Sound and Music: For the Pleasure of the Brain

by Orbach, Jack

• ISBN13: 9780761813767
• ISBN10: 0761813764
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: UNIV PRESS OF AMERICA

Summary

Sound and Music explores the effects of music on emotion and reason from a psychological point of view. Jack Orbach examines the brain of the listener, performer, and composer, engaged in hearing, feeling, understanding, and enjoying musical compositions. He follows the development of music, beginning with the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who first studied music scientifically, through what is known about music as a science today. Orbach begins with the basic physics of music, and advances into the components as music comes together from different sounds, effecting the mind of those who hear it. He also details the organization of music as it was ordered and manipulated, including musical aptitude in relation to intelligence, while examining the popular methods of training and the mind's response to these processes. Finally, he presents the place of musical therapy throughout history, as well as a comparison of musical practices in various parts of the world.

Table of Contents

Figure Credits	xiii
Prologue: A Psychologist's View of the Musical Enterprise	xvii
PART A. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
The Origins of Western Music	3	(18)
Reason and Emotion
The Musical World of Antiquity
The Biblical hebrews
Greek Myths
Traditions of Western Music	21	(26)
Music in Greek Chronicles
Music in Imperial Rome
The Judeo-Christian Musial Tradition
In the Synagogue
In the Christian Church
The Rise of Hasidism
Early Music Notation
The Secular Movement and Religious Accompaniments	47	(26)
The Development of Polyphony
The madrigal
Lassus and Palestrina
The Beginnings of Baroque
Stringed Instruments
Opera and Oratorio
Science and Music
Classicism and Romanticism	69	(4)
The Evolutionary Significance of Music	73	(8)
PART B. DIMENSIONS OF AUDITORY PERCEPTION
Sounds Waves	81	(24)
Vibration
Musical Intervals and the Ratio of Small Whole Numbers
Comparisons of Sound and Light
Physical and Perceptual Dimensions
Hue and Tonal Mixtures Compared
Dimensions of Time and Space
The Acoustic Medium
Velocity of Sound
Perception of Pitch	105	(26)
Pitch and Frequency
Equivalence of Intervals
Absolute and Relative Pitch
Range of Audibility of Pitch
Pitch Discrimination as a Function of Intensity
Pitch Sensitivity
Intensity & the Perception of Loudness	131	(8)
Intensity
Specification of Loudness
Loudness Sensitivity
Perception of Timbre	139	(18)
Introduction
Resonance and Harmonics
Fourier Analysis
Tonal Fusion
Consonance and Dissonance
The Pythagorean intervals
Beats
Perspectives on Tonal Color	157	(32)
Critical Bandwidth
Past Experience and Context
Noise
Combination Tones
Tonal Color
Vowels and Consonants
Synthesis of Complex Waves
The Vibrato
Computer Music
Pitch of Musical Instruments
The Development of Musical Scale	189	(32)
The Greek Tetrachord
The Harmonic Series
Pythagorean Intonation
Just Intonation
Ecclesiastical Modes
Mean-tone Temperament
Equal Temperament
The Indian SA-grama Scale:an Eastern example
Perspectives on the Significance of Musical Scales	221	(16)
Circle of Fifths
Cross-cultural Comparison of Scales
Tonality and Modulation
Tonal Expectations
Are Scales Really Necessary?