Musical acoustics

Musical acoustics or music acoustics is a multidisciplinary field that combines knowledge from physics,[1][2][3] psychophysics,[4] organology[5] (classification of the instruments), physiology,[6] music theory,[7] ethnomusicology,[8] signal processing and instrument building,[9] among other disciplines. As a branch of acoustics, it is concerned with researching and describing the physics of music – how sounds are employed to make music. Examples of areas of study are the function of musical instruments, the human voice (the physics of speech and singing), computer analysis of melody, and in the clinical use of music in music therapy.

The pioneer of music acoustics was Hermann von Helmholtz, a German polymath of the 19th century who was an influential physician, physicist, physiologist, musician, mathematician and philosopher. His book On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music[7] is a revolutionary compendium of several studies and approaches that provided a complete new perspective to music theory, musical performance, music psychology and the physical behaviour of musical instruments.

  1. ^ Benade, Arthur H. (1990). Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics. Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486264844.
  2. ^ Fletcher, Neville H.; Rossing, Thomas (2008-05-23). The Physics of Musical Instruments. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780387983745.
  3. ^ Campbell, Murray; Greated, Clive (1994-04-28). The Musician's Guide to Acoustics. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780191591679.
  4. ^ Roederer, Juan (2009). The Physics and Psychophysics of Music: An Introduction (4 ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9780387094700.
  5. ^ Henrique, Luís L. (2002). Acústica musical (in Portuguese). Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. ISBN 9789723109870.
  6. ^ Watson, Lanham, Alan H. D., ML (2009). The Biology of Musical Performance and Performance-Related Injury. Cambridge: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810863590.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b Helmholtz, Hermann L. F.; Ellis, Alexander J. (1885). On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music by Hermann L. F. Helmholtz. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511701801. hdl:2027/mdp.39015000592603. ISBN 9781108001779. Retrieved 2019-11-04. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Kartomi, Margareth (1990). On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226425498.
  9. ^ Hopkin, Bart (1996). Musical Instrument Design: Practical Information for Instrument Design. See Sharp Press. ISBN 978-1884365089.