Posted by John Swensen on January 13, 1999 at 17:50:19:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Recording Bell Size posted by Sean Chisham on January 10, 1999 at 12:52:21:
The best book to start with is Arthur H. Benade's "Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics".
Benade was a very accomplished physicist and acoustician, as well as an extremely
serious amateur musician.
His text is almost devoid of mathematics, but uses, instead, intuition and carefully
crafted examples to explain the physics of musical sound. Occasionally his avoidance
of mathematics is frustrating but, in general, the intuition goes farther than would
the mathematics.
If you diligently read through the entire book, you will discover
why it is easier to play in a large hall, why high-pressure air produces a bright, hard
tone, and why bracing and thickness of metal can make big differences in the horn sound
and response.
This book has ISBN 046862648x and sells for about $17. Amazon.com
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/048626484X/johnswensensguid/002-7400279-1110801)
sells it for about $13.50.