Acoustical Analysis of the Chinese Transverse Flute (dizi) using the Transfer Matrix Method.

The dizi is a flute-like traditional Chinese wind instrument with a cylindrical bore and a series of holes opening along its length. In addition to the common embouchure hole and six finger holes, there is a membrane hole located between the embouchure hole and the uppermost finger hole, and four extra toneholes placed near the bottom of the bore, which are always open to the air. In this paper, the transfer matrix method (TMM), as well as the transfer matrix method with external interactions (TMMI), are used to study the acoustic characteristics of the dizi. The TMM and TMMI models are validated by comparing the simulated input impedance of the dizi with measurements, both with and without a membrane. The TMM is used to generate the distribution map of normalized acoustic pressure and velocity along the main bore as a function of frequency for different fingerings. Different acoustic characteristics are discussed through the analysis of the pressure and flow maps. It is found that the four extra end holes compose a second tonehole lattice, which is independent of the one formed by the finger holes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]