PRACTICAL TUNING OF XYLOPHONE BARS AND RESONATORS

The sound of the xylophone is governed by the natural frequencies of the wooden bars struck. The nonharmonic relationship of the overtones is responsible for the poor tonal quality of simple instruments when only the fundamental is tuned. A significant improvement can be achieved by tuning the lower overtones. The optimal tuning intervals are determined by musical relations and are found to be the double octave and an interval between minor and major third above the triple octave. The improved, radiation of low fundamentals by acoustic resonators is discussed.