On Sun, 30 Dec 2001 10:28:09 Ron Nossaman wrote: >>Why do you think having a very flexible support >>would 'dissipate' energy? > >Did you ever hear a mantle clock with a loose chime? Where a solidly >mounted chime will donnnnnngggggggg, a loose one will donk. It will still >make noise, but if you want sustain and clarity, you need either a solid >mount, or a self contained balanced dynamic system like the tines of a >tuning fork of tone bar. >Ron N > Ron, How are these chimes mounted? Are they cantilevers? If so, then you really have no choice but to have a rigid mounting to get them to vibrate much. A xylophone or vibraphone bar is I believe simply supported and I believe the makers do as much as possible to isolate them from a frame or rim. I think that it's possible to have something that vibrates well without having it rigidly tied down to something. I imagine the xylophone bar would vibrate differently if it were rigidly attached to something, but I'm not sure if the resulting sound would be better (here we're starting to get into personal taste - what defines a better sound, etc.). If you were able to make a piano soundboard that is essentially simply supported, I still wonder if it would have desirable characteristics compared to a rigidly supported board. Phil F -- Click here for your very own create-a-date adventure from MatchMaker Go to http://ecard.matchmaker.com/dating.html
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