Measured Tones: The Interplay of Physics and Music, Third Edition - Brossura

Johnston, Ian

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0750307625 ISBN 13: 9780750307628

Casa editrice: CRC Press, 2002

Riassunto

There has always been a close connection between physics and music. From the great days of ancient Greek science, ideas and speculations have passed backward and forward between natural philosophers (physicists) and musical theorists. Measured Tones: The Interplay of Physics and Music, Second Edition explores the story of that relationship in an entertaining and user-friendly way. The book provides an easy-to-understand introduction to the physics involved in every stage of the music making process: from the very earliest experiments on vibrating strings and primitive sound makers to the latest concerns of digital sound recording, MP3 files, and information theory. At the same time, it examines the story of our developing concept of the universe we live in: from the ancient visions of a cosmos regulated by the music of the spheres to our current understanding of an expanding universe controlled by the laws of quantum mechanics and string theory. Running through all this is one recurring question - the so-called puzzle of consonance. Why do humans respond to music and musical sounds the way they do? It is the attempts by musicians and scientists through the ages to apply new knowledge to answer this question that gives this story its fascination. Measured Tones should provide rewarding reading for any physics teacher or student who would like to know more about music and where it impinges on their subject as well as for anyone who is musically inclined.

Su questo libro

Contenuti

LIST OF TABLES
PROLOGUE

WHY THESE AND NOT OTHERS?
Length of strings
Harmonious intervals
Pythagoras
Pentatonic and Pythagorean scales
Ptolemy
Boethius

MUSIC AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Medieval music
Josquin
Copernicus
Kepler
Galileo
Vibrations
Pendulums and strings
Consonance
Measurement of frequency
Standards of pitch
Interlude 1: Brass instruments

THE HARMONIES OF A MECHANICAL UNIVERSE
Mechanical forces
Energy
Oscillation theory
Mersenne's laws
Baroque music
Instruments
Equal temperament
Interlude 2: The piano

OVERTONES OF ENLIGHTMENT
Newton and the Age of Reason
Visualization of oscillations
Overtones
Harmonic analysis and synthesis
Rameau and harmony
End of the Enlightenment
Interlude 3: The violin

OVER THE WAVES
Wave theory
Speed of sound
Wave properties: reflection, absorption, diffraction
Huygens and Young
Standing waves
Interlude 4: Acoustics in architecture

THE ROMANCE OF ELECTRICITY
The Romantic movement
Study of electricity
Faraday
Acoustics
Energy coupling and acoustic impedance
Mismatch theorem
Standing waves in air columns
Interlude 5: Woodwind instruments

SUMMERTIME IN HEIDELBERG
Wagner and Helmholtz
Theory of resonance
Working of the ear
Pitch recognition and discrimination
Psycho-acoustics
Theory of consonance
Interlude 6: Percussion

O BRAVE NEW WORLD
Communication devices: microphones, gramophones, valves, transistors
Effect on music
Modern sound engineering: frequency response, transients Technology
Interlude 7: Electronic instruments

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM
Theory of communication
Information
Computers
Computer composition
Interlude 8

EPILOGUE

APPENDIX 1: Musical notation
APPENDIX 2: Logarithms
APPENDIX 3: Measurement of pitch intervals
APPENDIX 4: Measurement of loudness
APPEND

Product Description

Book by Johnston Ian

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: CRC Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2002
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0750307625
• ISBN 13: 9780750307628
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero edizione: 2
• Numero di pagine: 420
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile