Automatic timbre quality evaluation in Chinese traditional flute industry

Since the opening of Chinese economic, a great amount of Taiwanese merchants enter Mainland China for investment. The annual production of bamboo flutes in China is over 4 millions to provide domestic and international consumers. Owing to the great amount of demand, folk instrument industry is one of the attractive investment items. In order to increase the product manufacturing process and promote the product quality, the implementation and application of an automatic timbre evaluation system with spectrum analysis and cluster algorithm to increase the flute quality becomes an important method for Taiwanese businessmen to earn more profits. This research is to implement an automatic timbre quality system to evaluate the timbre quality of Chinese flute in flute businesses. From research data displays that the automatic timbre evaluation system does help the traditional handicraft manufacture classify the timbre quality of flute more effectively. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.