This book deals with the physical systems and psychophysical processes that intervene in what we broadly call "music. " We shall analyze what objective, physical properties of sound patterns are associated with what subjective, psychological sensations of music. We shall describe how these sound patterns are actually produced in musical instruments, how they propagate through the environment, and how they are detected by the ear and interpreted in the brain. We shall do all this by using the physicist's language and his method of thought and analysis-without, however, using complicated mathematics (this, of course, will necessarily impose serious limitations on our presentation). Although no previous knowledge of physics, physiology, and neurobiology is required, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with music, in particular with musical notation, musical scales, and intervals, that he has at least some basic ideas about musical instruments, and that he has experienced typical musical "sensations. " Books are readily available on the fundamentals of physics of music (e. g. , Benade, 1976; Pierce, 1983) and music psychology (e. g. , Deutsch, 1982). An excellent and up-to-date general text on musical acoustics is that of Sundberg (1991). The purpose of the present volume is not to duplicate but to synthesize and complement existing literature.

Table of Contents:
1 Music, Physics, Psychophysics, and Neuropsychology: An Interdisciplinary Approach.- 1.1 The Intervening Physical Systems.- 1.2 Characteristic Attributes of Musical Sounds.- 1.3 The Time Element in Music.- 1.4 Physics and Psychophysics.- 1.5 Psychophysics and Neuropsychology.- 1.6 What is Music?.- 2 Sound Vibrations, Pure Tones, and the Perception of Pitch.- 2.1 Motion and Vibration.- 2.2 Simple Harmonic Motion.- 2.3 Acoustical Vibrations and Pure Tone Sensations.- 2.4 Superposition of Pure Tones: First Order Beats and the Critical Band.- 2.5 Other First Order Effects: Combination Tones and Aural Harmonics.- 2.6 Second Order Effects: Beats of Mistuned Consonances.- 2.7 Fundamental Tracking.- 2.8 Auditory Coding in the Peripheral Nervous System.- 2.9 Subjective Pitch and the Role of the Central Nervous System.- 3 Sound Waves, Acoustical Energy, and the Perception of Loudness.- 3.1 Elastic Waves, Force, Energy, and Power.- 3.2 Propagation Speed, Wavelength, and Acoustical Power.- 3.3 Superposition of Waves; Standing Waves.- 3.4 Intensity, Sound Intensity Level, and Loudness.- 3.5 The Loudness Perception Mechanism and Related Processes.- 3.6 Music from the Ears: Otoacoustic Emissions and Cochlear Mechanics.- 4 Generation of Musical Sounds, Complex Tones, and the Perception of Timbre.- 4.1 Standing Waves in a String.- 4.2 Generation of Complex Standing Vibrations in String Instruments.- 4.3 Sound Vibration Spectra and Resonance.- 4.4 Standing Longitudinal Waves in an Idealized Air Column.- 4.5 Generation of Complex Standing Vibrations in Wind Instruments.- 4.6 Sound Spectra of Wind Instrument Toners.- 4.7 Trapping and Absorption of Sound Waves in a Closed Environment.- 4.8 Perception of Pitch and Timbre of Musical Tones.- 4.9 Identification of Musical Sounds.- 4.10 Cognitive Brain Processes Relevant to the Perception of Individual Tones.- 5 Superposition and Successions of Complex Tones and the Perception of Music.- 5.1 Superposition of Complex Tones.- 5.2 The Sensation of Musical Consonance and Dissonance.- 5.3 Building Musical Scales.- 5.4 The Standard Scale and the Standard of Pitch.- 5.5 Why Are There Musical Scales?.- 5.6 Cognitive and Affective Brain Processes in Music Perception: Why Do We Respond Emotionally to Music?.- 5.7 Specialization of Speech and Music Processing in the Cerebral Hemispheres.- Appendix I: Some Quantitative Aspects of the Bowing Mechanism.- Appendix II: Some Quantitative Aspects of Central Pitch Processor Models.- Appendix III: Some Remarks on Teaching Physics and Psychophysics of Music.- References.