Acoustics and the performance of music : manual for acousticians, audio engineers, musicians, architects and musical instruments makers /
Jürgen Meyer, [translated by Uwe Hansen].
- 5th ed.
- New York : Springer Science+Business Media, c2009.
- 438 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), music ; 24 cm.
- Modern acoustics and signal processing .
- Modern acoustics and signal processing. .
Translation of the latest fifth edition of Akustik und musikalische Aufführungspraxis, originally published in German by PPVMedien GmbH, Edition Bochinsky, Bergkirchen. Originally published in German: Bergkirchen : PPV Medien, Edition Bochinsky.
Introduction to acoustics -- Structural of musical sound -- Tonal characteristics of musical instruments -- Foundations of room acoustics -- Acoustical properties of old and new performance spaces -- Seating arrangement in the concert hall -- Acoustic considerations for instrumentation and playing technique -- Acoustical problems in the opera house -- Table for angular dependence of the statistical directivity factor.
Connects scientific understandings of acoustics with practical applications to musical performance. Of central importance are the tonal characteristics of musical instruments and the singing voice including detailed representations of directional characteristics. Furthermore, room acoustical concerns related to concert halls and opera houses are considered. Based on this, suggestions are made for musical performance. Included are seating arrangements within the orchestra and adaptation of performance techniques to the performance environment. This presentation dispenses with complicated mathematical connections and aims for conceptual explanations accessible to musicians, particularly for conductors. The graphical representations of the directional dependence of sound radiation by musical instruments and the singing voice are unique. This German edition has become a standard reference work for audio engineers and scientists.