ProSoundWeb: Musical instruments are the product of engineering, each one an expression of the level of technological sophistication achieved by the era and culture in which they were conceived. Many are also works of craftsmanship, of artistry, even works of art in their own right. Over time the musical instrument can become a visible representation of the technique and physical interaction provided by the musician, as wear patterns emerge from playing.
2 comments:
The first sentence of this article is so interesting and something that I have not seen until very recently. The concept that the instrument itself is a work of art and a piece of scientific beauty. In one of my classes we are looking at the physics that make up the design of instruments and the sounds they produce. The science behind the tuning and the design of a grand piano is spectacular and learning how that tuning has developed throughout history is mind blowing. Thinking about how we might be listening to Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier all wrong because we don’t know his tuning ratios is insane. The physics behind instruments is something that is so stressed in the instruments creation that it is understandable why the musician spends so much time fining the nuances within the instrument and how to harness them to create his or her own sound. That is why as engineers it is so important to not only harness the sound of the instrument, the vessel which has been developed throughout history to create glorious noise, but also the musicians sound that has been developed and perfected by that particular artist throughout their career. It is the engineers job to capture the story that the musician and the instrument are telling thought sound
It was interesting to me to read about how it is audio engineer’s jobs to not only record the instrument being played but the musician as well. I know little to nothing about sound engineering, but as someone who loves all kinds of music and plays instruments, I often find myself drawn to reading this type of article about what goes on behind the scenes. It made sense that the article likened audio engineering to playing an instrument, that it takes a similar kind of focus and perseverance to perfect the skill. From what I understand from sound class and the skills described in this article, being an audio engineer requires much more than simply pushing buttons, recording and mixing. I think the versatility of sound design is so interesting because it’s a medium that isn’t visual, and relies only upon the images and emotions we are able to visualize when hearing a sound recording or a song.
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