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This thesis scientifically investigates the setup and tuning of cylindrical membranophones as musical instruments. To date there has been very little quantitative analysis of drum tuning with respect to performance sound, studio recording and music production. Digital signal analysis has been used to quantify a number of acoustic related factors to drum setup and tuning. This is concerned with the evaluation of a drum's free vibration once excitation has occurred. Novel analysis of membranophone response is performed with respect to tuning an 'equalised drumhead'. Such analysis has not previously been performed on cylindrical drums with two heads. The findings show that it is indeed possible to tune a drum to a chosen, uniform frequency response and to a quantified accuracy. With reference to previous, non-scientific literature, the fundamental frequency of each drum in the modern drum kit is shown for the first time to be objectively tunable to correspond to a musical pitch. The research also investigates the role of the resonant head in tuning cylindrical drums. Unique analysis of the interaction between the two membranes shows for the first time that the ratios of the modal frequencies present in a drum sound are not fixed and can be manipulated to more desirable ratios. The fundamental frequently present is shown to be the same for both batter and resonant heads due to the strong coupling effect of the (01) modes. Furthermore the current research shows how this ability to manipulate the frequencies present in the drum can be extended to the drum kit as a whole and how the envelope profile of cylindrical drums with two heads can be manipulated via tuning and damping. This research therefore provides an original contribution to the knowledge of drum tuning for both scientific and musical purposes.

This dissertation investigates the introduction and development of a musical instrument, the viola da gamba (viol), in sixteenth-century France by articulating the wider cultural consequences of introducing new musical instruments from one culture to another. The research examines cultural exchange with foreign courts, the effects of patronage, social perceptions and changing attitudes during the introduction of the viol into France. Using the viol as a focal point to explore Renaissance material culture, this thesis is an interdisciplinary study into music, art, language and terminology, foreign connections and cultural interaction. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the viol’s introduction, development and establishment into sixteenth-century France. Rare archival sources, visual media and printed books never before connected to the viol have been identified and analysed to construct a detailed framework of the social, artistic and musical culture within which the viol was used. The five chapters explore professional viol use in the royal court and regional areas, artistic representations of the viol, triumphal entries and festivals, the changing role of viol players from professional to amateur and the viol in sixteenth-century instrument making. The appendices include a catalogue of images depicting the viol in French visual media, identifying allegorical and religious associations, making foreign connections, exploring methods of artistic creation and analysing physical depictions.

Originally presented as author's thesis: der Technischen Universität Berlin, 2008.

This thesis investigates the possibility of exploiting haptic force-feedback technology for interacting with virtual musical instruments. A survey of current software solutions for creating haptic virtual environments is provided, with a discussion on the need to integrate such a platform with currently accepted solutions for audio research. / A system was developed to combine a haptic programming library with a physical dynamics engine and to expose its functionality through the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol, an increasingly accepted standard for communication within the audio software and hardware domain. Using OSC messaging, simple 3D objects can be instantiated and constraints on their movement can be specified, allowing the description of physically dynamic mechanisms. Collision events as well as properties of the objects can be transmitted to the audio system continually to be used for modulating audio synthesis parameters. Some examples of simple virtual musical instruments created with the aid of this system are provided.

This thesis project presents the T-Sticks, a new family of digital musical instruments (DMIs). Most DMIs are either entirely unique interfaces, or exist as design iterations in which each incarnation is intended to improve on the last. The T-Sticks are instead intended to form a complementary group or consort which may be performed ensemble and also performed individually in solo pieces or works for mixed instrumentation. Each of the T-Sticks is based on the same general structure and sensing platform, but each also differs from its siblings in size, weight, timbre and register. / This document explores some of the issues challenging and motivating the field of DMI design and performance, and describes the motivations behind the T-Stick project in this context. Several existing DMIs are examined for similarities to the T-Stick and compared in terms of design intention, implementation, and usage. The hardware and software designed and built for this project is presented, along with insights gained through collaboration with performers and composers in the context of McGill University's Digital Orchestra project. The performers in question have collectively practiced and performed with the T-Stick for hundreds of hours in the lab, practice room, and on the concert stage. The consort of T-Sticks will be featured as an ensemble in a piece to be performed during the 2008 MusiMarch festival in Montreal.

This thesis evaluates the Lightning II and the Radio Baton gestural controllers for musical applications within two main perspectives. The first involves a technical specification of each in terms of their construction and sensing technology. This step, along with an analysis of the insights by long-term users on the controllers in question, provides an understanding about the different musical contexts each controllers can be and have been used in. The second perspective involves studying the Radio Baton and the Lightning within a specific musical context, namely that of a simulated acoustic percussion instrument performance. Three expert percussionists performed basic percussion techniques on a real drum, a drum-like gestural controller (the Roland V-Drum), the Radio Baton and the Lightning II. The motion capture and audio data from these trials suggest that certain acoustic percussion playing techniques can be successfully transferred over to gestural controllers. This comparative analysis between gestural controllers adds to the ongoing discussion on the evaluation of digital musical instruments and their relationship to acoustic instruments.

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Michigan, 1942.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1991. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Harold F. Abeles. Dissertation Committee: Robert Pace. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-119).

Thesis--Guo li Taiwan da xue, Taiwan, 1986. / Music in Chinese and staff notation. Includes bibliographical references (p. 214-226).