Abstract:

The aftersound in cymbals has been attributed to chaotic behavior at large amplitude, which provides a mechanism for the conversion of low-frequency energy to a rich assortment of modes of much higher frequency [N. H. Fletcher, ``Nonlinear dynamics and chaos in musical instruments,'' in Complex Systems: from Biology to Computation, edited by D. G. Green and T. Bossomaier (IOS, Amsterdam, 1993)]. When a cymbal is driven sinusoidally at an amplitude slightly lower than that leading to chaotic behavior, the cymbal sound includes harmonics of a fundamental having a fraction (often one-half or one-third) the drive frequency. Nonlinear behavior leading to subharmonic generation as well as chaotic behavior is discussed.