The physics of musical instruments

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Bibliographic Information

The physics of musical instruments

Neville H. Fletcher, Thomas D. Rossing

Springer-Verlag, c1991

  • : us
  • : gw
  • : us (pbk)
  • : gw (pbk)

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Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: us (pbk) ISBN 9780387941516

Description

While the history of musical instruments is nearly as old as civilization itself, the science of acoustics is quite recent. By understanding the physical basis of how instruments are used to make music, one hopes ultimately to be able to give physical criteria to distinguish a fine instrument from a mediocre one. At that point science may be able to come to the aid of art in improving the design and performance of musical instruments. As yet, many of the subtleties in musical sounds of which instrument makers and musicians are aware remain beyond the reach of modern acoustical measurements. Indeed, for many musical instruments it is only within the past few years that musical acoustics has achieved even a reasonable understanding of the basic mechanisms determining the tone quality, and in some cases even major features of the sounding mechanism have only recently been unravelled. This book describes the results of such acoustical investigations ss intellectual and practical exercises of great fascination.
Volume

: gw (pbk) ISBN 9783540941514

Description

While the history of musical instruments is nearly as old as civilisation itself, the science of acoustics is quite recent. By understanding the physical basis of how instruments are used to make music, one hopes ultimately to be able to give physical criteria to distinguish a fine instrument from a mediocre one. At that point, science may be able to come to the aid of art in improving the design and performance of musical instruments. As yet, many of the subtleties in musical sounds of which instrument makers and musicians are aware remain beyond the reach of modern acoustical measurements. Indeed, for many musical instruments it is only within the past few years that musical acoustics has achieved even a reasonable understanding of the basic mechanisms determining the tone quality, and in some cases even major features of the sounding mechanism have only recently been unravelled. This book describes the results of such acoustical investigations.
Volume

: gw ISBN 9783540969471

Description

The history of musical instruments is nearly as old as civilization itself. The role of acoustical science in this context is quite recent, but far-reaching; it aims to understand the physical basis for all the details of the production of sounds by musical instruments. However, over the centuries musical instrument makers and musicians have developed skills, traditions and an understanding of their arts, and they are often aware of subtleties in musical sounds that remain undetected by modern acoustical instrumentation. It is only within the past few decades that musical acoustics have achieved even a reasonable understanding of the basic mechanisms determining the tonal quality of many instruments. In some cases even major features of the sounding mechanism have only recently been unravelled. This book describes the results of such acoustical investigations. It is hoped that, through these investigations, researchers will ultimately give physical criteria to distinguish a fine instrument from a mediocre one. At that point, science may be able to come to the help of music in moving the design and performance of contemporary musical instruments closer to the ideal. Addressed to readers with a reasonable grasp of physics who are not put off by a little mathematics, the text discusses most of the traditional instruments currently in use in Western music.

Table of Contents

  • Vibrating systems
  • sound waves
  • string instruments
  • wind instruments
  • percussion instruments.

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