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Physics and music PDF

273 Pages·1966·27.16 MB·English
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GLEB ANFILOV PHYSICS and MUSIC MIR PUBLISHERS MOSCOW xun PU13.LISHI~RS Ha,2lATEJlbCTBO (cAETCHAH JII1TEPA1'YPA) G I.J E B :\ x Ii" I r. o \T PHYSICS and l\IJ.USIC 'lrunsl aied from the R1..lS31an 1J1I BOn IS 1\UZr\ETSOV MIl{ PUllLlSl1 EHS • :\10SCO\V 1B(j~ UDC 78+ 534 (0.23) = 20 B a an8.n,UUCKOM /l,8blKe Contents Chapter One. THE ORCHESTRA IN THE MAKING Chapter Two. HOW SOUND IS PRODUCED 55 Chapter Three. RIVALS OF STRADIVARIUS 76 Chapter Four. VOICE ANALYSIS 98 Chapter Five. TONES CREATED BY THE EAR t11 Chapter Six. THE HISTORY OF TUNING 124 Chapter Seven. MUSIC FROM ELECTRICITY 138 Chapter Eight. THE WONDERS OF SOUND RECORDING 167 Chapter Nine. DR. SHOLPO'S DREAM 187 Chapter Ten. THE COMPOSER AS A PAINTEl\ 205 Chapter Eleven. MUSIC FROM THE COMPUTER 225 Chapter Twelve. PHYSICS AND MUSIC 240 Index. 249 CHAPTE R ONE * The Orchestra in the Making Today's -music lover is fortunate; he can have music whenever he wants it. He just turns on his radio, or goes to the opera-house or concert- hall, or learns to play himself. Any child with an ear for music or simply with ambitious parents may enter a music school. Yet about a hundred years ago the symphony orchestra was to be heard on festive occasions only. Three hundred years ago people had not heard of the grand .piano. Four hundred years ago nobody knew what we today call the violin. But there was music all the same-five hundred, a thousand, or 'ten thousand years ago. OUf planet has always been both a musical workshop and a concert room. In any out-of- the-way place 'man, has always sung, played or made things that whistle, hum or rattle. This has always been as VItal to him as air: music has helped him to work, has added to his joy and taken the edge off his sorrow. Music has drawn people together, and made them feel and act as one. 7 In an African village of grass liuts lost in the jungle a successful safari is usually crowned by a procession. Songs sound like triumphant battle cries. Cane flutes and pipes sing buoyantly and shrill sounds come from whistles made out of hollow coco-nuts with holes for fingers. The bamboo strings on bows twang and psalteries hollowed from whole chunks of wood hum away. Drums,' the oldest of all the musical in- struments, give a sharp and insistent beat. The village chief solemnly nods his head, which is topped with what looks like a baby's rattle,- a distinction for chiefs only. In Borneo, during a wedding ceremony in a fishing village, a song floats softly over the sea and gongs ring out leisurely and rhythmically in time to the lapping of the waves. Then some- one moves his hand, and everything changes. Tambourines, with seashells and dried fish heads, give out a spirited buzz. A graceful girl breaks into a provocative dance. The chains and bracelets of bells on her arms and legs jingle loudly. In old Moscow at Shrovetide the whole of the city would indulge in merrymaking. Spring was welcomed boisterously with gouslis (psalteries), goudoks (fiddles) and doudkas (reed-flutes). In China villagers used to march out into the fields for the first planting of rice to the sounds of 'bells, cymbals, the ancient p'i p'a (the lute) and the hu ch'in (the fiddle) . Music is everywhere. No one can do without it. Ancient religions beliefs maintained that music was not only a pleasure but a cause of many events. It could bring down droughts to 8

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