The acoustical foundations of music

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1. jacquesmAug 2021
   Another interesting one is 'the acoustical foundations of music'.

   ISBN 0393090965

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2. jacquesmAug 2021
   Yes, it is fascinating, highly recommended book about sound:

   "The Acoustical Foundations of Music" by John Backus.

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3. jacquesmMay 2010
   I'd like to recommend a book, it's called 'the acoustical foundations of music', it has some excellent chapters on how the ear works, and what sound does when it enters the ear.

   No speech recognition software that I'm aware of uses the 'raw' waveform, there is always a domain transformation before even beginning analysis, usually to freq/amplitude using FFT.

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4. brudgersOct 2022
   The Acoustical Foundations of Music has been filling a role in my geek-out time rotation.

   Caveat: I am not well-versed on acoustics or music and that might be why I am enjoying it.

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5. jacquesmNov 2009
   Q: What is the difference between a viola and a violin ?

   A: The viola burns longer...

   If Hermann Helmholtz could be wrong about some of this stuff then I have no doubt that people are capable of deluding themselves in to having the ability to hear things that aren't there.

   From "The Acoustical Foundations of Music" by John Backus, page 207:

   For example, the excellent quality of Stradivarius violins has been attributed to a varnish of almost magical properties used by the old instrument makers, whose secret has been lost. However, resonance curves made on instruments in the varnished and unvarnished condition show that as normally used, the varnish itself has rather little effect on the tone.

   What effect it has is more likely than not to make the instrument worse.

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