Acoustics of the jarana jarocha

Some acoustical measurements on the jarana jarocha primera (first), a traditional Mexican instrument, a “one-piece” body instrument, in the coastal region of the Gulf of Mexico, are presented. Experimental mobility function, radiativity function, and some radiation patterns were obtained. Harmonic analysis and visualization techniques using both the finite element method and laser speckle-Chladni methods were made to obtain the lower deflection shapes of the soundboard. The experimental analysis using mobility function measurements of the lower resonances shows behaviour very similar to that observed in the classical guitar.