Musical Instruments U03424: PHY-3-MusInst COURSE INFORMATION 2009/10

Level: SCQF Level 10 Credits: 20 points Times and places: Semester 1, M 1110-1300, JCMB Room 4310; Th 1110-1300 St Cecilia’s Hall (Presentations), visits as arranged. Prerequisites: Musical Acoustics or Introductory Musical Acoustics. Short description: One half of the course reviews the current understanding of the physics of musical instruments and explores the relationship between theory and practice in musi- cal instrument construction and performance. Six lectures on the acoustics of strings, brass, woodwind, pipe organs, percussion and electronic instruments are followed by a series of seminars in which students present the results of their research on prescribed topics in mu- sical instrument acoustics. The other half of the course consists of a number of visits to musical instrument craftsmen and musical instrument collections, each followed by a work- shop in which students carry out and report on a group project involving the study of musical instrument acoustics. Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course it is intended that a student will be able to:

1. explain basic operating principles of:

(a) stringed instruments; review theories of the bow-string interaction; explain the significance of vibration modes of a stringed instrument body; (b) brass instruments; review theories of the lip reed; explain the influence of bore profile on the modes of vibration of a brass instrument; (c) woodwind instruments; describe the sound generating mechanisms of flute, clar- inet, and oboe; explain the frequency-dependent behaviour of open side holes; (d) pipe organs; understand and explain the basic operating principles of organ flue and reed pipes, and compare and contrast the physical and musical properties of mechanical, pneumatic and electrical actions; (e) percussion instruments; give qualitative descriptions of the vibration of an air- loaded drumskin, a tubular bell, and a cymbal; discuss the perception of pitch of tuned percussion; (f) electroacoustic, electromechanical, and electronic instruments;

2. review the literature in a prescribed topic in musical instrument acoustics; write and present a seminar paper;

1 3. outline the extended Hornbostel-Sachs musical instrument classification system; give several examples of instruments from each of 5 main classes;

4. describe the evolution of the principal techniques of manufacture of woodwind and brass instruments from the 16th century to now; discuss the influence of materials of construction on performance;

5. describe the principal techniques used in making bowed and plucked stringed instru- ments; explain how constructional features of the , , lute and guitar determine their acoustical behaviour;

6. describe the historical evolution and principles of operation of the clavichord, harpsi- chord, and piano; explain how constructional features affect the loudness and timbre of stringed keyboard instruments;

7. summarise the design principles of pipe organ construction; describe the of an organ flue pipe;

8. discuss the influence of the acoustical environment on the performance of music; de- scribe modern developments in the 3D sound diffusion of electronic music.

MONDAY MEETINGS Timetable: Week Date Activity 2 28/09/09 Lecture: stringed instruments 3 05/10/09 Lecture: woodwind instruments 4 12/10/09 Lecture: brass instruments 5 19/10/09 Lecture: electronic instruments 6 26/10/09 Lecture: percussion instruments and pipe organs 7 02/11/09 Seminar: stringed instruments 8 09/11/09 Seminar: woodwind instruments 9 16/11/09 Seminar: brass instruments 10 23/11/09 Seminar: electronic instruments 11 30/11/09 Seminar: percussion instruments and pipe organs Seminar Papers: Each student is asked to research and present a 20 minute paperonachosentopicaspartof one of the Monday seminar sessions. A word-processed version of the paper, not exceeding 5000 words plus illustrations, should be submitted to the Music Office in Alison House by 1200 on Friday 18th December 2009. Late submissions will be penalised by 5% per working day; submissions more than five days late will be marked 0.

2 THURSDAY MEETINGS Timetable: Week Date Activity Place 1 24/09/09 Introductory meeting St Cecilia’s Hall 2 01/10/09 Visit to Willie Hendrie Keyboard Workshop Bonnyrigg 3 08/10/09 Presentation St Cecilia’s Hall 4 15/10/09 Visit to Cinema Organ Museum Greenlaw 5 22/10/09 Presentation St Cecilia’s Hall 6 29/10/09 Visit to Anthony Edge Strings Workshop Penicuik 7 05/11/09 Presentation St Cecilia’s Hall 8 12/11/09 Visit to Richard Smith Brass York Visit to Principal Pipe Organs 9 19/11/09 Presentation St Cecilia’s Hall 10 26/11/09 Visit to Waterfront (9 am) Belfast Visit to Sonic Arts Research Centre (1-5 pm) 11 03/12/09 Presentation St Cecilia’s Hall Reports and Marks A report of about 1500 words plus diagrams is required for each of the five visits, submitted to Alison House within two weeks of the visit itself. In addition, each person should give a 20 minute oral presentation on a selected topic related to the visits. 8 marks will be allocated for each report and 10 marks for the oral presentation, making a total of 50 marks. Degree examination: There will be a 2 hour written Degree Examination in April/May 2010, which will contribute 25% to the overall assessment. Components of Assessment: Degree examination 25% Monday Seminar paper 25% Thursday Visit reports and Presentation 50%. Recommended textbooks:

• M Campbell and C Greated, The Musician’s Guide to Acoustics, Oxford University Press: ISBN: 0-19-816505-6. Price £39

• M Campbell, C Greated and A Myers, Musical Instruments: History, Technology and Performance of Instruments of Western Music, Oxford University Press: ISBN-10: 0- 19-921185-X. Price (paperback) £39

• N H Fletcher and T D Rossing, Physics of Musical Instruments 2nd ed., Springer: ISBN 0-387-98374-0. £56.99

3 Course Organiser: Prof. M. Campbell, Room 7306, JCMB: email: [email protected]. Other Course Lecturers: Prof. C. Greated: email: [email protected]. Prof. A. Myers: email: [email protected].

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