Some of the pages listed below were written to answer non-specialist questions about music acoustics and to act as an introduction to our research pages, or to describe other introductory material. The research pages also have introductions to the acoustics of the particular instruments studied. There is also a non-specialist Frequently Asked Questions in music acoustics on this site.

General topics String topics Woodwind topics Brass topics Percussion topics Voice topics Related topics Related publications Related links

General topics

• FAQ in music acoustics.
• What is a decibel?
• Measure your own hearing response.
• What are interference beats and Tartini tones?
• Note names, MIDI numbers, frequencies and keyboard positions.
• Frequency to note converter written by Andrew Botros.
• Helmholtz resonance.
• What is a sound spectrum?
• How harmonic are harmonics? (A more subtle FAQ in music acoustics.)
• What is acoustic impedance? (And why is it important?)
• Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the musician's uncertainty principle, which has some demonstrations
• How does a loudspeaker work?

String topics

• Waves in strings, reflections, standing waves and harmonics.
• Bows and strings, which includes an animation of Helmholtz motion.
• An introduction to Chladni patterns.
• Violin acoustics.
• Guitar acoustics.

Woodwind topics

• How do woodwind instruments work? (An easy introduction)
• An introduction to flute acoustics (A more detailed introduction)
• An introduction to clarinet acoustics (A more detailed introduction)
• An introduction to saxophone acoustics (A more detailed introduction)
• Open vs closed pipes (Flutes vs clarinets): an explanation of the difference between closed pipes and open pipes and their harmonic series, using wave diagrams and flow animations.
• Pipes and harmonics. Why do closed conical instuments (like the oboe and saxophone) have the same set of resonances as open cylindrical instruments (like the flute)? (This seems to be one of the most FAQs in music acoustics.)
• Tuning woodwind instruments.

Brass topics and lip-reed topics

• An introduction to the acoustics of brass instruments (actually all the lip reed family)
• An introduction to the yidaki/ didjeridu

Percussion topics

• For now, the only page we have on percussion is about the acoustics of bell plates. However, this introduces some of the main points applicable to vibrating bars and plates.

Voice topics

• An introduction to some of the physics in speech is a place to start. Voice Acoustics gives more about our research.

Related topics

• What is acoustic impedance and why is it important?
• AC circuits and electrical impedance
• Filters made from resistors and capacitors

Related publications

• The Science of Music.
• An Interactive Introduction to the Orchestra

Other links

• Frequently Asked Questions in music acoustics on this site.
• Frequently Asked Questions on the Acoustics Australia site.