The Physics and Psychophysics of Music: An Introduction - Softcover

Roederer, Juan G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0387943668 ISBN 13: 9780387943664

Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York Inc., 2001

Synopsis

This book, a classic in its field, deals with the physical systems and physiological processes that intervene in music. It analyzes what objective, physical properties of sound are associated with what subjective psychological sensations of music, and it describes how these sound patterns are actually generated in musical instruments, how they propagate through the environment, and how they are detected by the ear and interpreted in the brain. Using the precise language of science, but without complicated mathematics, the author weaves a close mesh of the physics, psychophysics and physiology relevant to music. A prior knowledge of physics, mathematics, physiology or psychology is not required to understand most of the book; it is, however, assumed that the reader is familiar with music - in particular, with musical notation, musical scales and intervals, and some of the basics of musical instruments. This new edition has been substantially revised and brought up to date throughout.

About this title

Review

From the reviews of the fourth edition:

"This book deals with the physical systems and biological processes that interact with music, analyzing ‘what objective, physical properties of sound patterns are associated with what subjective, psychological sensations of music.’ ... Roederer is well known for promoting music as a multidisciplinary subject. ... While there are plenty of good books on the physics of music ... Roederer’s classic is the best. This book will be an asset to any scientific library." (Soubhik Chakraborty, ACM Computing Reviews, November, 2009)

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0387943668
• ISBN 13: 9780387943664
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 236