Instrument Builders Research Articles

MAGPIE: a web-based, open-source framework for plate vibration analysis

The analysis and simulation of plate vibrations are central to many branches of science and engineering, specifically acoustics and musical acoustics. Well-developed plate theories exist, along with numerous simulation software packages, but they are seldom available in open-source form and are not easily accessible to a greater audience. MAGPIE is a framework for interacting with a novel finite difference scheme for plates under general elastic boundary conditions. Free, clamped, and simply supported boundary conditions are obtainable by setting stiffness coefficients to very small or large values. Boundary conditions are parameterised which allow for intermediate possibilities. A web browser based implementation of the framework includes interactive elements. Users begin by providing parameters for an isotropic plate. These parameters are then used to generate visualisations of the mode shapes from the finite difference scheme simulation. Elastic boundary conditions can then be changed on a continuous scale to see their effect on mode shapes. Results are then available for export in common image and data formats. MAGPIE aims to make it easier to explain concepts such as mode shapes to a wider audience and also provide a tool for research that is accessible to students, scientists and musical instrument builders.

Digging Through the Network of the Indonesian Noise Scene

ABSTRACT The Noise music scene in Indonesia has grown its popularity in recent years, thanks to the movie Bising: Noise and Experimental Music in Indonesia (2014) about people who do Noise in Indonesia, Senyawa who plays everywhere, and the Jogja Noise Bombing Festival, which draws attention from Noise musicians and fans around the world who come to attend the annual festival. It is already acknowledged not only abroad, where it first gained its popularity, but also by several national media and music festivals who feature some Noise musicians in their programmes. From an unknown yet obscure genre, Noise music has been part of the independent music ecosystem in Indonesia. Nowadays, the Noise scenes in Indonesia are not limited to Java island, but include other islands such as Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali, Sumatra, Batam, and spaces in between. Studying the connections between the Noise activists in these islands through their network of touring, releasing an album together, or simply via Whatsapp group chat is interesting. This article aims at exploring the connections between Noise scenes in Indonesia. After studying the network directly through direct involvement and conducting interviews with some key figures in the scenes, we found some interesting facts such as the historical origin of its performers as well as infrastructures of the scenes (including but not limited to records labels, venues, communities, instrument builders, and festivals). The motivation of these Noise artists for networking and their desire to connect on a broader scale has helped the Noise scenes to achieve recognition.

Made in Louisiana: The Story of the Acadian Accordion

Made in Louisiana: The Story of the Acadian Accordion

Revitalisation and Revival of Traditional Musical Instruments in Poland in the Context of Music Contests

This article is devoted to the issue of revitalisation and revival of traditional musi- cal instruments in Poland in the context of music competitions. Research on revival activities in Poland is rare, as is research on the phenomenon of traditional music competitions. Meanwhile, over the last nine decades, traditional music competitions have become the main environment for the public presentation of traditional music and stimulating the revival and revitalisation of indi- vidual musical phenomena. In this area, I have been conducting my own participant observations and archival research for over two decades. I understand the revival phenomenon itself and the activities that constitute it after Caroline Bithell and Juniper Hill (2013). The distinction between the terms revitalisation and revival is based on that made by Ingrid Åkesson (2006) and Ulrich Morgenstern (2019). In the text I discuss the issue of revitalisation of the Podhale bagpipes and the revival of the hurdy-gurdy. I also show that the phenomenon of the revival of musical tradi- tion is accompanied by processes of depreciation of the role, importance or presence of other instruments, such as the accordion or clarinet. I also show the important role of the activism of leading figures among both researchers and lovers of traditional music, as well as musicians and instrument builders.

HENRI DESLANDRES: FROM MOLECULAR TO SOLAR PHYSICS

Henri Deslandres was one of the first French astrophysicists. Aged 28, he left a promising military career for research on molecular spectra and later on the atmosphere of the Sun. He developed a considerable instrumentation in both domains. In particular, he conceived and built several generations of spectroheliographs at Paris, then Meudon Observatories, and initiated a systematic patrol of solar activity and solar-terrestrial relations that has survived to this day. He directed Meudon Observatory from 1908 to its merging with Paris Observatory in 1926, and was also Director of the merged institutions until his retirement in 1928. In this paper, I concentrate on his work on the Sun, in which he showed considerable qualities as an instrument builder, an organizer and an observer, although he was not so successful in interpreting observations. I leave to others a study of his considerable, life-long work on molecular spectra.

Isotropic imaging across spatial scales with axially swept light-sheet microscopy.

Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy is a rapidly growing technique that has gained tremendous popularity in the life sciences owing to its high-spatiotemporal resolution and gentle, non-phototoxic illumination. In this protocol, we provide detailed directions for the assembly and operation of a versatile light-sheet fluorescence microscopy variant, referred to as axially swept light-sheet microscopy (ASLM), that delivers an unparalleled combination of field of view, optical resolution and optical sectioning. To democratize ASLM, we provide an overview of its working principle and applications to biological imaging, as well as pragmatic tips for the assembly, alignment and control of its optical systems. Furthermore, we provide detailed part lists and schematics for several variants of ASLM that together can resolve molecular detail in chemically expanded samples, subcellular organization in living cells or the anatomical composition of chemically cleared intact organisms. We also provide software for instrument control and discuss how users can tune imaging parameters to accommodate diverse sample types. Thus, this protocol will serve not only as a guide for both introductory and advanced users adopting ASLM, but as a useful resource for any individual interested in deploying custom imaging technology. We expect that building an ASLM will take ~1-2 months, depending on the experience of the instrument builder and the version of the instrument.

Simple improved reference subtraction for H4RG, H2RG, and H1RG near-infrared array detectors

Teledyne’s H4RG, H2RG, and H1RG near-infrared array detectors provide reference pixels embedded in their data streams. Although they do not respond to light, the reference pixels electronically mimic normal pixels and track correlated read noise. We describe how the reference pixels can be used with linear algebra and training data to optimally reduce correlated read noise. Simple improved reference subtraction (SIRS) works with common detector clocking patterns and, when applicable, relies only on postprocessing existing data so long as the reference pixels are available. The resulting reference correction is optimal, in a least squares sense, when the embedded reference pixels are the only references and the reference columns on the left and right are treated as two reference streams. We demonstrate SIRS using H4RG ground test data from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Project. The Julia language SIRS software is freely available for download from the NASA GitHub. The package includes a python-3 “backend” that can be used to apply SIRS corrections if a SIRS calibration file has been provided by the instrument builders.

Petrus van Musschenbroek (1692–1761), man of tribology

Petrus van Musschenbroek was a famous scientist and inventor, natural philosopher, experimental physicist, engineer, instrument builder, experimenter, in the continental Newtonian tradition of Boerhaave and ‘s Gravesande. And: a tribologist. He is one who deserves more fame than he has received so far, and which is well documented in this publication. Van Musschenbroek coined the name tribometer for his device to measure friction in a journal bearing, and some authors rightly refer to this. However, what seems to have remained unnoticed until now is that he also published quantitative results of his friction measurements and tried to arrive at general laws of friction based on them. He reported in detail on friction experiments on sliding, dry as well as lubricated, sliders and journal bearings, a novum in his time, as early as in 1734. When the data from Van Musschenbroek's tables are mapped into graphs, a method which was not in use at that time, two Stribeck curves for journal bearings emerge. Van Musschenbroek's work deserves much more acclaim in the tribology community than it has now.

Measurements and analysis of acoustic guitars during various stages of their construction

Vibration measurements were taken at various stages of the construction of three steel-string acoustic guitars. The construction stages include: the unaltered top plate, braced top plate at multiple steps during the brace carving, glued guitar body before and after sanding, and the completed guitar. Measurements were taken with a laser Doppler vibrometer and force hammer to analyze the mode frequencies, damping, and amplitudes, and track how they evolve. The motivation is to investigate which building steps create the most significant vibrational changes and gain insight into the significance of each change. This knowledge can be used to help instrument builders know at which stage they can make specific alterations, and how much variation they can expect to see during the remainder of the construction.

Ever-shifting roles in building, composing and performing with digital musical instruments

It is widely accepted that computational technologies shape the relationship of musicians, instrument builders and composers with music, affecting various socio-cultural realisms in music. In this article, I discuss in what ways music-making still emerges as a social construct, even as a result of the mutual cooperation with human musicians and AI-powered autonomous instruments. I argue that building, making, and performing with a digital musical instrument has undergone a gradual socio-technological change that has affected art, science, technology, culture and communities in general. I support my investigation through the current performance and composition practice of the autonomous AI-terity musical instrument.

Volume, Side-Area, and Force Direction of Berkovich and Cubecorner Indenters, Novel Important Insights

The iteration-free physical description of pyramidal indentations with closed mathematical equations is comprehensively described and extended for creating new insights in this important field of research and applications. All calculations are easily repeatable and should be programmed by instrument builders for even easier general use. Formulas for the volumes and side-areas of Berkovich and cubecorner as a function of depth are deduced and provided, as are the resulting forces and force directions. All of these allow for the detailed comparison of the different indenters on the mathematical reality. The pyramidal values differ remarkably from the ones of so-called “equivalent cones”. The worldwide use of such pseudo-cones is in severe error. The earlier claimed and used 3 times higher displaced volume with cube corner than with Berkovich is disproved. Both displace the same amount at the same applied force. The unprecedented mathematical results are experimentally confirmed for the physical indentation hardness and for the sharp-onset phase-transi- tions with calculated transition energy. The comparison of both indenters provides novel basic insights. Isotropic materials exhibit the same phase transition onset force, but the transition energy is larger with the cube corner, due to higher force and flatter force direction. This qualifies the cube corner for fracture toughness studies. Pile-up is not from the claimed “friction with the indenter”. Anisotropic materials with cleavage planes and channels undergo sliding along these under pressure, both to the surface and internally. Their volumes add to the depression volume. These volumes are essential for the exemplified pile-up management. Phase-transitions produce polymorph interfaces that are nucleation sites for cracks. Technical materials must be developed with onset forces higher than the highest thinkable stresses (at airliners, bridges, etc.). This requires urgent revision of ISO 14577-ASTM standards.

Implementation of a 4Pi-SMS super-resolution microscope.

The development of single-molecule switching (SMS) fluorescence microscopy (also called single-molecule localization microscopy) over the last decade has enabled researchers to image cell biological structures at unprecedented resolution. Using two opposing objectives in a so-called 4Pi geometry doubles the available numerical aperture, and coupling this with interferometric detection has demonstrated 3D resolution down to 10 nm over entire cellular volumes. The aim of this protocol is to enable interested researchers to establish 4Pi-SMS super-resolution microscopy in their laboratories. We describe in detail how to assemble the optomechanical components of a 4Pi-SMS instrument, align its optical beampath and test its performance. The protocol further provides instructions on how to prepare test samples of fluorescent beads, operate this instrument to acquire images of whole cells and analyze the raw image data to reconstruct super-resolution 3D data sets. Furthermore, we provide a troubleshooting guide and present examples of anticipated results. An experienced optical instrument builder will require ~12 months from the start of ordering hardware components to acquiring high-quality biological images.

A versatile, multi-laser twin-microscope system for light-sheet imaging.

Light-sheet microscopy offers faster imaging and reduced phototoxicity in comparison to conventional point-scanning microscopy, making it a preferred technique for imaging biological dynamics for durations of hours or days. Such extended imaging sessions pose a challenge, as it reduces the number of specimens that can be imaged in a given day. Here, we present a versatile light-sheet imaging instrument that combines two independently controlled microscope-twins, built so that they can share an ultrafast near-infrared laser and a bank of continuous-wave visible lasers, increasing the throughput and decreasing the cost. To permit a wide variety of specimens to be imaged, each microscope-twin provides flexible imaging parameters, including (i) operation in one-photon and/or two-photon excitation modes, (ii) delivery of one to three light-sheets via a trio of orthogonal excitation arms, (iii) sub-micron to micron imaging resolution, (iv) multicolor compatibility, and (v) upright (with provision for inverted) detection geometry. We offer a detailed description of the twin-microscope design to aid instrument builders who wish to construct and use similar systems. We demonstrate the instrument’s versatility for biological investigation by performing fast imaging of the beating heart in an intact zebrafish embryo, deep imaging of thick patient-derived tumor organoids, and gentle whole-brain imaging of neural activity in behaving larval zebrafish.

Professional Musical Instrument Makers in 18th Century Russia

«Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Искусствоведение» — научно-теоретический рецензируемый журнал, обобщающий результаты исследований ученых всего мира в различных областях искусства, включая музыковедение, культурологию и художественное образование.

On mushrooms and music museums

This paper examines a feminist approach to curating music history and historiography. By exhibiting instruments, pictures, sounds, memorabilia of mostly composers, sometimes instrumentalists or instrument builders, music museums process narratives about music and its history to their visitors. Music history however is, as generations of feminist musicologists have pointed out, strongly shaped by the neglect of perspectives of female and non-heterosexual experiences. Historiography gravitates to and from male actors and taxonomies (Losleben 2017). As Meaghan Morris pointed out, feminism “is not easily adapted to heroic progress narratives”, in which these narratives are rooted and continue to contribute to; neither do feminist ideals and patriarchal structures in which museums are embedded go together well. My aim is to uncover from a feminist point of view these relations in which curating in ´ music instrument museums´ and popular music museums are embedded and how a feminist approach might be possible even so.

GLASS MUSIC OF THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES

AbstractThis article serves as an introduction to the twentieth- and twenty-first-century musical practices that have made use of glass instruments and objects. Emphasis is placed on those practices that use glass in a raw, acoustic manner, and those that take advantage of the precision with which glass can be tuned. First, a general history of glass music is presented, followed by an overview of the physical and acoustic aspects pertaining to the material that are relevant to those composers wishing to integrate glass into their works. Finally, the composers, performers and instrument builders who have made significant use of glass in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries are surveyed.

The Basel Museum of Music: Instrumental History

Basel, Switzerland thrives with a rich musical culture and history, and the Museum of Music at the Basel Historical Museum is truly a rare gem demonstrating the influence of instruments in Swiss cultural development. The museum houses an exquisite collection of instruments which beautifully encompasses an extensive timeline of musical and instrumental diversity. Unique beauty of the uncommon and the experimental is showcased in a manner that educates and inspires. The span of genre and style demonstrated by the array of composers and instrument builders recognized imparts just how important a role music plays in Basel. For one museum to weave so many different threads of musical significance into one magnificent tapestry is a significant achievement both musically and culturally. Following is a brief synopsis of a few select instruments from the collection. This discussion includes a harp built by renowned French musician and master craftsman Sébastien Erard. An overview of Erard’s inventive contributions to the musical world and the functions of his harp offers a greater understanding of the significance and capabilities of this instrument. Also included is a closer look at the fascinating harp-guitar. Following the development of this unique troubadour instrument through history offers a glimpse at a lesser-known side of the strings family. Finally, the museum houses a beautiful memory of the medieval: the remarkable strings and keys of the nyckelharpa. The range of sound and song this instrument is capable of producing is given a brief highlight at the end of this discourse. Basel’s Museum of Music offers a priceless gift of music, history, and insight, illuminated by a few of the exquisite instruments in the following offering.

The Astronomer Nicolae Donitch, a Pioneer of the International Astronomical Union

AbstractNicolae Donitch gave a special role to Romania’s membership of the IAU, even though it had basically adhered to it in 1922, but only on the 12th of July 1928 was Romania’s membership in the IAU recognized. He was a passionate observer of eclipses, of the zodiacal light, and a good instrument builder. His tortuous destiny was somehow similar to the destiny of many Romanians from Eastern Moldova: he was born in Chişinău, the capital of Bessarabia at that time; he studied in Odessa; after the first revolution in February 1917 he left Russia and remained in Odessa until the arrival of the Bolsheviks in 1920, who would completely destroy his laboratory. He then moved to his private Astrophysics Observatory in Dubăsarii Vechi, which he had set up in 1908, and stayed until 1940, when Bessarabia was once again torn away from Romania. He relocated to Bucharest, but soon after, when communists came to power, he had to leave the country on a permanent basis. As he severed all the ties with people from the country that had fallen into the red zone of communism, we completely lost track of him. It was only recently that, after thorough research, we could discover his traces, and learn of his last years of life.

Creating with timbre

Unfolding processes of timbre and memory in improvisational piano performance This exposition is an introduction to my research and practice as a pianist, in which I unfold processes of timbre and memory in improvised music from a performer’s perspective. Timbre is often understood as a purely sonic perceptual phenomenon. However, this is not in accordance with a site-specific improvisational practice with changing spatial circumstances impacting the listening experience, nor does it take into account the agency of the instrument and objects used or the performer’s movements and gestures. In my practice, I have found a concept as part of the creating process in improvised music which has compelling potential: Timbre orchestration. My research takes the many and complex aspects of a performance environment into account and offers an extended understanding of timbre, which embraces spatial, material and bodily aspects of sound in improvised music performance. The investigative projects described in this exposition offer a methodology to explore timbral improvisational processes integrated into my practice, which is further extended through collaborations with sound engineers, an instrument builder and a choreographer: -experiments in amplification and recording, resulting in Memory piece, a series of works for amplified piano and multichannel playback - Piano mapping, a performance approach, with a custom-built device for live spatialization as means to expand and deepen spatio-timbral relationships; - Accretion, a project with choreographer Toby Kassell for three grand pianos and a pianist, where gestural approaches are used to activate and compose timbre in space. Together, the projects explore memory as a structural, reflective and performative tool and the creation of performing and listening modes as integrated parts of timbre orchestration. Orchestration and choreography of timbre turn into an open and hybrid compositional approach, which can be applied to various contexts, engaging with dynamic relationships and re-configuring them.

‘OF THE TEMPERAMENT OF THOSE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS’: CONSIDERING TIBERIUS CAVALLO AND THE SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION OF MUSICAL SOUNDS IN LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LONDON

The connection of music to scientific exploration in late Enlightenment London can be considered from various perspectives, perhaps most evidently through the binary of amateur–professional. These two realms intersected within natural philosophical observation, a practice that often served concurrently as entertainment and as study. The development of scientific instruments for the observation of various phenomena appeared in both professional and amateur contexts, contributing to technological growth and research. Natural philosopher Tiberius Cavallo (1749–1809) and his 1788 article on musical temperament (‘Of the Temperament of Those Musical Instruments, in Which the Tones, Keys, or Frets, are Fixed, as in the Harpsichord, Organ, Guitar, &c’) provide a captivating example of amateur interest overlapping effectively with the professional domain; as an amateur musician and professional scientist, Cavallo observed equal temperament in both mathematical and aesthetic terms. Consideration of his work promotes a more nuanced view of London as a place where scientific and musical ideas could meet and be ‘instrumentalized’, emphasizing the city's status as a vibrant arena for the interaction of scientific exploration, artistic endeavour and professional identities. In this sense, Cavallo's work on temperament was not merely a scientific activity; it reflected technological change during a stimulating period of scientific and musical progress in late eighteenth-century London. For example, instrument builders were actively developing ways to improve pitch control and tuning stability, as witnessed by numerous British patents for harp mechanisms, the addition of flute keys and keyboard construction.