Stability of Site-Specific Acoustic Differences

Determine whether the acoustic differences observed among individual suikinkutsu recordings correspond to stable, reproducible properties of the installations or are partly attributable to recording conditions.

Background

The study identifies measurable differences among recordings from nine suikinkutsu while also observing substantial overall timbral similarity. Because recordings were made in situ under variable environmental conditions, including differing background noise, microphone placement, and water-delivery circumstances, the analysis cannot definitively establish whether the observed differences characterize the vessels themselves or the recording situations. Resolving this issue is necessary for determining whether the proposed acoustic descriptors capture stable heritage-object properties.

References

Whether these differences correspond to stable, reproducible properties of each suikinkutsu or are partly attributable to recording conditions is considered further in Section~\ref{sec:variability} and Section~\ref{sec:conclusion}.

— A computational framework for the acoustic characterization of Suikinkutsu (water harp cave)  (2610.11219 - Haimes et al., 8 Oct 2026) in Section 3.4, “Resonant Characteristics” (Conclusion, Section 4)

Second, because the three takes retained at a given site were recorded with the same device and water-delivery method, and the same or similar microphone placement, low within-site variance is consistent both with a stable acoustic identity for the vessel and with the same recording equipment and procedure simply having been used repeatedly at that site; the present design does not fully separate these possibilities, and doing so would require varying recording conditions independently of site.

— A computational framework for the acoustic characterization of Suikinkutsu (water harp cave)  (2610.11219 - Haimes et al., 8 Oct 2026) in Section 4.1, “Limitations”