Flute-like musical instruments: a toy model investigated through numerical continuation

Self-sustained musical instruments (bowed string, woodwind and brass instruments) can be modeled by nonlinear lumped dynamical systems. Among these instruments, flutes and flue organ pipes present the particularity to be modeled as a delay dynamical system. In this paper, such a system, a toy model of flute-like instruments, is studied using numerical continuation. Equilibrium and periodic solutions are explored with respect to the blowing pressure, with focus on amplitude and frequency evolutions along the different solution branches, as well as "jumps" between periodic solution branches. The influence of a second model parameter (namely the inharmonicity) on the behaviour of the system is addressed. It is shown that harmonicity plays a key role in the presence of hysteresis or quasi-periodic regime. Throughout the paper, experimental results on a real instrument are presented to illustrate various phenomena, and allow some qualitative comparisons with numerical results.

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Field Value
Source ISSN: 0022-460X
Author Terrien, Soizic, Vergez, Christophe, Fabre, Benoît
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 14, 2026, 15:47 (UTC)
Created May 14, 2026, 15:47 (UTC)
Identifier hal-00721873
Language en
Rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
contributor Sons ; Laboratoire de Mécanique et d'Acoustique [Marseille] (LMA) ; Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-École Centrale de Marseille (ECM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-École Centrale de Marseille (ECM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
creator Terrien, Soizic
date 2013-07-22T00:00:00
harvest_object_id dd18f6fc-2320-4363-9b36-94d9b42f0266
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2025-08-12T00:00:00
relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/arxiv/1207.7136
set_spec type:ART