Comparison of the frequency response (intensity, density, shape, range) gives a good intuition regarding sound quality of the instruments that shares similar characteristics, according to the criteria defined. Note that, among the high-quality classical guitars, it is not possible to define what is better sound-wise due to the fact that high-quality instruments are hearing-perceptual defined, therefore, depends on the criteria of the musician.