Contents

• Beats
• Circle of Fifths
• Scales (general comments)
• Just vs Equal Temperament
  • Rational Approximations to Equal Temperament
  • Beats (between notes)
• Why G# and Ab are (not) the same
• Western Scales and Chords
• Pythagorean Scale
• Pentatonic Scales
• Hexatonic Scales
• Blues Scales
• Equal Tempered Scale - Table of Frequencies and Wavelengths in air
  • Equations used for this table
• Equal Temperament compared to Mean Tone - Table of Frequencies
• Some Other Musical Scales
• Making sense of cents
• Sounds and Spectra
• Speed of Sound in Air
• Conical vs Cylindrical Bores
• Clarinet Comments
• Saxophone Sounds
• Phase Shifts and Sounds
• Autocorrelation
• The Missing Fundamental
• Make your own Flutes
• Fife dimensions
• G Flute from PVC Plumbing
• Native American - like PVC Flute
• Calculating Flute Finger Hole Positions
• Make your own wind chimes
• Acoustics in Tubes and Ducts
• Acoustic Filters
• Terminating Impedance
• Measuring propagation
• Duct and Filter References
• Room Acoustics
• Reverberation Time
• Absorbers
• Diffusers
• Table of Primitive Root and Quadratic Residue Sequences
• White Noise Sources
• The Linear Feedback Shift Register
• Other Tap Positions
• Some Related Videos
• Crash Cymbal in Slow Motion
• Tuning Fork in Slow Motion
• Electric Rijke Tube Organ
• Siren Disk Demo
• Bowed Violin in Slow Motion (Stick-Slip Mechanism)
• 440 Hz Chime in Slow Motion
• Flute with Clarinet Head Joint and vice versa
• Blank Staffs for composing (PDF)
• Some Composer/Scientists
• Some General References

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These notes initially arose after a short summer program in 1998 and are placed here for the convenience of anyone who cares to read them.
The author is B. H. Suits, Physics Department, Michigan Technological University, copyright 1998-2023.