Customer Reviews

The Science of Musical Sound

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1) This book is replete with errors. Two examples:

p.68: "A minor third has a frequency ratio 6/5, so the fifth harmonic of E should have the same frequency as the sixth harmonic of C (a G)." No, the fifth harmonic of E is G#, so presumably the author means "the fifth harmonic of Eb". But a 6:5 minor third is really only one of many possible minor third tunings. The Pythagorean minor third, for example, is 32:27, and the 32nd harmonic of this C is the 27th harmonic of this Eb. (To ignore the Pythagorean scale is to ignore two thousand years of music history; here it is given very short shrift.) The point this chapter misses in regard to just intervals is that beating is a matter of degree. We have only to venture up one harmonic along the 6/5 Eb's series: its sixth harmonic (Bb, 36:5) clashes with the 7th harmonic of C (7:1). They are 49 cents (a quarter tone) apart and well within the "critical band".

p.100: "In his fine piece 'Stria' (1977), John Chowning used partial spacings and pseudo-octaves in the ratio of the Golden Mean (approximately .618)." Sorry, the Golden Mean is not a ratio; the Golden Mean means moderation. Presumably the author intends "the Golden Section". This is small error, but nevertheless inexcusable. The book ought to have been proofread and edited.

For an introductory text I recommend Sir James Jeans's "The Science and Music". For an historical text I recommend Helmholtz's "On the Sensations of Tone". For an accurate text explaining current thought I recommend Juan Roeder's "The Physics and Psychophysics of Music".

Problems in the development of certain theories, like Critical Bandwidth. The minor third by his research proves to be dissonant, because of the geometric origin of note frequencies. Rather than notice this, he makes the opposite conclusion and states otherwise. Overall I recommend that anyone interested in what music is, the science behind music read this book, so long as they are willing to do some research on thei own.

With misinterpretations of current theory (particularly on consonance and dissonance), an arrogant focus on mostly the Stanford and MIT group of the past, this book should be avoided.

There are many problems with symbols used in the text, many of which are non-standard (he uses P for intensity when it is used as Pressure in most books).

The book has mostly lame, tacked-on material on digital sound (played up incorrectly as a feature on the back cover). Music V is from the late 1960s!

The revisions are minor to the first addition.

This is not a modern work, not a good exposition, not worthy of American university classes.

There is absolutely no cross-cultural material on tunings, or discussion of musical instrument acoustics.

The ordering of material is startlingly disjunct, the focus unclear, except that the author liked these subjects, while rejecting myriad issues.

While the other reviewers here are correct in noting many errors and misinterpretations in this little book, I wanted to insert what I think is useful information about the nature of the book, especially what audience the author seems to address. I bought this book as one of the required texts for a grad course in music perception and cognition the year it came out (92). Looking at it now, it definitely does not seem to be the best book for that context, but I think the professor may have wanted the class to have an easy read that introduces concepts rather than focusing on specifics. (The course had plenty of readings of anatomical and psychological studies and the like.)

In looking back at this book, I realize how easy it is to read, and how the author is able to address basic acoustical concepts in a relatively thorough and comprehensible way. His writing style is largely informal, yet inviting. It's certainly not intended as an authoritative science book, but it covers a broad range of subjects at an introductory level. For example, there is a chapter on "Perception, Illusion, and Effect" that is a mere 15 pages long, including illustrations.

This book is for people who want a basic, relatively thorough, well-explained education in musical acoustics, and who can tolerate a few errors in exchange for an easily understood big picture perspective.

I read this book in the late 1980s - maybe it wasn't so out of date back then. I was curious about computers and music but didn't know much. A family member gave me this book and it opened up worlds for me. It helped me understand the basic ideas of harmony, and the math and physics behind them. I went on to make electronic music myself, and I don't think I could have done it without this book. I lend it to friends who are curious about acoustics and computer music.

Perhaps as an earnest teenage reader I overlooked the shortcomings mentioned in other reviews. I recently found out that the author named the transistor and was instrumental in developing vacuum tubes and communications satellites while he was working at Bell Labs. Maybe the book is overvalued as a textbook in the light of these achievements - and his status as co-founder of the Center for Computer Music and Research and Acoustics at Stanford University.

My favorite part of the book was the enclosed flexi-disc with audio examples for many of the concepts in the text. When the disc wore out, I wrote to CCRMA and they sent me a cassette version with additional music recordings. I recommend the cassette because it includes the fabulous piece "Lions are Growing" by James A. Moorer.

Many people who are looking at this book probably already know about the life and works of microtonal composer and instrument inventor Harry Partch. (If you don't, you'd find great enjoyment in seeking this out!) I play on these instruments at the Harry Partch Instrumentarium at Montclair State University in NJ. How upsetting it was to immediately and excitedly turn to this book's section on Harry Partch's musical system to find the entire system misrepresented. The author says that his just intoned system starts on "C", when it really starts on "G". Therefore, all of the examples displayed are wrong and need to be transposed a fourth down. How infuriating!

Yes, as many reviewers have noted there are a few factual errors and some interpretative mistakes. But the purpose of the book was to explain the science of musical sounds and it does that rather well. It manages to hit most the bases - pitch, frequency, perception, harmony, volume, beat, etc. The best chapter was on sound reproduction, the worst on modern (quote unquote) music - particularly computer-generated "music" that reminds one of elementary school compositions.

I am reminded of the few times the Symphony has attempted a contemporary composition. Everyone stares as the conductor launches into a 15 minute explanation as to what the music is supposed to "represent". Sorry, but something's off when you have to explain what you are playing. Illustrations, photographs, charts and graphs accompany the text and an appendix is included.

I no longer have this book, so I can't comment on the details, but it was the main text of a class that I took at UC Santa Barbara. I was very excited about the class, which was an amalgamation of two of my favorite disciplines: music and physics. Well, the class and the text were both disappointing, and I dropped the class. What I remember of the book is that it seemed rather dull, and it tended towards older ways of thinking about music, particularly in regards to the psychology of pitch (consonance = happy! dissonance = disturbed!). It did not seem like a real scholarly work to me. And I have to agree with a previous reviewer that the computer music section was totally out-of-date.