Modern optical methods applicable to vibration analysis, monitoring bending-wave propagation in plates and shells as well as propagating acoustic waves in transparent media such as air and water are described. Field methods, which capture the whole object field in one recording, and point measuring (scanning) methods, which measure at one point (small area) at a time (but in that point as a function of time), will be addressed. Temporally, harmonic vibrations, multi-frequency repetitive motions and transient or dynamic motions are included. Interferometric methods, such as time-average and real-time holographic interferometry, speckle interferometry methods such as television (TV) holography, pulsed TV holography and laser vibrometry, are addressed. Intensity methods such as speckle photography or speckle correlation methods and particle image velocimetry (PIV) will also be treated.

Laser vibrometry measurements on a bowed violin are performed. A rotating disc apparatus, acting as a violin bow, is developed. It produces a continuous, long, repeatable, multi-frequency sound from the instrument that imitates the real bow-string interaction for a 'very long bow'. What mainly differs is that the back and forward motion of the real bow is replaced by the rotating motion with constant velocity of the disc and constant bowing force (bowing pressure). This procedure is repeatable. It is long lasting and allows laser vibrometry techniques to be used, which measure forced vibrations by bowing at all excited frequencies simultaneously. A chain of interacting parts of the played violin is studied: the string, the bridge and the plates as well as the emitted sound field. A description of the mechanics and the sound production of the bowed violin is given, i.e. the production chain from the bowed string to the produced tone

Pictures that demonstrate physical phenomena are important in science, so also in musical acoustics. In optics, interference, diffraction and polarization phenomena are for instance often pictured in text books. Phase contrast methods are used in microscopy to visualize transparent objects. Such methods have numerous applications in medicine and biology. Shadowgraph, schlieren and different kinds of classical interferometry setups are used in fluid mechanics to study laminar flow, turbulence, convection, subsonic and supersonic flow, shock waves etc. Propagating sound fields often accompany supersonic flow and shock waves. Also transparent object fields like sound and temperature fields can be pictured using optical measuring methods. Merits of these methods are that they are contactless, nondisturbing and wholefield methods. In this paper, some modern optical methods are presented that has the sensitivity and spatial resolution needed to visualize and measure sound fields in musical acoustics. They are computerized, all-electronic methods that present pictures but also give quantitative measures. Harmonic vibrations, standing waves, repetitive sequences and transient wave propagation will be addressed. TV holography, pulsed TV holography and scanning laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV), or scanning vibrometry will be discussed. Speckle photography and correlation methods like digital speckle photography (DSP) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) will also be shortly presented

By combining speckle interferometry (SI) measurements with speckle photography, the fringe visibility can be kept high despite the presence of a large bulk or rotating motion of the object. This combined technique improves the usability and measuring range of both pulsed and phase-stepped Sl-methods. This paper reviews the theory of fringe formation in Sl and shows some recent applications of this combined technique

Modal analyses of violins show several strong modes in the low frequency range. Holographic interferograms suggest that four strong modes can be interpreted as doublets having two and three nodal planes that intersect a cylinder with a roughly elliptical cross section at the bridge [A. Runnemalm, N.-E. Molin, and E. Jansson, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 3452-3459 (2000); M. Roberts and T. D. Rossing, Catgut Acoust. Soc. J. 3, 9-15 (1998)]. This is especially clear when the instrument is viewed simultaneously from three sides using mirrors, and the holographic system is made sensitive to in-plane motion as well. These doublets are not unlike those observed in cylindrical vibrators such as bells, and they remind us that a violin is a 3-dimensional object

scanning laser Doppler vibrometer is used to record two-dimensional ultrasound fields in air. The laser light of the vibrometer traverses the sound field to and from a rigid reflector and determines the velocity field, a quantity proportional to the sound pressure rate, in each scanned point relative to the sound source. The object sound is the scattered field from objects outside the recording area. Digital reconstruction by use of phase conjugation (time reversal) of the object sound field is then performed, and the original object field intensity and phase is reconstructed

A scanning laser Doppler vibrometer is used to make quantitative measurements of 2D ultrasound fields in air. The laser light traverses the measurement volume to and from a rigid reflector and determines the velocity of the change in optical path length, which with constant geometry only depends on the changes in index of refraction. Assuming adiabatic conditions, the refractive index rate is proportional to the sound pressure rate and quantitative measures of the sound field are possible to achieve. The emitted or scattered ultrasound being measured origins from a source or object outside the recording area. Using phase conjugation the sound field is then digitally reconstructed outside the recording area, and the reconstructed phase and intensity reveals the location of the source or object. The combination of several such reconstructions of ultrasound fields of different wavelengths, so called wavelength scanning, provides an intensity map that very accurately gives the position of the source. This opens many new possibilities to study hidden or unknown sound sources or scattering objects

Modern optical measuring methods have the advantage of being contact less, non-disturbing and whole field methods. They often are quantitative and they present "pictures". In the following some modern optical, holographic, speckle and interferometric methods that visualize and measure vibrations and sound fields of musical instruments are presented and discussed