Aramaki M., Baillères H., Branceriau L., Kronland-Martinet R., Ystad S.

Xylophone sounds are produced by striking wooden bars with a mallet, making the quality of the sound strongly influenced by the mechanical properties of the wood species used by the xylophone maker. In this paper, we address the relationship between the sound quality based on the timbre attribute of impacted wooden bars and the physical parameters characterizing wood species. For that, a methodology associating sound analysis-synthesis processes and perceptual classification is proposed. Sounds measured by impacting 59 wooden bars of different species are digitally processed and adjusted to the same pitch. The processing is based on a physical model, insuring the conservation of the main characteristics of the wood during the transformation. A renowned instrument maker then classified both the original and processed sounds. Statistical analysis showed the influence of the pitch in the classification, and point out the importance of two timbre descriptors: the frequency dependant damping and the spectral bandwidth. These descriptors can be linked to physical and anatomical characteristics of wood species, leading to new clues in the choice of attractive wood species from a musical point of view.