Kettledrum tone quality depends on strike position relative to nodal rings

Evidence

In summary, only modes with one circular node (the one they must all have at the rim) except the first mode (0,1) contribute significantly to the sound produced by a kettledrum, bearing in mind that this depends on the strike position being between a half and three quarters of the distance from the drum center to the rim. The presence of the bowl lowers the frequencies of these contributing modes, since the head is effectively made more massive due to the presence of the air trapped in the bowl that loads it. The extent of the pitch flattening of the modes is dependent on the shape of the bowl itself, and the aim for the kettledrum maker is to achieve modal frequencies for the modes with one circular mode that are close to being members of the same harmonic series. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1305

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the string-plucking mode-excitation discussion in Section 4.2.1 and the general principle that strike/pluck position filters overtone excitation.