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Module 3 - Musical Acoustics

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Acoustics  ::  String  ::  Brass  ::  Woodwind  ::  Percussion  ::  Keyboard

Keyboard

A stringed instrument is part of the percussion family? It is true, and the piano is considered to be the most popular instrument of all. The piano was invented in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence.

In this chapter you will learn about the Piano, Clavichord, Harpsichord, Harp, and Pipe Organ.

To successfully complete this chapter you should...

  • Read chapter 14 in your text book (pages 287- 308).
  • Carefully study the important concepts about keyboards as you read the chapter.
  • Be able to contrast the sound produced by the piano, clavichord, and harpsichord.
  • Be able to list the four families of organ pipes and describe the differences in sound.

Important Concepts

Piano
Soundboard
Sustaining pedal
Una corda pedal
Piano strings
Tuning of unisons
Piano sound
Hammer-string interaction

Clavichord
Tangent

Harpsichord
Plectrum
Buff stop
virgil and spinet

Harp

Pipe organ
Construction
Great
Swell
Tracker
Organ pipes (scaling)
Flu( labial)
Diapason
Flute
Strings
Reed (lingual)

Sound generation in flu pipes
Tuning and voicing organ pipes

Copyright 2008, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. admin. (2005, January 25). Module 3 - Musical Acoustics. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from Free Online Course Materials — USU OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.usu.edu/Electrical_and_Computer_Engineering/Science_of_Sound/Module_3_-_Musical_Acoustics_5.htm. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Creative Commons License
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