Musical Instruments

Alexander Refsum Jensenius

MUS2800 - Sound Theory 1 - H2010
University of Oslo
Organology
Excitation – Resonance
String instruments
Influence:

Plucking/bowing position

Shape and hardness of tool (bow, fingers, plectrum)

Plucking/bowing direction

The strings' harmonics are 'stretched' as the pitch increases and/or the
excitation increases in amplitude

String interacttion

String interaction with the instrument body

Many densely packed resonances and anti-resonances

Position of the listener and the angle between the listener and the
instrument
Excitation
Resonance
 Bridge Top plate high frequency

String Back plate

Top plate Air cavity

Sound hole

low frequency
“Air flow” instruments
Brass instruments
Woodwind instruments
Air control
Instrument shape
Flute (air jet)
Clarinet (reed)
Flute

Clarinet
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/flutes.v.clarinets.html
Percussion instruments
Bars
Membranes
Bells
Keyboard instruments
Range
bowed strings and winds have harmonic spectra

plucked strings have almost harmonic spectra

tuned percusion have approximately harmonic spectra

untuned percusion have nonharmonic spectra

the low register of the clarinet has mainly odd harmonics

bowed strings have harmonics that decrease relatively slowly

with frequency

brass instruments often have spectra whose harmonics have

amplitudes that increase with frequency and then decrease
Electronic instruments
 action-sound coupling

Sound
Action Sensing Mapping Sound
engine
 ADSR

MIDI LFO
Challenge Complexity
Challenge Virtuosity
 New Interfaces for
NIME Musical Expression
Petri Toiviainen: WiiDrums
 Assignment 2:

Briefly describe your instrument

Record min. 3 short sounds (low - mid - high register)
Create spectrograms of the sounds
Briefly describe what you find