# Sound box

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{{Short description|Open chamber in the body of a musical instrument}}
[[File:Guitarist girl.jpg|thumb|Soundbox of a [classical guitar](/source/classical_guitar)]]
A '''sound box''' or '''sounding box''' (sometimes written '''soundbox''') is an open chamber in the body of a [musical instrument](/source/musical_instrument) which modifies the sound of the instrument and helps transfer that sound to the surrounding air. Objects respond more strongly to vibrations at certain frequencies, known as [resonance](/source/resonance)s. The frequency and strength of the resonances of the body of a musical instrument have a significant impact on the [tone quality](/source/tone_quality) it produces. The air inside the chamber has its own resonances, and these interact with the resonances of the body, altering the resonances of the instrument as a whole. The sound box typically adds [resonance](/source/resonance)s at lower frequencies, enhancing the lower-[frequency response](/source/frequency_response) of the instrument.<ref>Rossing, Thomas D. [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0387304460 ''Springer Handbook of Acoustics.''] Springer Publications, 2007, p. 582 "The use of a resonant air cavity to boost the low-frequency response has been a common feature of almost every stringed instrument from ancient times."</ref>

The distinctive sound of an instrument with a sound box owes a lot to the alteration made to the [tone](/source/Timbre). A sound box is found in most [string instrument](/source/string_instrument)s.<ref>[http://www.trouvere.co.uk/String%20instruments.htm Medieval and Tudor string instruments]</ref> The most notable exceptions are some electrically amplified instruments like the [solid body](/source/solid_body) [electric guitar](/source/electric_guitar) or the [electric violin](/source/electric_violin), and the [piano](/source/piano), which uses only a [sound board](/source/Sound_board_(music)) instead. Drumhead lutes such as the [banjo](/source/banjo) or ''[erhu](/source/erhu)'' have at least one open end of the sound box covered with animal skin (or a skin-like acrylic material). Open back banjos are normally used for [clawhammer](/source/clawhammer) and frailing, while those used for [bluegrass](/source/Bluegrass_music) have the back covered with a resonator.

In some arrangements, [loudspeaker](/source/loudspeaker)s are also mounted on a sound box to enhance their output, particularly bass speakers. One notable example of this arrangement is called the [bass reflex](/source/bass_reflex) enclosure. However, in these cases, the box resonance is carefully tuned to make the sound more equal across frequencies, rather than to impart a particular character to the reinforced sound.

* [Acoustic guitar](/source/Acoustic_guitar)
* [Basic physics of the violin](/source/Basic_physics_of_the_violin)
* [Filter (signal processing)](/source/Filter_(signal_processing))
* [Frequency response](/source/Frequency_response)
* [Resonance chamber](/source/Resonance_chamber)

==References==
<references/>

Category:String instrument construction

{{string-instrument-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sound box](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_box) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_box?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.