Reproduction of classical oboe using additive manufacturing and timbre evaluation

This paper aims to establish a method for preserving three-dimensional shape data of valuable wind instruments such as those housed in museums as cultural assets, as well as for creating replicas having the same playing feel and timbre as original instruments. In this paper, a three-dimensional computer model of a classical oboe made around 1800 was built through X-ray CT scanning, and physical copies of the instrument (replicas) were fabricated using an additive manufacturing. The replicas were then evaluated by analyzing the harmonic structure of the played sound and by listening experiments to see whether the timbres of the replicas could be distinguished from that of the original instrument. Despite the fact that the replicas were made of different materials from the original instrument, it was found that they had only slightly different harmonic structures from the original's and that the subjects in the listening experiments had difficulty in distinguishing the timbres.