List of figures -- List of tables -- List of photos -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword / Antal Dorati -- Why and how, an explanation for the reader -- pt. I. The concepts of motion, vibration and waves -- Prologue -- 1. About motion -- Describing motion -- Location -- Speed and velocity -- Acceleration -- Understanding motion : force and energy -- Force -- Energy -- Energy conversion -- Summary -- 2. Periodic motion : vibration and oscillation -- Location-time table -- Period and frequency -- Amplitude -- Plotting oscillations -- Shapes of oscillations -- "Adding" oscillations -- Nothing out of something -- More about adding oscillations -- Representing kinks -- Summary -- 3. Waves -- Traveling waves -- Standing waves -- Transverse and longitudinal waves -- Characterizing waves : frequency and wavelength -- Relating frequency and wavelength by the speed of propagation -- Damped waves -- Waves at a boundary -- The waves we know -- Diffraction -- Summary -- pt. II. The sound getting to you -- 4. Propagation of sound waves -- Loudness -- Scaling -- Dependence of sound energy on distance -- The speed of sound -- The sonic boom -- Speed of sound in different media -- The Doppler effect -- An analogy -- Another way to understand the Doppler effect -- Summary -- 5. Perception of sound -- How the ear works -- Spatial location of sound -- Quantitative measures of loudness -- Beats -- Pitch perception -- Summary -- pt. III. Specifics of musical sound -- 6. Musical sound -- Supershort scale -- Short time scale -- Medium time scale -- Long time scale -- Very long time scale -- The stereo effect -- Summary -- 7. Pitch and musical scales -- The simple fractions requirement -- Building the scale -- The equal footing requirement -- The compromise -- Summary --
pt. IV. Making music -- 8. Musical instruments -- The main components -- Energy source -- Energy transmission -- The primary vibrator -- The resonant vibrator -- Characteristic frequencies of a vibrating system -- Being in resonance with a system -- Back to resonant vibrators -- The sound effuser -- Instrument making : science or art? -- Science and technology -- The interaction between science and technology -- Science and technology in instrument making -- Summary -- 9. Wind instruments -- The primary vibrator -- The Bernouilli effect -- The Bernouilli effect in reed mouthpieces -- The Bernouilli effect in lip vibrations -- The Bernouilli effect in the edge effect -- Summary of the various types of primary vibrators -- The resonant vibrator -- The practical problems with resonant vibrators -- The solutions-- Solution 1. Include many tubes of different lengths -- Solution 2. Vary the length by interlocking pipes -- Solution 3. A switchyard with temporary extensions of length -- Solution 4. Place holes on the side of the tube -- The effuser -- Summary -- 10. String instruments -- The primary vibrator -- Frequency range for string instruments -- As influenced by tension and weight -- Frequency range for string instruments -- As influenced by length -- Solution 1. Having many strings with differing lengths -- Solution 2. Pressing a finger on the string -- Location of energy transfer -- The resonant vibrator of string instruments -- The sound effuser -- Summary -- 11. Percussion instruments -- Energy source and energy transfer -- The primary vibrator -- The resonant vibrator -- Summary -- 12. The human voice -- Two special features -- Energy input and the primary vibrator -- Voice, an "internal" instrument -- How you hear yourself -- Singing "over" the orchestra -- The helium-filled singer -- Vibrato -- Vowels -- Consonants -- Summary --
13. The environment for listening
Dependence on absorption coefficient
A wall of several materials
What is a "flat" surface?
Is science successful in designing halls?
14. The transmission and storage of sound
Changing sound into electric current and vice versa
Converting electric current into electromagnetic waves
Propagation of electromagnetic waves
Carrier waves and their modulation
Arithmetic with fractions
Proportional and inversely proportional
Appendix C. Annotated bibliography
Solutions to exercise problems
