{"39826":{"#nid":"39826","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Engineering of a Musical Instrument","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are using their engineering expertise to study how to build better musical instruments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElectrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Professor William Hunt has teamed up with Professors Ken Cunefare and Paul Neitzel, both of Mechanical Engineering (ME), as well as undergraduate ECE student Stephen Welch, to investigate the acoustic modes of vibration of certain instruments including guitar, piano and upright bass.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u0022We\u0027re investigating the physical acoustics of these wooden, string instruments with the ultimate goal of developing engineering constructs that will allow manufacturers (e.g. Steinway) to improve both the sound quality produced by the instrument as well as the playability. Aesthetics will play a key role in our work,\u0022 said Hunt. \u0022We hope to push the envelope of what is known and understood at the present time and exploit this knowledge gained to the create of a grander sound.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHunt and his research team are part of the new Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology.\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u0022Our approach is simultaneously old school and innovative,\u0022 Hunt explained. \u0022It is more common that engineers and computer scientists enter this arena and focus on electronic music production or computer composition of musical scores. The great thing for our team is that we are all musicians of varying skill levels and passionate about music. Unfortunately\/fortunately, the undergraduate involved, Stephen Welch, is far superior to his professor in musical skill.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHunt says the research is under way and perhaps the biggest challenge is going to be translating the scientific and engineering measurements to a set of constructs that can better guide instrument manufacturers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We don\u0027t know where this will ultimately end up, but we know where we want the road to lead---toward better musical instruments that will dazzle musicians and audiences alike,\u0022 Hunt said.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are at the craft of how to build a better instrument"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are using their engineering expertise to study how to build better musical instruments.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are trying to make acoustic instruments better."}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2008-11-07 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:15","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2008-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"39827":{"id":"39827","type":"image","title":"Stephen Welch","body":null,"created":"1449174126","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:22:06","changed":"1475894249","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:37:29","alt":"Stephen Welch","file":{"fid":"189628","name":"tzg61333.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tzg61333_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tzg61333_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":69266,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tzg61333_1.jpg?itok=AC-WANMN"}}},"media_ids":["39827"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtcmt.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"148","name":"Music and Music Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1953","name":"Bass"},{"id":"1951","name":"Bill Hunt"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"1952","name":"Guitar"},{"id":"1309","name":"music technology"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}