The effect of the extended bridge on the Timbre of the Sarasvati Veena: a numerical and experimental study

An attempt is made to establish the dependence of the timbre of the Sarasvati veena, a South Indian string instrument, on its extended bridge. The equation of motion for a plucked string vibrating against the extended boundary at the bridge is solved numerically. The solution is analyzed for timbre characteristics, which show energy redistribution among the higher harmonics, as well as revival of higher harmonics with time. The variation of timbre with bridge slope and curvature are analyzed. These results are validated by comparison with corresponding analysis of acoustic data gathered from experiments performed on a sonometer, whose knife edge is replaced by the bridge of the veena.