Geometrical effects on the tuning of Chinese and Korean stone chimes

Abstract

The vibrational mode frequencies and mode shapes of ancient stone chimes are analyzed and their dependence on stone shapes are discussed. Mode shapes and frequencies of several chime models are determined by using finite element methods, and these show good agreement with mode shapes and frequencies observed in Korean pyeongyeong chime stones using holographic interferometry and experimental modal testing. The dependence of mode shapes and frequencies on vertex angle and base curvature suggests that the geometries used in late Chinese bianqing and Korean pyeongyeong may have been selected to give the best sound.

A Possible New Class of Prehistoric Musical Instruments from New England: Portable Cylindrical Lithophones

“…Manufactured suspended lithophones. Examples of such lithophones, which are generally sculpted and polished, include suspended stone chimes from Vietnam (biên khánk), China (Pi, bianqing and quig), and Korea (pyeongyeong) (Falkenhausen 1994;Yoo and Rossing 2006). Most of the suspended manufactured lithophones that have been identified in the United States are so-called "kiva bells," which come almost exclusively from the Rio Grande Valley (Brown 1967(Brown , 1971, although at least two candidates have been identified from outlying areas: one from a Mimbres site in Luna County, New Mexico, and the other from northeastern Arizona (Brown 2005:430-431).…”

Study on the lithology of stone chimes (stone musical instruments in ancient China) and Lingbi stone

“…The other focuses on the measured sound of excavated stone chime sets, which is mainly about tonality, scale formation, physical characteristics of the acoustics, etc. (Wei 2010;Yang 2000;Yoo and Rossing 2006). Despite the vast amount of archaeological activity and academic study devoted to stone chimes, relatively little is known about their lithology.…”