Study of timbral influence of mallets on the steelpan through spectral analysis

Abstract

The steelpan is an instrument with unique acoustic properties that allow for a wide range of timbral possibilities influenced by the choice of actuator. It is increasingly common for composers and performers to experiment with mallets made from a variety of materials that produce highly differentiated timbres. Examples of mallet types include wood and aluminum shafts covered with rubber tips, chopsticks, dowel rods, and cardboard tubes. Understanding how mallets interact with the steelpan is an important aspect of performance practice. Aside from standard rubber tipped mallets, most other mallets types are homemade and these characterizations will inform mallet design and construction in order to achieve the desired timbral result. While there have been studies analyzing the modes of vibrations of steelpan notes, the interactions between mallets and timbre hasn’t yet been studied and characterized. The goal of this work is to measure and characterize the timbral influence of a wide variety of mallets on high voiced steelpans through low level audio analysis with a focus on spectral features. Audio recordings were made with more than a dozen different mallets and several steelpans of three different types: tenor, double seconds, and double tenors.