what's really interesting to me is how this reminds me of the six simple
machines (lever, inclined plane, wheel, screw, ... my memory's fading ...)
we learned about in school. they are elemental, and can be combined to make
new machines and tools.
in the 70s a guy invented rolamite, which didn't fit any of the six
categories, and was classified (in the popular science article i read
anyway) as a 7th.
matt makes an interesting stab at listing the 'simple machines' of music.
i've no expertise in musicology, but i bet somebody alread listed these
things for us, including the electrical piston we call 'loudspeakers'.
anyone know of such a list, preferably widely accepted in the field of
musicology?
trim your posts!
>Hmmm, well if we're going to take it down to "letters", then I'd have to
>agree with you that there is a finite number of basic mechanical movements
>that can generate a sound. In fact, there is probably less than ten. Of
>course, with the exception of the voltage-controlled oscillation of a
>speaker, most of these letters were "discovered" hundreds, even thousands of
>years ago. Such "letters" may be:
>
>-2 or more objects striking
>-passage of air through a channel
>-vibration of a string
>-vibration of a solid object (including a reed, daxophone, or tibeten bell)
>-scraping
>-compression - type waves in an object or string.
>-oscillation of a speaker cone
>
>Am I heading in the right direction here?
>
>Matt
>
>please forgive any typos in the last 2 emails. I'm up way past my bedtime.
>
>>From: Don Joyce <djATwebbnet.com>
>
>>EXACTLY! What I'm talking about is inventing new musical "letters", not
>>inventing new music out of the ones we have. The fact is music WAS
>>inventing new musical "letters" up until about mid 20th Century. New
>>"letters" to compose with constantly kept appearing in music's total
>>alphabet. Now we have reached the end of the final musical alphabet! Scary,
>>isn't it? Well, not really, as any writer stuck with just 26 letters of a
>>forever complete alphabet will tell you.
>>
>>DJ
>>Negativland
Lloyd Dunn
The Tape-beatles
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