Thesis (M.M.)--Boston University

Musiek was geen vreemde verskynsel in die Ou Testament en antieke Nabye Ooste nie. Om die waarheid te sê was musiek en die instrumente wat gebruik was om musiek te maak, deel van elke volk binne die antieke Nabye Ooste en nou vervleg met hul kultuur en godsdiensverering. Verskeie vorme van musiek soos sang, dans, orkesmusiek en musikale instruksie was algemeen bekend asook `n hele aantal musiekinstrumente, waar onder snaar-, wind- en perkussie-instrumente tel. Van hierdie drie kategorieë waarin antieke musiekinstrumente ingedeel is, was sommige meer en ander minder populer. Die vraag ontstaan watter musiekinstrumente dan die mees populerste was en waarom? En het hierdie musiekinstrumente dieselfde prominensie in die Ou Testament gehad? Die bekendste volke van die antieke Nabye Ooste word bestudeer ten einde te verstaan watter rol musiek binne hul onderskeie kulture gespeel het, asook watter musiekinstrumente die meeste aandag geniet het. Op dieselfde wyse word gekyk na die Israeliete binne die konteks van die Ou Testament met spesifieke verwysing na musiek en musiekinstrumente binne die Psalmbundel. Argeologiese en ikonografiese voorstellings word gebruik om `n beter prentjie te skets van hoe musiekinstrumente gelyk het en hoe die antieke mens musiek gemaak het. Die frekwensie van voorkoms van musiekinstrumente binne die Ou Testament en Psalms word uitgewys ten einde die mees prominente instrumente te identifiseer. Uit bogenoemde word dit duidelik dat die ramshoring, harp en lier die belangrikste musiekinstrumente binne die konteks van die Ou Testament (en meeste volke van die antieke Nabye Ooste) was en dat die ramshoring die meeste in oorlog en aanbidding gebruik was. ENGLISH : Music was no strange phenomenon in the Old Testament and ancient Near East. To be honest music and the instruments used to make music formed part of every nation of the ancient Near East and were very much part of their culture and worship practices. Various forms of music, i.e. singing, dancing, orchestral music and musical instruction was generally known, as well as a whole lot of musical instruments, which included string-, wind- and percussion-instruments. Of these three categories in which ancient musical instruments were divided, some were more and others less popular. The question is then raised which of these musical instruments were the most popular ones and why? And did these instruments enjoy the same prominence in the Old Testament? The most well-known nations of the ancient Near East is studied in order to understand the roll which music played in each nation, as well as which musical instruments enjoyed the most attention. In the same manner the Israelites is studied in the context of the Old Testament with specific reference to the music and musical instruments in the Psalms. Archeological and iconographical representations are used to create a better picture of how musical instruments looked and how the ancient people made music. The frequency in which musical instruments are mentioned in the Old Testament and Psalms is shown in order to identify the most prominent instruments. From the above-mentioned it becomes clear that the ram’s horn, the harp and lyre were the most important musical instruments within the context of the Old Testament (and most nations of the ancient Near East) and that the ram’s horn were used the most in times of war and worship. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted

In the western hemisphere, the piano is one of the most important instruments. While its evolution lasted for more than three centuries, and the most important physical aspects have already been investigated, some parts in the characterization of the piano remain not well understood. Considering the pivotal piano soundboard, the effect of ribs mounted on the board exerted on the sound radiation and propagation in particular, is mostly neglected in the literature. The present investigation deals exactly with the sound wave propagation effects that emerge in the presence of an array of equally-distant mounted ribs at a soundboard. Solid-state theory proposes particular eigenmodes and -frequencies for such arrangements, which are comparable to single units in a crystal. Following this 'linear chain model' (LCM), differences in the frequency spectrum are observable as a distinct band structure. Also, the amplitudes of the modes are changed, due to differences of the damping factor. These scattering effects were not only investigated for a well-understood conceptional rectangular soundboard (multichord), but also for a genuine piano resonance board manufactured by the piano maker company 'C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik'. To obtain the possibility to distinguish between the characterizing spectra both with and without mounted ribs, the typical assembly plan for the Bechstein instrument was specially customized. Spectral similarities and differences between both boards are found in terms of damping and tone. Furthermore, specially prepared minimal-invasive piezoelectric polymer sensors made from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were used to record solid-state vibrations of the investigated system. The essential calibration and characterization of these polymer sensors was performed by determining the electromechanical conversion, which is represented by the piezoelectric coefficient. Therefore, the robust 'sinusoidally varying external force' method was applied, where a dynamic force perpendicular to the sensor's surface, generates movable charge carriers. Crucial parameters were monitored, with the frequency response function as the most important one for acousticians. Along with conventional condenser microphones, the sound was measured as solid-state vibration as well as airborne wave. On this basis, statements can be made about emergence, propagation, and also the overall radiation of the generated modes of the vibrating system. Ultimately, these results acoustically characterize the entire system. / Betrachtet man den westlichen Kulturkreis, ist der Flügel bzw. das Klavier wohl eines der bedeutendsten Instrumente. Trotz einer stetigen, empirischen Weiterentwicklung dieses Instrumentes in den letzten drei Jahrhunderten und des Wissens um die wichtigsten physikalischen Effekte, sind viele Teile der Charakterisierung des Klaviers (sowohl akustisch als auch physikalisch) immer noch nicht vollständig verstanden. Nehmen wir nur den Resonanzboden - das entscheidende Bauteil für die Akustik eines Klaviers - und betrachten die Auswirkung, den die Berippung auf die Schallausbreitung des Instruments hat. Bis auf wenige Ausnahmen wird dieser Struktur-Aspekt in der Literatur weitestgehend übergangen. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht genau diese Ausbreitungscharakteristiken und Streueffekte, welche dadurch entstehen, dass Rippen, die denselben Abstand zueinander haben, auf dem Resonanzboden angebracht werden. Die Festkörperphysik stellt ein einfaches Modell über die Eigenfrequenzen für solche Anordnungen bereit. Dafür werden die Rippen und deren Abstände wie Einheitszellen eines Kristalls betrachtet. Ausgehend vom sogenannten 'Modell der linearen Ketten', werden gemessene Frequenzbänder im Spektrum erklärbar. Zusätzlich ändern sich auch die spektralen Amplituden des Resonanzbodens durch das Anbringen der Rippen. Diese Streueffekte wurden nicht nur an einem konzeptionellen rechteckigen Resonanzboden untersucht, sondern auch an einem originalen Klavier-Resonanzboden, welcher von dem Klavierbauer 'C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik' hergestellt wurde und auch später in einem fertigen Klavier zum Einsatz kommen wird. Der traditionelle Zusammenbau des Klaviers wurde speziell für diese Untersuchung abgeändert, um die Möglichkeit zu haben, die Berippung des Resonanzbodens spektral zu charakterisieren. Alle gefundenen Eigenschaften des konzeptionellen und des originalen Bodens wurden verglichen. Für die Dämpfung und für die Brillianz des Tons wurden Übereinstimmungen, aber auch Unterschiede gefunden. Ein großer Teil dieser Untersuchung erforderte den Einsatz von speziell angefertigten piezoelektrischen Polymer-Beschleunigungsaufnehmern aus Polyvinylidenfluorid. Direkt fest eingeklebt im Instrument, wurden diese eingesetzt, um die Körperschwingungen des vibrierenden Systems aufzunehmen. Die essentielle Kalibrierung und Charakterisierung dieser Sensoren wurde durchgeführt, indem die elektromechanische Umwandlung bestimmt wurde, die durch den piezoelektrischen Koeffizienten gegeben ist. Durch eine sinusförmig variierende, externe Kraft und die dadurch entstehenden Ladungsträger an den Oberflächen des Sensormaterials kann dieser Koeffizient sehr genau bestimmt werden. In Abhängigkeit entscheidender physikalischer Größen, z.B. der Frequenz-Antwort-Funktion, wurde das Verhalten des piezoelektrischen Koeffizienten untersucht. Die erzeugten Vibrationen als Körperschall (aufgenommen durch die Piezopolymere) und als Luftschallwelle (aufgenommen durch konventionelle Kondensator-Mikrophone) wurden simultan gemessen und dann untersucht. Daraus kann man Aussagen über Entstehung, Ausbreitung und Abstrahlung der erzeugten Moden in das umgebende Medium ableiten. Letztlich charakterisieren diese Ergebnisse das gesamte vibrierende System akustisch.

The development of problem solving capabilities is an essential part of intellectual independence, yet the nature of problem solving in music instruction has not been investigated systematically. The purposes of the current study were to describe the process of problem solving in the context of music learning and to elucidate the relationship between teacher behavior and learners' active participation in solving musical and technical problems. I analyzed approximately 43 hours of private and small-group lessons taught by five internationally-renowned artist-teachers in music. I also analyzed in greater detail 161 rehearsal frames (intervals of instructional time devoted to definable proximal goals) excerpted from recorded lessons by describing the behaviors of teachers and students that led to productive learning outcomes. The process of problem solving was found to comprise five components: establish goals, evaluate performance, conceive and consider options, generalize and apply principles, and decide and act. In assessing the extent of teachers' and students' involvement in problem-solving, I found that teachers promoted change-effecting behaviors in learners by instigating the pursuit of a goal, and then prompting learners to assume responsibility for one or more of the subsequent problem-solving components. In this way these teachers not only brought about change in learners' performance, but also structured ways for learners to practice bringing about change in their own performance. / text

Abstract This study was meant to cast a light on the use of music-instruments that exists in preschool environments today. Furthermore the purpose was to find out if instruments first and foremost, actually did exist, and what thoughts had been put behind that decision. The focus was directed towards the preschool teachers and their attitudes towards music instruments among preschool children, at the ages 3 to 5 years. The purpose of the study was to understand how preschool teachers thought of activities where music instruments where used. The study was made from interviews with six different preschool teachers from different preschools. The interviews showed that the preschool teachers thought highly of the use of music instruments among children. They expressed instruments to be important for a number of things that developed different skills within the children.  The study also showed that the six preschools that the teachers represented used some sort of instrument in activities with the children. The teachers talked about the curriculum when explaining how they planned these activities, which also was meant to have an important role in this study.

The presented Master thesis examines the topic of Music therapy and its use in an after-school childcare. The first part of the thesis defines the music therapy, explores its history, evolution and describes its current form. It illustrates the impact of music on a person and the effects of music therapy. It provides an introduction to existing forms of music therapy, methods and techniques used in a school environment. It also delineates music therapeutic approaches leading to improvement of attention, elimination of insecurity, reinforcement of confidence, advancement of pupils' communication and can alleviate problems associated with specific learning disorders. The second part of the thesis explores the uses of music therapy in a practical setting. It describes experience with the use of music therapeutic methods in an after-school childcare setting and lists methods and forms of work utilized in individual music therapeutic lessons. It indicates, how to influence children's behavior and actions with the purposeful use of music and principles of music therapy. Results of the research and the methodology of musicotherapeutic lessons, which is a part the presented thesis, could be possibly used in planning afternoon activities in an after-school childcare

In this paper a psychoacoustic sound field synthesis (pSFS) system for musical applications is presented. It recreates the radiation patterns of musical instruments for an extended listening area. For this purpose several psychoacoustic effects are utilized: Considering the critical bandwidth, the amount of data to be processed can be reduced massively. Applying a “precedence fade” allows for wave fronts to arrive from angles opposing to the virtual source position when regarding the integration time of the auditory system and phenomenons known from the field of auditory scene analysis. A listening test demonstrates that the approach results in a precise source localization together with a spatial sound impression which is known to be the most crucial aspect of the subjective acoustical quality of concert halls. This is achieved even in a reverberant room and with a relatively large distance between loudspeakers compared to other wave field synthesis systems. Implementations in audio systems such as 5.1 or wave field synthesis systems with a large number of loudspeakers are possible.

This thesis is an attempt to summarise the extent of the current knowledge concerning the development of the harpsichord in England. This knowledge is derived partly from documentary sources, partly from a review of the modern writers who have treated the subject, but mostly from careful examination, measurement and recording of the surviving instruments. The work is divided into two main parts, of which Part I treats the English harpsichord before the time of Kirkman. The first eleven pages are given over to a brief summary of the instruments before the time of Tabel, the maker to whom Kirkman was apprenticed. Tabel's one surviving harpsichord receives a more detailed treatment as does a double manual harpsichord by another of his apprentices, John Wilbrook. The surviving harpsichords by Joseph Mahoon are also examined, and it is noted that it is quite likely that two harpsichords by Francis Coston are still extant. Patents and other inventions of this period are also treated, and the section ends with an overall survey of the development until the time of Kirkman. The author traces no particular theme in the period until the last quarter of the seventeenth century, influence from Italy, and the Low Countries being found alongside elements of entirely native practice. It is noted however, that probably by the last quarter of the century English makers were beginning to make double manual instruments in imitation of the Flemish harpsichords of the time, but this took place alongside the development of a school of makers producing simple single manual harpsichords with 2.8ft choirs only. These harpsichords also contain elements of continental practice with the use of English case styles, native woods and a particular type of diagonal bracing. These instruments are so similar that they might be called the English school of the period. At the beginning of the eighteenth century this school began to develop double manual harpsichords in the same case style, but also drawing on aspects of design probably introduced to this country by immigrant workmen such as Tisseran. It was at the turn of the century that the dogleg 8ft register was probably first introduced to England. It was to hold sway in all double manual English harpsichords for the next one hundred years. In part II, the work of Kirkman is examined closely. It is noted that the layout of the string band for the 8ft choirs is the same in all Kirkman harpsichords regardless of the presence of a 4ft choir or a lute stop. It is also demonstrated that there was an interesting change in length of the Kirkman harpsichord from 96.75" in 1745 down to about 92.5" in the early 1760s and then increasing back to around 94" in the late 1780s. This change in length was accompanied by a change in the length of the FF string from 71" down to about 68" and then back to about 70". No explanation for this can be offered. Other aspects receiving detailed treatment in this section are the structure of the instruments, the types of roses, the signing of the nameboards (a change in the order of the wording is noted between 1758 and 1760), keyboards, jacks, slides, stringing, voicing etc. There are sections on the other instruments by Kirkman, the Changeable Harpsichord, marquetried harpsichords, Queen Charlotte's harpsichord, the instruments by Faulkner, and a comparison with Shudi harpsichords of the period. The section is terminated by a summary of the patents on musical instruments of the period and a summary of the overall development in the period 1730-1800. The thesis is complemented by a number of Appendices. Of these, the first is a detailed look at the life and times of Kirkman, revealing him to have been a man of some substance and resource. Having acquired a good grounding in his work from Tabel, and having married Tabel's widow when on the threshold of his career, he soon made enough money to start speculating and lending money so that by the 1770s he probably spent little time in harpsichord making and gave himself to pecuniary matters. Other Appendices complement this first appendix, giving further details of such matters as Kirkman's friends, relatives, property, legal dealings and domestic matters. One appendix is given to a report on the way in which the harpsichords seen during the survey have been measured and recorded. Finally, there are nine tables, giving general data on the harpsichords up until the time of Kirkman, surviving harpsichords from the period 1744-1800, chronological development of English furniture styles, a chronological table of events in the development of the harpsichord from 1439-1800, and more specific details and dimensions of Kirkman harpsichords. The thesis ends with some 75 illustrations all of which are original.

L'étude mécanique des instruments de musique met en oeuvre l'étude des musiciens, des instruments et de l'interaction complexe qui existe entre eux. L'analyse du geste musical nécessite de nombreuses mesures sur des musiciens pour en extraire les paramètres pertinents qui permettent de construire un modèle d'interaction musicien / instrument. Dans le cas des instruments à corde pincées, il s'agit de déterminer les conditions initiales imposées à la corde par le mécanisme de pincement contrôlé par le musicien (plectre, doigt). Comment obtenir tous ces paramètres sans perturber le jeu du musicien ? Comment vérifier qu'ils sont les seuls à déterminer la vibration future de la corde et lui donner sa signature acoustique ? Une plateforme expérimentale robotisée a été mise en place pour répondre à ces questions. Elle permet de reproduire le geste des musiciens, en particulier des harpistes et des clavecinistes. Il faut préciser ici que la notion de geste musical s'entend au sens large : le robot peut soit reproduire complètement la trajectoire suivie par le doigt du musicien, soit imposer les conditions initiales résultant de cette trajectoire, indépendamment du chemin suivi. Le premier cas est adapté à la résolution de problème de dynamique inverse pour accéder aux efforts articulaires mis en jeu par le musicien pendant l'accomplissement d'un extrait musical. La second cas sera privilégié pour imposer des conditions initiales à l'instrument, par l'intermédiaire de trajectoires d'études conçues spécifiquement par l'expérimentateur. La reproduction des trajectoires avec le robot nécessite de rejeter les perturbations introduites par le contact avec l'instrument. La conception d'un capteur d'effort intégré au robot a permis de satisfaire partiellement cette exigence. Après le détail de la conception de la plateforme robotisée, de sa validation comme un outil d'étude juste et répétable, un exemple d'utilisation est présenté dans le cadre d'une étude sur l'harmonisation des becs de clavecin. L'harmonisation est un processus complexe de réglage de l'instrument, réalisé par le luthier. Un modèle prenant en compte le toucher pendant l'interaction plectre / corde, et intégrant la géométrie du plectre résultant de l'harmonisation, ainsi que des expériences effectuées sur un clavecin, montrent que la forme du plectre affecte non seulement les conditions initiales de vibration des cordes de l'instrument mais aussi le ressenti du claveciniste. / The study of musical instruments involves the study of musicians, instruments and of the complex interaction that exists between them. The analysis of musical gestures requires numerous measurements on musicians to extract the relevant parameters in order to model their interaction. In the case of plucked string instruments, the goal is to determine the initial conditions imposed on the string by the plucking mechanism (plectrum, finger). How does one get all these parameters without disrupting the musician in playing conditions ? How can one know that the parameters are the best ones to describe the initial conditions of the string vibrations and its acoustic signature ? An experimental platform has been designed to answer these questions. It can reproduce the gesture of a musician, in particular of a harpist or a harpsichordist. It should be pointed out that the concept of a musical gesture is defined here in a broad sense : the robot can reproduce either the path followed by the musician's fingers, or the initial conditions resulting from this trajectory. The first method is particularly suited for the resolution of an inverse dynamic problem. One can then calculate the forces developed by the musician's muscles during the execution of a musical piece, for example. The second method is better suited for imposing specific initial conditions on the instrument through trajectories designed by the experimenter. The correct reproduction of the trajectories needs to reject disturbances due to the contact between the robot and the instrument. The design of a force sensor, integrated into the robot end effector, is a first step toward satisfying this requirement. After the design of the robotic platform, its precision and repeatability is investigated. The force sensor is then integrated on the robot end effector, and an example of its use is presented. The experiment is focused on the harmonization of the harpsichord plectra. Harmonization is a complex process of adjustments achieved by the luthier on the instrument. A model of the plectrum / string interaction, taking into account the geometry of the plectrum, as well as experiments performed on a real harpsichord, show that harmonization have an impact on the string initial conditions of vibration.

The goal of this thesis is to create a business plan for estabilishing a specific enterprise. The theoretical part is aimed at an analysis of estabilishing a company and the problematics of e-commerce. The second part contains a business plan for estabilishing a small enterprise oriented on selling music instruments via Internet.