Abstract:

Resonance board is an important component of piano，which predominates the acoustical quality of piano. This study attempts to establish a relationship between the vibration properties of resonance board and the acoustical quality of piano. The vibration properties of the two resonance boards made from each species of Picea glehnii，P. jezoensis，P. spinlosa and P. sitchensis were measured by analyzing the resonance spectrum based on FFT. The modules of elasticity (MOE)，velocity of longitudinal wave (V L) of resonance board，the MOE of samples cut from the edge of the resonance board and the response time for vibration of soundboard of piano were calculated. Then the resonance boards were made to pianos，and piano experts evaluated their acoustical qualities. The results showed that it possesses a significant correlation between subjective evaluation and the experimental vibration properties of resonance board in the y direction，but insignificant in the x direction. That may be explained on the fact that the strings in high and intermediate frequency region array nearly parallel to y direction，and that the angle between strings in low frequency region and y direction is smaller than that between strings and xdirection of the soundboard. It suggests that the acoustical quality of piano may be bettered by improving the vibration properties in y direction of resonance board.

Key words: resonance board, vibration property, piano, acoustical quality, subjective evaluation