Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics: Second, Revised Edition

835 Pages·1990·17.1 MB·English

by  Arthur H. Benade

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Copyright © 1976, 1990 by Virginia Benade. All rights reserved.
This Dover edition, first published in 1990, is an unabridged, extensively
corrected republication of the edition originally published by Oxford University
Press in 1976. A Note to the Dover Edition has been added.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pablication Data Benade, Arthur H.
Fundamentals of musical acoustics / Arthur H. Benade.
p. cm.
Reprint. Originally published: New York : Oxford University Press, 1976.
Includes index.
9780486150710
1. Music—Acoustics and physics. I. Title.
ML3805.B328 1990
781.2—dc20
90-40159
CIP
MN
Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
26484X10
www.doverpublications.com
Acknowledgments
I owe a heavy debt to a large number of scientists, craftsmen, and musicians,
both students and professionals, who have provided me with information,
peppered me with well-thought-out questions, lent or given instruments, aided in
doing experiments, and helped me to recognize and correct errors or
inconsistencies in what I have said or done in musical acoustics. There is space
here to single out by name only those contributors to my understanding whose
influence has been of long duration and of particular intensity.
My indebtedness to Walter Worman, Erik Jansson, James Gebler, and Michel
Chotteau arises chiefly through my having enjoyed with each of them a period of
close collaboration in the laboratory and in the theoretical analysis of musical air
columns. I owe a different debt to Earle Kent, Bruce Schantz, George Jameson,
John Stavash, George McCracken, Carleen Hutchins, Philip Bate, and Paul
Hailperin, who have freely shared their expert knowledge of current practice
(often including its scientific aspects) in the making and adjusting of musical
instruments both ancient and modern. Performing musicians whose interest, aid,
and deep knowledge have been of inestimable value are Jürg Schaeftlein,
Frederic Cohen, William Waterhouse, Charles Schlueter, Alexander Murray,
Gerald Corey, and Edward Tarr. I am also grateful for the opportunity to have
had long (and sometimes heated) discussion of matters concerning our
perception of musical sounds with Paul Boomsliter, Warren Creel, and Johan
Sundberg. C. G. Conn Ltd., King Musical Instruments, G. Leblanc Corp., Fox
Products Corporation, Gebr. Alexander, and H. & A. Selmer have been
particularly generous with gifts of instruments or parts, occasional financial
support, and frequent willingness to share some of their confidential information.
The wisdom, experience, and scientific insight of my colleague Robert
Shankland and also (on too few occasions) of John Schelleng have been of
immense value to me, even beyond the contributions of their considerable
expertise in acoustics.
Beyond the debt I owe to people named here is the debt to my wife Virginia.
Her interest, patience, musical knowledge, stylistic taste, and intellectual
curiosity have always provided me with a stimulus and an opportunity to try out
curiosity have always provided me with a stimulus and an opportunity to try out
a half-born idea. Her sensitive musical ear and familiarity with the structure and
practice of both Western and Indian music have been particularly helpful in
elucidating the relation between musical custom and the way musical sounds are
produced and heard. Beyond this she has struggled along with me through
several drafts of each chapter to make this book accurate and understandable for
its intended readers.
Cleveland, Ohio
August 1975
A. H. B.
Note to the Dover Edition
This book is a reprinting of a major monograph on musical acoustics by a
distinguished scientist. In nearly three decades of research in musical acoustics,
Arthur H. Benade (1925—1987) built a body of scientific work that remains as
readily appreciated by the musician as by the physicist. This book provides the
framework in which Benade’s contributions to musical acoustics can be
understood, and it is highly readable because the subject matter is addressed
from the viewpoints of the scientist, musician, and instrument-maker. Significant
emphasis is placed on the interaction of the physics of musical instruments and
concert halls with the perceptual skills of listeners and the musical skills of
performers. Perhaps the most welcome aspect of this new edition is that
Benade’s unique insights will continue to be available to students.
Subsequent to the book’s original publication in 1976, Benade maintained a
detailed set of corrections and minor revisions, which are reflected in this new
Dover edition. Technical questions regarding these revisions were resolved by
Carleen Hutchins, Ian Lindevald, Walter Worman, and me. All revisions were
coordinated by Virginia Benade.
Douglas H. Keefe
University of Washington
Table of Contents
DOVER BOOKS ON MUSIC, MUSIC HISTORY
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
Note to the Dover Edition
1 - Preliminaries to a Study of Musical Acoustics
2 - Impulsive Sounds, Alone and in Sequence
3 - Simple Relations of Sounds and Motions
4 - Characteristic Frequencies and the Decay of Composite Sounds
5 - Pitch: The Simplest Musical Implication of Characteristic Oscillations
6 - The Modes of Oscillation of Simple and Composite Systems
7 - Introduction to Vibration Recipes: The Plucked String
8 - Broad Hammers and Plectra, Soft Hammers, and the Stiffness of Strings
9 - The Vibrations of Drumheads and Soundboards
10 - Sinusoidally Driven Oscillations
11 - Room Acoustics I: Excitation of the Modes and the Transmission of
Impulses
12 - Room Acoustics II: The Listener and the Room
13 - The Loudness of Single and Combined Sounds
14 - The Acoustical Phenomena Governing the Musical Relationships of Pitch
15 - Successive Tones: Reverberations, Melodic Relationships, and Musical
Scales
16 - Keyboard Temperaments and Tuning: Organ, Harpsichord, Piano
17 - Sound Production in Pianos
18 - The Clavichord and the Harpsichord
19 - The Voice as a Musical Instrument
20 - The Brass Wind Instruments
21 - The Woodwinds: I
22 - The Woodwinds: II
23 - The Oscillations of a Bowed String