A haptically accurate practice carillon

Mastery of musical instruments remains both a rewarding and challenging haptic task. The carillon is a particularly difficult instrument to practice due to its public nature and variability from location to location. A dynamic model of the carillon key (baton) is presented and a design for a haptically accurate practice carillon is proposed. The Passive Dynamics Practice Carillon (PDPC) is able to emulate a range of actual carillons using adjustment of passive masses and a spring. To evaluate the necessary fidelity of such a design, a study was conducted in which participants were asked to discriminate between batons with differing impedance parameters. The results showed that subjects are more sensitive to the force parameter and less sensitive to the stiffness and inertial parameters. In all cases, the passive adjustment increments on the PDPC were well below the sensitivity of the test participants. This leads us to two conclusions: a) a passive dynamic system is sufficient for a haptically accurate practice carillon and b) the Passive Dynamics Practice Carillon can be simplified to be less accurate but more cost effective while still sufficiently matching the haptic feel of real carillons.