The saxophone mouthpiece is an important, sound generating component of this instrument. The structure of mouthpiece has undergone several design changes since its invention by Adolphe Sax in the mid-18th century. Very few antique mouthpieces survived through the years, and unfortunately, those available are not playable on modern saxophones due to geometric discrepancies. This paper investigates the possibility of using three-dimensional (3D) X-ray tomography and 3D printing combined with solid modeling and reverse engineering concepts to bring back the sound of saxophones as intended by its inventor. We have imaged the interior and exterior of an extant mouthpiece nondestructively using 3D X-ray tomography, and used solid modeling and reverse engineering along with sound testing, to optimize the geometry of a mouthpiece that is faithful to its original design and yet playable on a modern saxophone. To perform sound testing of our design iterations, 3D printed prototypes have been used and proven to generate sufficient sound quality for testing. We have successfully obtained the optimized geometry after a series of iterations that taught us valuable lessons about modeling for 3D printing and correlating geometric features of a mouthpiece to its sound quality. Though the developed principles are applied to saxophone mouthpieces, the present work can be readily extended to various musical instruments that have evolved through time, particularly woodwind instruments and instruments with mouthpieces.
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September 2017
Technical Briefs
Reverse Engineering and Geometric Optimization for Resurrecting Antique Saxophone Sound Using Micro-Computed Tomography and Additive Manufacturing
Frank Celentano,
Frank Celentano
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: fcelentano.student@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: fcelentano.student@manhattan.edu
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Richard DiPasquale,
Richard DiPasquale
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: rdipasquale.student@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: rdipasquale.student@manhattan.edu
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Edward Simoneau,
Edward Simoneau
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: esimoneau.student@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: esimoneau.student@manhattan.edu
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Zahra Shahbazi,
Zahra Shahbazi
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: zahra.shahbazi@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: zahra.shahbazi@manhattan.edu
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Sina Shahbazmohamadi
Sina Shahbazmohamadi
Biomedical Engineering Department,
University of Connecticut,
Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: sina@engr.uconn.edu
University of Connecticut,
Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: sina@engr.uconn.edu
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Frank Celentano
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: fcelentano.student@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: fcelentano.student@manhattan.edu
Richard DiPasquale
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: rdipasquale.student@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: rdipasquale.student@manhattan.edu
Edward Simoneau
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: esimoneau.student@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: esimoneau.student@manhattan.edu
Nicholas May
Zahra Shahbazi
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: zahra.shahbazi@manhattan.edu
Manhattan College,
Riverdale, NY 10471
e-mail: zahra.shahbazi@manhattan.edu
Sina Shahbazmohamadi
Biomedical Engineering Department,
University of Connecticut,
Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: sina@engr.uconn.edu
University of Connecticut,
Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: sina@engr.uconn.edu
Contributed by the Design Engineering Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCE IN ENGINEERING. Manuscript received December 17, 2016; final manuscript received June 23, 2017; published online July 20, 2017. Editor: Bahram Ravani.
J. Comput. Inf. Sci. Eng. Sep 2017, 17(3): 034501 (6 pages)
Published Online: July 20, 2017
Article history
Received:
December 17, 2016
Revised:
June 23, 2017
Citation
Celentano, F., DiPasquale, R., Simoneau, E., May, N., Shahbazi, Z., and Shahbazmohamadi, S. (July 20, 2017). "Reverse Engineering and Geometric Optimization for Resurrecting Antique Saxophone Sound Using Micro-Computed Tomography and Additive Manufacturing." ASME. J. Comput. Inf. Sci. Eng. September 2017; 17(3): 034501. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4037180
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