If you ever wandered the web in search of informations, data and knowledge about guitars in general, you’ve necessarily experienced the infamous tonewood blog debates, perception biased conversations, boomer typed arguments, and many, many non-scientific takes from your favorite anonymous keyboard warrior.
It’s a sad spectacle, that isn’t specific to guitars and lutherie in general. But somehow, a lot of players or lutherie enthusiasts manage to convince themselves that guitars are not subject to science and methodical analysis.
While there is a subjective part in what one will find beautiful, there is an objective dimension to what is perceivable, effective and impactfull in guitar building and sound in general.
Hear me out. The art of lutherie, isn’t in fact an art at first. It isn’t something magical, no mojo is transfered through an old man’s hands in a dark and messy shop to a piece of wood. It’s all about engineering and science. Sorry to disapoint you, if you thought that your gold paint made your LesPaul play better. It doesn’t.
To educate someone about the vast and complex topic of guitars, sound, materials and vibration, you cannot oversimplify and vulgarize. There is only one serious option, it’s to give the enthusiast the data to help him acquire the knowledge. It has several benefits, but the main one is that those who have the will to go through will do so, and understand the complexity, those who don’t will realize that there is actual data and papers that investigate through those topics, and that’ll help them to not fall into the cheap forum argument loop.
As always, take a step back, use some critical thinking, and remember that it’s always more complex than what @toneisinthehands1996 tells you in that commentary section below that instagram post.
I can’t personnally summarize decades of studies, papers, congresses and thesis, so my modest contribution to the debate is this evolving bibliography below. It will regularly be filled with new articles, so keep an eye for new data.
This comprehensive bibliography is a carefully curated list of scientific papers aimed at providing a robust understanding of the fascinating science behind guitars. While the guitar may be known primarily as an instrument of art and expression, there exists a complex tapestry of physics, materials science, and engineering that makes its soul-stirring sounds possible.
This bibliography spans various disciplines, including acoustics, signal processing, mechanical engineering, and even psychology to offer a holistic view of how a piece of wood and strings can produce sounds that captivate hearts and minds. Whether you're a musician seeking to understand your instrument on a deeper level, an engineer aiming to design a revolutionary new guitar, or simply a curious mind, these papers serve as a solid academic foundation for your quest for knowledge.
GO SCIENCE !
A Physical Model of the Classical Guitar, Including the Player’s Touch.
G. Cuzzucoli and V. Lombardo. Computer Music Journal
Acoustic properties of modified wood under different humid conditions and their relevance for musical instruments
Ahmed S.A., Adamopoulos S. (2018), Applied Acoustics
Acoustics for the Guitar Maker, Function, Construction and Quality of the Guitar,
Jansson E.V. (1983), Publication No. 38 of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Stockholm.
Acoustics for violin and guitar makers
E.V. Jansson. Kungl. Tekniska Hogskolan, Dept. of Speech. Music and Hearing, 2002.
Acoustics, waves and oscillations.
S.N. Sen. Wiley, 1990.
Acoustique des instruments de musique
A. Chaigne and J. Kergomard. (Coll. Echelles). 2008.
Analyse des modes de cordes couplées d’une harpe par une méthode à haute résolution (Analysis of coupled modes of a harp by a high resolution method).
J.L. Le Carrou, F. Gautier, and R. Badeau. Proceedings of Congrès Français d’Acoustique, Tours, France, 2006.
Anatomy and mechanical properties of woods used in electric guitars
Ahvenainen P. (2018), IAWA Journal
Audibility of inharmonicity in string instrument sounds, and implications to digital sound synthesis.
H. Jarvelainen, V. Valimaki, and M. Karjalainen. In Proceedings of the 1999 International Computer
Music Conference, Beijing, China
Auditory Intensity Discrimination
Green D.M. (1993), Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, Vol. 3, Springer, New York
Automated analysis and computationally efficient synthesis of acoustic guitar strings and body.
K. Bradley, M.H. Cheng, and V.L. Stonick. In IEEE ASSP Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics
Automatic modal analysis. Reality or myth ?
J. Lau, J. Lanslots, B. Peeters, and H. Van der Auweraer. VDI BERICHTE
Building Electric Guitars: How to Make Solid-Body, Hollow-Body and Semi-Acoustic Electric Guitars and Bass Guitars
Koch M. (2001), Koch Verlag, Gleisdorf.
Calculation Method of Permanent-Magnet Pickups for Electric Guitars.
G. Lemarquand and V. Lemarquand. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 2007.
Caractérisations acoustiques de structures vibrantes par mise en atmosphère raréfiée (Accessing acoustical characteristics of vibrating structures through vacuum experiments).
B. David. PhD thesis, Universite Paris 6, 1999.
Coupled piano strings.
G. Weinreich. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 1977.
Determining the just noticeable difference in timbre through spectral morphing: a trombone example
Carral S. (2011), Acta Acustica united with Acustica
Diagnosing dead spots of electric guitars and basses by measuring the mechanical conductance.
H. Fleischer. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Does timbral brightness scale with frequency and spectral centroid
Schubert E., Wolfe J. (2006), Acta Acoustica United with Acustica
Ebony vs. Rosewood: experimental investigation about the influence of the fingerboard on the sound of a solid body electric guitar
Paté A., Le Carrou J., Fabre B. (2013), Proceedings of the Stockholm Musical Acoustics Conference (SMAC), Stockholm (Sweden)
Estimating the plucking point on a guitar string.
C. Traube and J.O. Smith. In Proceedings of the COST G-6 Conference on Digital Audio Effects, Verona, Italy, 2000.
Etude de l’influence des éléments de lutherie de la guitare électrique (study of the influence of instrument-making parameters of the electric guitar)
B. Navarret. Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, 2006.
Etude perceptive et dynamique de la guitare electrique.
B. Navarret, J.L. Le Carrou, A. Sedes, F. Ollivier, and Y. Fujiso. In Proceedings of the Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology, Paris, France, 2009.
Evaluation des propriétés acoustiques, mécaniques et structurelles des bois utilisés pour les tables d’harmonie de guitare : leur influence sur le timbre de l’instrument (Evaluation of acoustical, mechanical and structural properties of guitar sound boards woods; their effect upon the instrument tone color).
D. Douau and M. Castellengo. PhD thesis, Universite du Maine, Le Mans, France, 1986
Evolution of the vibrational behavior of a guitar soundboard along successive construction phases by means of the modal analysis technique.
M.J. Elejabarrieta, A. Ezcurra, and C. Santamaria. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Experimental modal analysis.
B.J. Schwarz and M.H. Richardson. CSI Reliability Week, 1999.
Fundamentals of waves & oscillations.
K.U. Ingard. Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Handbook of acoustics.
Wiley-Interscience, 1998. M.J. Crocker. CHALMERS, Master’s Thesis 2009
Histoire et organologie de la guitare électrique (history and organology of the electric guitar).
B Navarret. Journées d’études interdisciplinaires (interdisciplinary conference days), Paris, France. Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Paris Nord, May 2009.
Influence of the bridge on the vibrations of the top plate of a classical guitar
Torres J., Boullosa R. (2009), Applied Acoustics
Influence of the electric guitar’s fingerboard wood on guitarists perception
Paté A., Le Carrou J., Navarret B., Dubois D., Fabre B. (2015), Acta Acustica united with Acustica
Investigating Dead Spots of Electric Guitars.
H. Fleischer and T. Zwicker. Acta Acustica united with Acustica
Mahogany intertwined: Enviromateriality between Mexico, Fiji, and the Gibson Les Paul
Martinez-Reyes J. (2015), Journal of Material Culture
Mécanique de la corde vibrante.
C. Valette and C. Cuesta. Hermes, 1993.
Mechanical Vibrations of Electric Guitars.
H. Fleischer and T. Zwicker. Acta Acustica united with Acustica
Methods for modeling realistic playing in acoustic guitar synthesis.
M. Laurson, C. Erkut, V. Valimaki, and M. Kuuskankare. Computer Music Journal
Modal testing: theory and practice.
D.J. Ewins. Research studies press Letchworth, 1986.
Modeling the magnetic pickup of an electric guitar.
N.G. Horton and T.R. Moore. American Journal of Physics, 2009.
Modélisation numérique de la guitare acoustique.
G. Derveaux. PhD thesis, Ecole Polytechnique, 2002.
Multidimensional perceptual scaling of musical timbres.
J.M. Grey. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 1977.
Musical instrument identification: A patternrecognition approach.
K.D. Martin and Y.E. Kim. In Proc. of 136th meeting of ASA. Citeseer, 1998. CHALMERS, Master’s Thesis 2009
New method of measuring reverberation time.
M.R. Schroeder. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 1965.
On measuring the elastic and damping constants of orthotropic sheet materials.
M.E. McIntyre and J. Woodhouse. Acta metallurgica 1988.
On the synthesis of guitar plucks.
J. Woodhouse. Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 2004.
On the use of finite differences for musical synthesis. Application to plucked stringed instruments.
A. Chaigne. Journal d’Acoustique 1992.
Plucked guitar transients: Comparison of measurements and synthesis.
J. Woodhouse. Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 2004.
Shock and vibration handbook.
C.M. Harris, C.E. Crede, and T.D. Rossing. American Journal of Physics
Sound and its Perception. Physical and Psychoacoustic Aspects
Ozimek E. (2002) - Polish Scientific Publishers PWN, Warsaw.
String inharmonicity and the timbral quality of piano bass tones
A. Galembo and L. Cuddy. Fletcher, Blackham, and Stratton (1962) revisited. In Report to the 3rd US Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1997. 51 CHALMERS, Master’s Thesis
String-wood feedback in electrics string instruments
Puszyński J. (2014), Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences
Sympathetic String Modes in the Concert Harp.
J.L. Le Carrou, F. Gautier, and R. Badeau. Acta Acustica united with Acustica
Synthese et mise en oeuvre de méthodes d’identification modale.
V. Hedin. Master’s thesis, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques (EN SMM), Besançon, France, 2005.
The Decay Characteristics of Piano Tones for the Group of Three Strings.
I. Nakamura and D. Naganuma. Joho Shori Gakkai Kenkyu Hokoku 2002.
The effect of wood on the sound quality of electric string instruments
Puszyński J., Moliński W., Preis A. (2015), Acta Physica Polonica
The Exponential Window.
Sound And Vibration, 1999. D. Formenti and B. MacMillan.
The influence of geometry on linear damping.
M.E. Molntyre and J. Woodhouse. Acustica 1978.
The modal assurance criterion - Twenty years of use and abuse.
R.J. Allemang. Sound and Vibration 2003.
The Physics of Musical Instruments
Fletcher N., Rossing T. (1998)
The PolyMAX frequency-domain method: a new standard for modal parameter estimation
B. Peeters, H. Van der Auweraer, P. Guillaume, and J. Leuridan.
The sound of trees: wood selection in guitars and other chordophones
Bennett B. (2016), Economic Botany
Theoretical acoustics.
P.M.C. Morse and K.U. Ingard. Princeton University Press, 1986.
Une caractérisation de la guitare électrique : organologie, aspects acoustiques et analyses de verbalisations (A characterization of the electric guitar: organology, acoustical aspects and analysis of verbalizations).
B. Navarret. PhD thesis, Centre de recherche Informatique et Creation Musicale, Lutheries Acoustique Musique, 2009.
Vibroacoustique de la Guitare : etude de l’influence de certains choix du luthier sur la reponse de l’instrument.
C. Thepenier. Master’s thesis, Universite du Maine, Le Mans, France, 2006.
Vibro-acoustique de la harpe de concert (Vibro-acoustics of the concert harp).
J.L. Le Carrou. PhD thesis. Universite du Maine, Le Mans, France, 2006.
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The Influence of Scale Length on Playability and Tone