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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Szwarcberg, Nathan, Colinot, Tom, Vergez, Christophe, Jousserand, Michaël
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.16220
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author Szwarcberg, Nathan
Colinot, Tom
Vergez, Christophe
Jousserand, Michaël
author_facet Szwarcberg, Nathan
Colinot, Tom
Vergez, Christophe
Jousserand, Michaël
contents The Transfer Matrix Method is a practical approach for modeling plane wave propagation in one-dimensional waveguides. Its simplicity makes it especially attractive for accounting for viscothermal losses, enabling realistic simulations of complex waveguides such as wind instruments. Another strength of this method lies in its fully analytical formulation of wave propagation. Modal parameters naturally arise as by-products of the model, obtained by numerically solving analytical expressions. In this work, the analytical potential of the method is extended by deriving the sensitivity of modal parameters to changes in the geometry of the resonator. These analytical gradients are applied in the context of wind instrument design. A simplified model of a soprano saxophone is used to investigate how octave harmonicity can be optimized through small geometric adjustments. The proposed approach enables predictive adjustments of geometry and offers valuable insight for both sound synthesis and instrument making.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_16220
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Geometric sensitivity of modal parameters in wind instrument models: a case study on saxophone intonation
Szwarcberg, Nathan
Colinot, Tom
Vergez, Christophe
Jousserand, Michaël
Classical Physics
The Transfer Matrix Method is a practical approach for modeling plane wave propagation in one-dimensional waveguides. Its simplicity makes it especially attractive for accounting for viscothermal losses, enabling realistic simulations of complex waveguides such as wind instruments. Another strength of this method lies in its fully analytical formulation of wave propagation. Modal parameters naturally arise as by-products of the model, obtained by numerically solving analytical expressions. In this work, the analytical potential of the method is extended by deriving the sensitivity of modal parameters to changes in the geometry of the resonator. These analytical gradients are applied in the context of wind instrument design. A simplified model of a soprano saxophone is used to investigate how octave harmonicity can be optimized through small geometric adjustments. The proposed approach enables predictive adjustments of geometry and offers valuable insight for both sound synthesis and instrument making.
title Geometric sensitivity of modal parameters in wind instrument models: a case study on saxophone intonation
topic Classical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.16220