Tuning process of xylophone and marimba bars analyzed by finite element modeling and experimental measurements

The natural frequencies of a constant section bar and two types of undercut bars (with parabolic and rectangular outlines) have been calculated by finite element modeling (FEM) and compared with experimental measurements. With these undercuts, two different tunings were achieved for the two first partials, the 1:4 relationship between them (marimba bars) and the 1:3 case (xylophone bar). The agreement between the calculated and measured data is good. Thus, finite element analysis can be considered as good tool to study the tuning of this kind of musical instrument. (C) 1997 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(97)06912-9].