Measured tones : the interplay of physics and music /
by Ian Johnston.
- xi, 397 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
"Reprinted with corrections 1993"--Verso t.p.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 378-383) and index.
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 enlightenment -- 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 instruments -- 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: Sublimest of instruments, the voice -- Epilogue -- Musical notation -- Logarithms -- Measurement of pitch intervals -- Measurement of loudness -- Acoustic impedance -- Pentatonic scales -- Bibliography -- Accompanying web site -- Index. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. App. 1. App. 2. App. 3. App. 4. App. 5. App. 6.