THE CATGUT ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER Number 11 , published semiannually May 1,1969 The recent meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (April 7-11 in Philadelphia) was organized in full recognition of the Catgut Acoustical Society as a co-sponsor of several of the feature sessions. In particular, there were two such evening sessions, and an all day technical symposium which spotlighted activities and research of many of our members and which are of interest to all of us. The following pages feature reviews of these three sessions by as many of our members, and a fascinating account by- Dean Kimball of the week following the Philadelphia meeting during which many of its participants - as well as others - met informally for a myriad of activities and discussion about fiddles. Tuesday, April 8,1969, 6:30 PM Musical Acoustics Workshop: Recording Techniques for Musical Instruments Arthur Benade and Frank Lewin shared the Tuesday evening program, a discussion of techniques employed in the recording of musical instruments. Arthur Benade described differences in microphone placement, depending on the character of the music being recorded: distant pick-up, preferably in the corner of a rectangular studio, for slow-moving music; close-up position for rapidly moving music. Through diagrams and a demonstration tape he illustrated his re^ searcjj on minimizing the effects of excessively reverberant record- ing locations through equalizing and filtering. His demonstration consisted of "before and after" tapes of brass and wood w^nd instru- ments recorded in a very live London church. Frank Lewin described how, as a professional composer, he uses the recording medium as a tool. Through examples on stereophonic tape, he demonstrated various aspects of recording: (a) Acoustics of the recording location — live vs. dead halls, perspective; (b) Method of reproduction, stereo or mono directionality as a means of dramatic expression, the effects of—stereo's greater definition on playback levels; (c) Equalization boosting or suppressing frequencies, exaggerating dynamics, artificial— dynamics (crescendo-diminuendo of a harpsichord, for example), artificial echo, dramatic uses of intentional distortion and feedback, ability to make audible and balance disparate instruments, etc. ; (d; Synchro- nization recording of similar or complementary material onto separate —channels of a multi-track tape. Both Arthur Benade and Frank Lewin conducted their presentations informally, answering questions from the obviously interested audience in the course of their talks and demonstrations, as well as in the formal question-and-answer period. Frank Lewin 2 Wednesday, April 9,1969, 8:30 PM CATGUT ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY Concert-Demonstration of Newly Developed President Bowed String Instruments Arthur Benade There were three distinct categories of 3722 Menlo Road interest. Carl-Hugo Agren of Sweden has Cleveland Ohio Ml2o developed a treble v.iol(*) which he calls Vice President a Magnum. Using electronic and other Virginia Apgar available-to-date research, his aim is to 30 Engle Street produce a viol capable of considerably Tenafly,N.J. o767o more volume, without the characteristic Secretary and traditional "spit-back" under pressure, Carleen Hutchins which is so well known to viol players. 112 Essex Avenue In doing this, however, he does not want Montclair ,N J o7o^2 to lose the distinctive tonal quality of . a viol. Translating his ideas from the Treasurer drawing board in December 1968 to the real- Warren Creel ity in March 1969 is in itself quite an 1*56 Hamilton Street accomplishment. His points were made by Albany,N.Y. l22o3 playing identical short musical passages Editor alternately with Marjorie Bram (Musical Robert Fryxell Director of New Jersey's "Friends of Early 7355 Drake Road Music"), who was using a reproduction of Cincinnati Ohio 1+52^3 a treble viol built along traditional lines by Dietrich Kessler of London. Mr.Sgren clearly stated his reasons for believing that more volume is a legitimate basis for his project. The second demonstration was of the Violino Grande , developed by Hans 01of Hansson and Bronislaw Eichenholz of Sweden, who were present. Mr.Hansson states that much literature of the baroque and later is ideally suited to the instrument. Additionally, the Violino Grande has captured the imaginations of some major contemp- orary composers, conductors, and performers here and abroad. This is a somewhat viol-shaped instrument, is unfretted, and is played under the chin. The five strings are tuned in fifths, ascend- ing from the lowest, which is the viola C. Mr.Hansson thinks of it neither as a viola with an E string, nor as a violin with a C string, but as an instrument with its own absolutely distinct individuality. This point was splendidly proved by Mr.Eichenholz, who played a live performance of a suite by Bach which was originally written for the 5-stringed viola pomposa. Following this we heard a taped performance of Penderecki's Concerto for Violino Grande, premiered by Mr.Eichenholz at Dartmouth's 1968 Webern Festival. The Violino Grande is able to return to Sweden warmed by the reception it has met here. The third section of the program involve our old-new friends, Carleen Hutchins' New Violin Family. Yoko Matsuda gave us a most exciting exposure to the mezzo violin. Playing, the first and third movements of the G minor unaccompanied Bach partita on her own *The viol family's members are of various sizes,, and are. disting- uished from the violin family by the following general characteris- tics: (1) sloping shoulders, (.2) much deeper ribs, (3) 5,6, or 7 strings, which are under less tension than those of the violin family, and (4) fretted fingerboards. They are never properly played under the chin, but "upside down", touching some part of the player's leg. Thus they are also known as the "gamba" family.- Strad, she swung into the mezzo for the second and fourth move- ments. She is indeed to be admired for her tactile versatility as well as for her violinistic prowess. Her performance was received with vigorous enthusiasm by the capacity audience. It was followed by a taped performance of Frank Lewin 's "Dramatic Suite for New Violins" written for the mezzo,, alto, tenor, baritone, small bass, and contrabass. Both the writing and the performance were of virtuoso quality. This tape has been enthusiastically reviewed by this reporter in an earlier Newsletter. It is the purpose of this report to be more factual than evalu- ative of the instruments themselves, for time will, and indeed is now, a factor in evaluating the functions of all instruments mentioned here. We who listened to this program may very well, have been witnessing musical history in the making. Perhaps an early Cremonese maker occasionally invited friends to his workshop and asked, "What do you think of this instrument as compared to this one, which I made two years ago? ... How do you like this piece of music on it?" And who, then, could have been certain of what would endure and remain of or grow in value and practicality during the next 300 years? — — Marjorie Bram During this busy week, there was also a meeting of the Trustees and Officers of the Catgut Acoustical Society (April 9, 1969). The meeting was called to order by Robert Fryxell at 6:36 p.m. He announced the results of the balloting.* President, Arthur Benade Vice-president, Virginia Apgar Secretary, Carleen Hutchins, also a Trustee Treasurer, Warren Creel, also a Trustee A. Stewart Hegeman, elected a Trustee and Robert Fryxell re-elected. The Board of Trustees now consists of C. M. Hutchins, and J. C. Schelleng, terms running to 1970; W. Creel and F. Lewin, terms to 1971; and A. S. Hegeman and R. E. Fryxell terms to 1972. Warren Creel submitted an amendment to the by-laws to provide that meetings of the Board of Trustees be called by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, this to be sub- mitted to a vote after the necessary two week minimum delay. Motion made and carried that Carleen Hutchins be designated Chairman -of the Board of Trustees for the ensuing year. Motion made and carried to charge a dollar each for back numbers of the Newsletter, to charge $5.00 for corporate membership in the Society, and that authority to set a policy on markup of the Newsletter to agencies be delegated to the editor. (*) Nominations by the committee: Mrs. J. Lincoln Piggins Dr. Alice Baker Miss Marjorie Bram (Chairman) Voting by the Trustees 3 ) 4 Motion made and carried that the Society obtain Workmen's Compensation insurance for the typist now working one day a week and for the executive secretaries Alice Cobb and Virginia Kracke. Motion by A. H. Benade that the Treasurer be instructed to work out and report to the Board a proper means of keeping track of the Society's equity in parts now in process and for future construction of instruments. Motion made and carried to cooperate with Super-sensitive String Company on strings for new instruments. Meeting adjourned, and followed by a brief meeting open to all members. Respectfully submitted, Warren Creel The technical symposium on April 11 was originally scheduled to include eight papers; the authors' abstracts are published herewith, courtesy of the Acoustical Society of America. A ninth paper by John Huber was added to the program too late to be included in the printed ASA program. It is reproduced later in these pages. Along with the abstracts is a thoughtful summary and evaluation of this symposium in the words of A. H. Benade. In his covering letter to the editor, he comments: "There is a remarkable unity to the papers, only some of which is imposed by my own viewpoint." We trust that many of the readers will agree, and be heartened by the progress being made in the scientific study of stringed instruments, how they function and behave, and how they affect the listener.