This paper considers the controversy of modern acoustic instruments, which may have come to an evolutionary impasse, due to its high standardization that makes it difficult to explore design modifications. A new approach for the design and fabrication of an acoustic instrument is presented, using digital fabrication technologies, and specifically 3D printing, which has the potential to influenc...

This article begins with a brief summary of how tonality is defined in musicology and some of the tensions that exist between different theoretical traditions. Then, the basic cognitive studies examining the elements of tonality are reviewed as background to some of the more recent literature. The introduction considers the relationship between some of these results and the acoustics of musical...

The relationship between final hammer velocity and maximum amplitude of radiated piano sound was investigated. Piano tones with varying hammer velocities were produced by a computer-monitored acoustic piano containing optical sensors and solenoids, and the sounded tones were recorded and digitized for analysis. Maximum amplitudes over the duration of the sounded tones were linearly proportional...

The cicada uses a rapid sequence of buckling ribs to initiate and sustain vibrations in its tymbal plate (the primary mechanical resonator in the cicada’s sound production system). The tymbalimba, a music controller based on this same mechanism, has a row of 4 convex aluminum ribs (as on the cicada’s tymbal) arranged much like the keys on a calimba. Each rib is spring loaded and capable of snap...

Annotating music poses a cognitive load on listeners and this potentially interferes with the emotions being reported. One solution is to let software agents learn to make the annotator’s task easier and more efficient. Emo is a music annotation prototype that combines inputs from both human and software agents to better study human listening. A compositional theory of musical meaning provides ...

Long-time average spectra (LTAS) were made of a boys' choir, a youth choir and an adult choir, singing in a large church, a basement room and a rehearsal hall. The effects of room acoustics, vocal effort, musical material and choir type on the LTAS were evaluated. Large spectrum effects were caused directly by differences in room absorption. Such differences also induced compensatory changes in...

IN BOTH THE VOICE AND MUSICAL WIND INSTRUMENTS, A VALVE (VOCAL FOLDS, LIPS, OR REED) LIES BETWEEN AN UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM DUCT: trachea and vocal tract for the voice; vocal tract and bore for the instrument. Examining the structural similarities and functional differences gives insight into their operation and the duct-valve interactions. In speech and singing, vocal tract resonances usually...

Repetition can boost memory and perception. However, repeating the same stimulus several times in immediate succession also induces intriguing perceptual transformations and illusions. Here, we investigate the Speech to Song Transformation (S2ST), a massed repetition effect in the auditory modality, which crosses the boundaries between language and music. In the S2ST, a phrase repeated several ...

Over the last decades, several powerful sound sythesis techniques have appeared on the consumer market. This is due to both the increased computation power of processors and the re-emergence of software-based synthesis. At the same time, the need for simple user interfaces to control complex intrument models has become apparent. In this thesis, the digital waveguide technique is used to build m...

This paper is an attempt to solve two problems related to musical acoustics. The first one consists in defining a signature of an instrument, namely, summarizing its vibroacoustical behavior. The second one deals with the existing relationship between the musical sound and the vibroacoustic properties of the instrument body. The violin is the application of this paper. A proposed solution for t...