The Physics of Musical Instruments

Thimas D. Rossing has taught musical acoustics for nearly 50 years, and has been active in research in this area for at least 30 years. In 1992 he was awarded the Silver Medal in Musical Acoustics by the Acoustical Society of America and his biography is included in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

When we wrote the first edition of this book, we directed our presenta tion to the reader with a compelling interest in musical instruments who has "a reasonable grasp of physics and who is not frightened by a little mathematics." We are delighted to find how many such people there are. The opportunity afforded by the preparation of this second edition has allowed us to bring our discussion up to date by including those new insights that have arisen from the work of many dedicated researchers over the past decade. We have also taken the opportunity to revise our presentation of some aspects of the subject to make it more general and, we hope, more immediately accessible. We have, of course, corrected any errors that have come to our attention, and we express our thanks to those friends who pointed out such defects in the early printings of the first edition. We hope that this book will continue to serve as a guide, both to those undertaking research in the field and to those who simply have a deep interest in the subject. June 1991 N.H.F and T.D.R.

This book describes the results of investigations into the production of musical sounds. Addressed to readers with a reasonable grasp of physics who are not put off by a little mathematics, it discusses most of the traditional instruments currently in use in Western music. This second edition has been thoroughly revised to take into account the insights arising from recent research, and to generalize or clarify the presentation in many places. The book should continue to serve as a guide for all who have an interest in music and how it is produces as well as serving as a comprehensive reference for those undertaking research in the field.

Part I : Vibrating Systems. Free and Forced Vibrations of Simple Systems. Continuous Systems in One Dimension: Strings and Bars. Two-Dimensional Systems: Membranes, Plates, and Shells. Coupled Vibrating Systems. Nonlinear Systems.- Part II : Sound Waves. Sound Waves in Air. Sound Radiation. Pipes, Horns, and Cavities.- Part III : String Instruments. Guitars and Lutes. Bowed String Instruments. Harps, Harpsicords, Clavicords, and Dulcimers. The Piano.- Part IV : Wind Instruments. Sound generation by Reed and Lip Vibrations. Lip-driven Brass Instruments. Woodwind Reed Instruments. Flutes and Flue Organ Pipes. Pipe Organs.- Part V : Percussion Instruments. Drums. Mallet Percussion Instruments. Cymbals, Gongs, Plates, and Steel Drums. Bells.- Part VI : Materials. Materials for Musical Instruments.- Name Index.- Subject Index.