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

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.

Table of Contents:
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

Review :
I find it unputdownable, combining a thorough development of the mathematical and physical basis of music, dealt with in a historical framework, with interludes dealing in details with the different families of musical instruments. This new edition has updated the sections on electronic music and digital technology, which have changed vastly in the last decide, and which feature prominently in the new AS/A2 specifications. Thoroughly recommended.