Product Description
64 acoustic hits arranged for easy piano, including: Against the Wind * American Pie * Barely Breathing * Change the World * Dust in the Wind * Free Fallin' * Have You Ever Seen the Rain? * I Will Remember You * Landslide * Maggie May * Night Moves * Superman (It's Not Easy) * Tears in Heaven * Yesterday * and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Song Book
A nice book with great songs, but some are a little advance for a new guitar player like myself.

best rock songs ever
I first saw this book in the library and after renewing it over and over, decided to purchase it myself.Great book.Great Songs.

The Best Acoustic Rock Songs Ever
The book is definitely helpful if you are looking to learn the chords. It isn't as helpful, though, for the solos. It also really helps a lot if you know the song. But, overall, it is a good book. ... Read more

Product Description
Acoustic guitarists can now better understand their instruments, preserve and protect their value, and get the sounds they really want, thanks to this new book from the experts at Acoustic Guitar magazine. This indispensable guide begins by acquainting players with their instruments and laying to rest some pervasive guitar myths, then proceeds through various aspects of basic care, setup, common repairs, and pickup installation. Whether itÕs cleaning and polishing a beloved guitar, protecting it from theft or changes in humidity, selecting a case, or performing diagnostics, readers will become more savvy acoustic guitar owners and repair-shop customers and can forego dubious advice from well-meaning friends and anonymous "experts" on the Web. Includes a primer and glossary of terms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Pretty good choice
I'm still reading it, but it clearly gives you nice info on how to understand the physics and take care of your acoustic guitar.

Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual
Good book if you looking for basic set up and maintenance. Doesn't go into a lot of detail for the more advanced tasks but it's not intended to. Good advice on basic set up, truss rod adjustment, tuner maintenance, etc,

A valuable investment
As a long time guitar player, I was surprised that something like this for acoustic guitars was not available sooner.I subscribe to Acoustic Guitar, and their tips have been very valuable, since acoustic guitars are far more fragile than the extensively discussed electric guitars.I guess the increasing "unplugged" movement has finally given the acoustic the due it desearves to theyounger musicians, and old dogs like me needed to know too.A valuable investment for anyone with an acoustic, especially one of quality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Allan D. Pierce Acoustics Book
Book was in the condition as listed on the website and the only downside was that I couldn't have it rushed for delivery. Second book I bought from this seller. Both times were excellent.

Good book
This book was used as a text book for one of our courses duringmy masters. In my opinion it is one of the classic books available in acoustics. If you want to learn fundamentals and to know "why" for any acoustical phenomena, then this book is for you. If you are looking for an applied (engineering) kind of book, then this book is not for you. The author gives a clear and concise approach to the acoustics problem formulations. The end of chapter excercises are very helpful(some problems require references to current journal literature for detailed formulation).

Clearly this is the book to learn physical pricnciples from. I wish the author would have added a topic on acoustic analogies in aeroacoustics.

Ausgezeichnet
Das Buch ist wunderbar. Herr Doktor Pierce hat ein ausgezeichnet Buch doch geschrieben.

A Deep and Classic Approach to Acoustics
Texts on acoustics approach the subject from many differentangles and at many different levels. Pierce's text is classic, rigorous and complete. It should serve the needs of serious students of acoustics for a variety of purposes - musical acoustics and sound are my particular perspective.

Some writers cater their approach to electrical engineers or to mechanical engineers, assuming that by tieing everything to those disciplines they will make the effort easier for their readers. This may serve well those who come from those disciplines, but may not serve others well and may not serve all applications of acoustics equally well either. Pierce does not do so. His approach is rigorously mathematical and pure, going to the heart of the matter, rather than one of attempting to cut corners by making analogies to other fields that you may or may not know.

The book is not for the faint of heart or the mildly curious, it is deep and demanding. But he organizes it superbly and writes intelligently with a wonderful way of integrating the history and development of the science, and the graphics are exceptionally clear and communicative.

Highly recommended for the very serious about this subject. My favorite among the books I have consulted. ... Read more

Product Description
This starting volume of the Complete Acoustic Blues Method covers basic blues theory, left-hand techniques, call and response phrasing, intros, turnarounds, endings, and improvisation. All music is shown in standard notation and TAB, and the CD demonstrates the examples in the book.This is the perfect method for beginning acoustic blues guitarists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Godd Begining Blues Book
I have really enjoyed going through this book, it has a good introduction/review of Music Theory and relates it to the pieces presented very well. ... Read more

Product Description

This definitive textbook provides students with a comprehensive introduction to acoustics. Beginning with the basic physical ideas, Acoustics balances the fundamentals with engineering aspects, applications and electroacoustics, also covering music, speech and the properties of human hearing. The concepts of acoustics are exposed and applied in:

• room acoustics
• sound insulation in buildings
• noise control
• underwater sound and ultrasound.

Scientifically thorough, but with mathematics kept to a minimum, Acoustics is the perfect introduction to acoustics for students at any level of mechanical, electrical or civil engineering courses and an accessible resource for architects, musicians or sound engineers requiring a technical understanding of acoustics and their applications.

Product Description
This, the third book of a power-packed series, begins with exercises for developing speed and agility.Techniques such as ""machine gun strums,"" right-hand muting, slapping, tapping, slap harmonics and tremolo are introduced.You'll go further into Celtic music, blues, modal improvisation and alternate tunings and learn some world music styles, such as reggae, African/Brazilian, norteno and conjunto.This in-depth, thorough method for intermediate to advanced acoustic guitarists includes a look at more than ten alternate tunings and teaches analysis, counterpoint and voice leading.Any player, no matter how advanced, can improve their playing with this book. The CD offers play-along opportunities and demonstrates the examples. ... Read more

Product Description

"... a vitally new understanding that takes us from the terms of the representation of sexual difference to an anatomy of female subjectivity which will be widely influential." -- Stephen Heath

"An original work likely to have significant impact on all those with an interest in the vibrant intersection of feminism, film theory, and psychoanalysis... " -- Naomi Schor

"... powerfully argued study... impressive... " -- Choice

"... important because of its innovative work on Hollywood's ideologically-charged construction of subjectivity.... what is exciting about The Acoustic Mirror is that it inspires one to reevaluate a number of now classical theoretical texts, and to see films with an eye to how authorship is constructed and subjectivity is generated." -- Literature and Psychology

"As evocative as it is shrewdly systematic, the pioneering theory of female subjectivity formulated in the final three chapters will have wide impact as a major contribution to feminist theory." -- SubStance

The Acoustic Mirror attempts to do for the sound-track what feminist film theory of the past decade has done for the image-track -- to locate the points at which it is productive of sexual difference. The specific focus is the female voice understood not merely as spoken dialogue, narration, and commentary, but as a fantasmatic projection, and as a metaphor for authorship.

Customer Reviews (1)

Feminist Film Theory
Silverman's observations regarding classical Hollywood cinema constantly drive the reader beyond the complacency of a male-centered interpretation of film. Make no mistake about it, her prose is thick, but the rewards ofcontemplating her thoughts are there for the picking.She extends thethought of Laura Mulvey, and does so by also using the psychoanalyticmethod.If the reader has questions about the validity of this particularmethod, then he/she may question some of the ideas that are put forth. However, Mulvey's acknowledges that the psychoanalytic method itself hastraditionaly bowed to the father-figure.Her intention is to raise thereader's awareness of this tendency before she begins to explore theramifications of patriarchal society on the filmic medium.Incrediblyinteresting are remarks on the "disembodied voice" and itsrelationship to female characters that can be found in Hollywood cinema. This is the essence of what makes film an "acoustic mirror." ... Read more

Product Description
BEGINNER TO PROFESSIONAL LEVEL ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent
I've been working through this book and cd set and I'm amazed.It's thorough in what you need to know, yet concise.It takes you right into playing and each lesson progresses from one to the next.Each lesson is 2 to 6 pages.

I'm not new to the guitar, but brushing up on some old rusty skills.I'm learning things from this book that I never picked up before.

It begins with a section on the basics such as tuning, holding the guitar, putting on strings, then jumps right into chords.The first section consists of 9 lessons on common open chords (major, 7th, minor) and many popular chord progressions, and strumming patterns.

Section 2 consists of 9 lessons covering more advanced strumming, suspended chords, bass note picking, licks, rock chords, and embellishments like slides and bends.

Section 3 covered reading music on the guitar.

Section 4 covers bar chords and advanced rhythms.

Section five is on fingerpicking.

There are 41 lessons in all, and each example is played on the cd, with accompaniment for you to practice along.

The appendices are full of chards and explanations about music notation, scales, key sigs, transposing, chords formulas, chord chard, notes on the fretboard and staff, and a glossary.I would recommend this to anyone beginner or intermediate, as well as to teachers.Each lesson would make a great lesson plan for a weekly lesson.

My only problem with the book is its binding.Its a typical paperback book binding, which *wants* to be closed, making it hard to play the guitar and hold it open at the same time.I will probably remove the pages, punch holes in them, and put them in a three ring binder.

What I like best about the book is that it's part reference manual and part training.There's just enough information on each topic, without going into unnecessary detail. ... Read more

Product Description
Beginning music instruction on the Acoustic Guitar. Designed to take the beginner through the basics of learning the guitar, including rhythm and lead playing.Clearly illustrated with many diagrams, it also contains a complete chord chart and all music is written in both standard music notation and tablature with lyrics and melody lines.The companion audio CD includes Tom Dooley, Worried Man Blues, Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms, Dark Hollow, Amazing Grace, Pallet On Your Floor, Way Downtown, Wabash Cannonball, and others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Acoustic Guitar Primer
Well I think this is a great book for the beginning guitar player.This set will easily get you started down the road to excellence.Rock on!

Excellent guitar instruction for self-study
I had difficulty finding guitar instructors in my area for the first 18 months of owning a guitar, so I turned to Bert Casey's 2 volume series:Acoustic Guitar Primer, and Acoustic Guitar Part 2.These are extremely well done and easy to follow, and each lesson builds nicely on the previous ones, so that by the end of Book 1 you know several chords and techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and particularly country bass runsThe only drawback is that most of the material in book 1 is traditional or folk songs, which doesn't necessarily hold my interest as well as rock or blues, but this is a relatively minor criticism.I found the DVD somewhat helpful, but a bit distracting.Listening to the CDs included with the books helps focus one more on the feel of the strings and the sounds, instead of encouraging one to look at what the left hand is doing.

A great course to follow
Bert Casey's Guitar Primer book is excellent.This book can be used for the first year or more of your journey with guitar.The lessons are well planned and presented, easy to follow also.Very good progress can be made following the material laid out in this book.I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn to play guitar well and move beyond simple chord structures.All A++++ for this book.

Great Acoustic intro book
Bert Casey is an excellent guitar instructor.If you use this book in conjunction with the video or DVD you'll get a pretty comprehensive understanding of acoustic guitar techniques.Casey uses classic songs like "In the Pines", "Going Down that Road Feeling Bad", "Banks of the Ohio" (and more) to effectively teach you how to play.The video is great for those who would profit from visual demonstration.

There is also a follow up book that has recently become available that goes into even more depth.But this book/CD should keep you busy for a while.

Great intro to Country and Bluegrass Flatpicking.
I've been fooling around with the guitar off and on for 25 years. After all that time I still consider myself a beginner. This summer I was having another "serious" go at playing when I bought Casey's book on the recommendation of a guitar shop owner. One of my problems is that I know the intro and "signature" lick of many songs, but when asked to perform for friend and family, I just didn't have a repertoire of complete songs (either standards that everyone can sing-along with or instrumentals that stand on their own). Casey's book has solved this problem, the first dozen or so pages are pretty basic, but then things get interesting. Casey has excellent (yet simple) arrangements of traditional bluegrass and country songs that make great additions to one's repertoire while also teaching playing techniques: alternating base, bass runs between chord changes, combining hammer-ons and pull-offs with strumming, etc. They are easy enough for the beginner to play while having enough fancy licks to impress non-players with your chops. The included CD has all songs at slow and performance tempos to help with learning the songs. Some of my particular favorites are "Rolling in my Sweet Baby's Arms", "Sitting on top of the World", and "Wabash Cannonball". I've been having a lot of fun with this book for the past couple of months. The information in this book is also available on Video and DVD, which I am considering buying. ... Read more

Product Description

The objective of the book is to focus insights in the field of Acoustics of Musical Instruments, Room-Acoustics and Psycho-Acoustics on applications in musical performance. In this context, the directional dependence of sound radiation by musical instruments and the voice, as well as questions of concert hall design and room acoustical computer simulations and seating arrangements within the orchestra, or the positioning of microphones is a central issue. The presentation dispenses with mathematical details and prefers conceptual explanations and pictorial representations in order to make the interpretation of acoustical processes accessible to musicians. In this context the pictorial representations of directional characteristics are of particular interest.

This translation corresponds to the latest (fifth) German edition (2004). Questions of orchestral arrangements have been revised. Since the first edition was published in 1978, this book has been completely revised and rewritten to include current research.

This book is based largely on the Author’s own research as well as decades of teaching experience in the field of audio engineering (Tonmeister). Noteworthy are also orchestral demonstrations both as conductor and presenter.

Product Description

Acoustics and protection against noise do not perhaps number among the primary parameters that normally influence the design of a building. Nevertheless, at the very latest when the lecturer in the seminar room cannot be heard, when the noise level in an open-plan office reaches unbearable levels, or when a neighbor s noise deprives you of sleep, it becomes clear just how essential acoustic can be to everyday well-being. it is not just concert halls or the amphitheaters of antiquity that call for acoustic quality; rather, every building, indeed every room, has an acoustic dimension that changes according to the nature of its particular requirements.

Product Description
This book reveals the secrets of ten masters who have shaped the world of acoustic rock guitar: Neil Young, The Eagles, Dave Matthews, Paul Simon, David Crosby (and CSN), George Harrison, Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, Tom Petty, and James Taylor. The chapters explain each guitarist's role in acoustic rock history, reveal details of their gear, analyze their techniques, and provide annotated music examples that help readers emulate their heroes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Know what you are getting
This book is designed to be a primer on getting the guitar sound of several famous players in the world of acoustic rock.It features a chapter on each of the players it designates, most of which are fairly obvious choices, though the inclusion of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck was a pleasant surprise and the primary reason for my purchasing it.

Each chapter includes four main features.First, there is a personal biography with information about the player's life and a rock profile that chronicles the player's journey to fame.Second, there is a section on the player's style, explaining how it is that each gets his particular sound.Third, there is something akin to a box score in the "quick look" box that runs down the player's gear, strings, finger/plectrum style, string action height, and so on.Finally, each chapter ends with a "play like them" section (normally about one page) of sound-alike riffs.The book also includes a useful preface about the how to acquire these sounds by using mic-ing techniques specific to acoustic guitar.

Most of the information made available in the book is of the sort that only people who play already would enjoy; it is by no means written for new learners.While some of the information is interesting (like the mic-placement preface), it is probably too thin to be of any use to people who want to learn how to mic guitars.You'd be better off buying a book that is about just microphones.Also, the sound-alike riffs, while interesting, by no means will teach you how to play just like these guys.You will get a taste of what makes James Taylor himself, but you will certainly not be copping any of his dates any time soon.

That isn't to say the book is a wash.I would add that what makes this book worthy of five stars is that there is a very narrow segment of guitar players of a certain skill level that will think this book is great, as I did.These are the players who have gotten out of the basic guitar books and want to explore music that they like.For example, the sound-alike riffs are good, short practices on playing new music because they are not direct copies of known songs; on the other hand, an advanced player would simply be able to buy a book of a particular players songs and dissect them him/herself.The microphone section is just enough of an intro into getting your guitar on tape that it should satisfy the advanced beginner's curiosity to see if they want to get more detailed books on home recording. And finally, the biographical information (by far the largest chunk of the book taken altogether) is the kind of fun-fact stuff to keep a new player interested and supply hints for trying new things.And, the inclusion of players people might not immediately categorize as "acoustic" (like Pete Townshend, just for one) makes for a book with lots of room to explore.Not to mention the action pose photos.

As I said, I just happened to be that player who would benefit from this approach and was extremely satisfied with the book.And what is more, there are a number of other books in the "Masters" series.Piquing your interest in the style of music you or a newer player you know might want to investigate is just a matter of finding the right one.

Great Buy
Really cool book that includes artist biographies, favorite acoustic guitars, method explanations, and more. The mini lessons that are tabbed out and are on the CD are a great learning technique...they give the reader a window into the minds of these great artists.

Highly informative and great playing!
If you're a practicing guitarist, this book will really help your chops--it's been terrific for my acoustic playing.

Lots of good info, easy-to-understand music examples and a great CD. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Acoustic and Auditory Phonetics provides an accessible yet rigorous introduction to basic acoustics, audition, signal processing, and the acoustic theory of speech production.

• Provides readers with an accessible yet rigorous introduction to phonetics and speech sciences.
  
• Introduces basic acoustics, audition, signal processing, and the acoustic theory of speech production, then surveys the major classes of sounds.
  
• Features a new chapter on speech perception as well as additional sections on digital filtering and cross-linguistic vowel and consonant perception.
  
• Includes exercises at the end of every chapter.

Customer Reviews (3)

very satisfied
I'm overall very satisfied with this purchase. I received a shipping confirmation from the seller, received it promptly after ordering, and the book was in good condition.

Excellent Introductory Text to Acoustic & Auditory Phonetics
Johnson's text fills a lacuna in Phonetics primers by introducing the fundamentals of acoustics in terms that students new to phonetics can grasp.

Johnson intersperses fairly complex issues with practicalapplications of the concepts making the text approachable.These practicalapplications often can be translated into classroom exercises and areoccasionally humorous.

I found the explanation of waves, harmonics, andformants particularly clear and helpful.The segue from acoustics toauditory phonetics is seamless.

Adding this text to the reading list ofmy intro to phonetics class (undergrad) reaped pleasant rewards.

Thistext is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate students with limitedexposure to acoustic and auditory phonetics, but is useful for evenseasoned phoneticians.

Excellent Introduction to the Subject!!!!
This has to be one of the best texts on phonetics I've ever encountered.Dr. Johnson takes some very difficult concepts in accoustic theory and makes them accessible to the beginning student. ... Read more

Product Description

Presented in a clear and concise way as an introductory text and practical handbook, the book provides the basic physical phenomena governing underwater acoustical waves, propagation, reflection, target backscattering and noise. It covers the general features of sonar systems, transducers and arrays, signal processing and performance evaluation. It provides an overview of today's applications, presenting the working principles of the various systems.

From the reviews:

"Presented in a clear and concise way as an introductory text and practical handbook, the book provides the basic physical phenomena governing underwater acoustical waves, propagation, reflection, target backscattering and noise. … It provides an overview of today’s applications, presenting the working principles of the various systems." (Oceanis, Vol. 27 (3-4), 2003)

"This book is a general survey of Underwater Acoustics, intended to make the subject ‘as easily accessible as possible, with a clear emphasis on applications.’ In this the author has succeeded, with a wide variety of subjects presented with minimal derivation … . There is an emphasis on technology and on intuitive physical explanation … ." (Darrell R. Jackson, Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, Vol. 115 (2), February, 2004)

"This is an exciting new scientific publication. It is timely and welcome … . Furthermore, it is up to date and readable. It is well researched, excellently published and ranks with earlier books in this discipline … . Many persons in the marine science field including acousticians, hydrographers, oceanographers, fisheries scientists, engineers, educators, students … and equipment manufacturers will benefit greatly by reading all or part of this text. The author is to be congratulated on his fine contribution … ." (Stephen B. MacPhee, International Hydrographic Review, Vol. 4 (2), 2003)

Product Description
This book presents a theory of speech-sound generation in the human vocal system. The comprehensive acoustic theory serves as one basis for defining categories of speech sounds used to form distinctions between words in languages. The author begins with a review of the anatomy and physiology of speech production, then covers source mechanisms, the vocal tract as an acoustic filter, relevant aspects of auditory psychophysics and physiology, and phonological representations. In the remaining chapters he presents a detailed examination of vowels, consonants, and the influence of context on speech-sound production. Although he focuses mainly on the sounds of English, he touches briefly on sounds in other languages.The book will serve as a reference for speech scientists, speech pathologists, linguists interested in phonetics and phonology, psychologists interested in speech perception and production, and engineers concerned with speech processing applications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The standard treatise on the acoustics of speech production
The author, Ken Stevens, together with Gunnar Fant, is largely responsible for the development of our understanding of the acoustics of speech production, that is, of how the changing configuration of the articulators is related to the acoustic properties of speech. This book is the culmination of that work.

It is in theory self-contained, with a lengthy introductory chapter
on the anatomy and physiology of speech production and chapters on sound sources, resonances of the vocal tract, and auditory processing of speechlike sounds that provide the background for chapters devoted to the various major types of speech sounds. However, a full understanding requires a fair background in mathematics, physics, and electrical engineering. The book is nonetheless lucidly written.

The closest that I can come to criticism is that the title is slightly misleading. "The Acoustics of Speech Production" might have been a better title. The emphasis is on elucidating the basic principles of the acoustics of speech production rather than on describing the details of the production of particular speech sounds; it is not a compendium of the acoustic properties of all known speech sounds. Similarly, unlike some books with titles like "Acoustic Phonetics", it does not attempt to teach the reader how to conduct acoustic phonetic research.

This book has no competitor. No other work provides such a comprehensive view of the acoustics of speech production with such a depth of analysis. It will be the standard reference in the field for many years to come.

magnificent, tour de force, masterly technical analysis
Stevens' treatise carries Fant's classic of 1960 up to date, and to a more linguistic level in describing the essential, basic acoustic features of speech. The mathematics are beyond me but I expect to find answers to anyquestion I have about the acoustics of speech communication forexplanations in my own book. J.M. Pickett ... Read more

Product Description
This book is part of a series that forms an expertly structured and comprehensive method of studying acoustic guitar; it has been compiled by the Registry Of Guitar Tutors. This volume includes essential chords, scales, strumming patterns, fingerstyle studies and attractive well-known melodies, plus chapters on musical knowledge, accompaniment playing and aural exercises to develop your musical abilities making it ideal for novice players, whether children or adults, in the early stages of learning. The book is cleverly designed so that it can be used by both fingerstyle and plectrum players. ... Read more

Product Description

The Acoustic Emission (AE) technique uses ad hoc transducers to detect AE events caused by crack growth in structures under external loading. This technique is similar to the one employed in earthquake control, where seismic waves reach the monitoring stations placed on the surface of the Earth. And although they take place on different scales, these two phenomena – damage in structural materials and earthquakes in geophysics – are very similar. In both cases a release of elastic energy from sources located inside a medium occurs.

Both earthquakes and AE signals can be seen as critical phenomena and follow the Guttenberg-Richter frequency-magnitude relationship under a wide variety of conditions. The number of earthquakes and AE signals scale as a power-law of the area of the rupture zone, where fractal scaling is proposed for the spatial and temporal distributions of earthquakes and AEs. In addition, earthquakes can be taken as an example of the notion of self-organized criticality, since this idea describes the spontaneous organization of the dynamics of a system towards a very particular state, analogous to the critical point found in equilibrium phase transitions. It is also pointed out that brittle failure phenomena, as identified through AE monitoring in concrete, masonry and rocks, can be considered as critical phenomena.

This volume includes contributions from internationally recognized experts in the areas of seismicity and acoustic emission, presented at the Post-Conference Workshop on “Acoustic Emission and Critical Phenomena: From Structural Mechanics to Geophysics” (Catania, Italy, 22 June 2007) during the 6th International Conference on Fracture Mechanics of Concrete and Concrete Structures (FraMCoS-6). Acoustic Emission and Critical Phenomena: From Structural Mechanics to Geophysics is divided into two parts: Acoustic Emission and Critical Structural States (Part 1), and Seismic Mechanics and Critical Behaviours (Part 2). The book brings together the state-of-the-art in areas ranging from the mechanics of materials to geophysics, and outlines the potential of the AE technique in terms of practical applications (non-destructive testing and failure evaluation) and theoretical developments (critical phenomena in complex systems). The book will proof to be invaluable to civil and geotechnical engineers, and to researchers working in the areas of mechanics of materials, geophysics, and nondestructive measurements and testing.

Product Description

When one listens to music at home, one would like to have an acoustic impression close to that of being in the concert hall. Until recently this meant elaborate multi-channelled sound systems with 5 or more speakers. But head-related stereophony achieves the surround-sound effect in living room with only two loudspeakers. By virtue of their slight directivity as well as an electronic filter the limitations previously common to two-speaker systems can be overcome and this holds for any arbitrary two-channel recording. The book also investigates the question of how a wide and diffuse sound image can arise in concert halls and shows that the quality of concert halls decisively depends on diffuse sound images arising in the onset of reverberation. For this purpose a strong onset of reverberation is modified in an anechoic chamber by electroacoustic means. Acoustics and Hearing proposes ideas concerning signal processing in the auditory system that explain the measured results and the resultant sound effects pleasing to the audience.

Product Description
Acoustics is the science that deals with the production, control, transmission, reception, and effects of sound. The study of sound and vibration is critical to the engineer designing automobiles and aircraft as well as those mapping out a concert hall or reconfiguring a stereo system. More than any other book currently available, this important text provides coverage of both the fundamentals and applications of acoustics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Acoustics
Mr. Blackstock, a professor at the University of Texas, told me about this book. This book gives a good foundation into acoustics.I would recommend this book to anyone with a science, engineering or mathematics background who is interested in learning acoustics.

Not finished yet.
Having only got through the first few pages I can say that it is well written and written in a style that explains everything clearly.
No complaints at all.

A fairly practical book for a complex topic
I knew I liked this book when I read section C of the introduction:

"How is the wave equation derived? Three common physical systems that carry waves - the electrical transmission line, the flexible string, and the compressible fluid - are considered in this section."

I needed a practical book to help me when I somehow volunteered myself to perform some acoustic experiments at work. They kind of said "Hey, you're a physicist. Can you do this?" And then I said "Uh... sure." I read through what I could find in Halliday and Resnick, a book I like for its simplicity. But then I needed something more complicated, so I bought Morse and Ingard, which was way too much. Then I found this book.

And its a good thing I did. The book uses the wave equation to solve each of these problems, and if you pay attention, you can assemble a nice, general approach to solving problems of this nature, and you'll have a list of analogous variables when you're done. The whole book is written like this. It's not an ASM Handbook by any means, but it is more practical than Morse and Ingard, has more drawings and diagrams, and I was surprised to find one of the cleanest, simplest descriptions of Bessel functions I've seen yet. The book addresses the complex problems without doing endless integrals, and it whenever possible it works through the problem and doesn't rely on phrases like "the reduction of step X to step Y is left as an exercise for the student" in its derivations. I appreciate this - it makes the book more friendly as a reference text.

Also, when I was a graduate student I never paid attention to literature references in text books because I (naively) considered them to be outdated. But a literature search is one of the best tools I have available to me in the working world - if you have access to a literature database, you will find the literature references at the end of some chapters to be very useful.

Consider it a useful reference text, and probably a practical textbook as well.

Best intro to acoustics for engineers especially
This book is geared towards graduate and upper undergraduate students in physics and engineering.The first nine chapters of the book are restricted to plane waves. Thus the first half of the book introduces the reader to a wide variety of acoustical concepts such as propagation, reflection, transmission, refraction, normal modes, horn theory, absorption, and dispersion. All the while, the first half of the book keeps mathematical complexity to a minimum. The second half of the book relies more on advanced mathematics and is a survey of advanced topics dependent on the reader understanding the first nine chapters of the book. For the second half of the book, it will be helpful if you know calculus as well as differential equations. Each chapter has plenty of exercises so you can practice what you've learned.

Although the coverage is not as broad as Kinser's book on acoustics, this book does a much better job of explaining the foundations of acoustics including the math, which can get quite involved. I really love how Blackstock makes use of figures when explaining concepts and adding in the mathematics to the figure explanation in a way that you will remember the material. My advice is that if you are looking for a good introduction to acoustics, this is the book to read. Once you conquer this and you want something broader that goes into such topics as nonlinear acoustics and underwater acoustics, you probably want to look at Kinsler's "Fundamentals of Acoustics". The following is the table of contents:

1.Introduction
2.Detailed Development of the Acoustical Wave Equation.
3.Reflection and Transmission of Normally Incident Plane Waves of Arbitrary Waveform.
4.Normal Incidence Continued: Steady-State Analysis.
5.Transmission Phenomena: Oblique Incidence.
6.Normal Modes in Cartesian Coordinates: Strings, Membranes, Rooms, and Rectangular Waveguides.
7.Horns.
8.Propagation in Stratified Media.
9.Propagation in Dissipative Fluids: Absorption and Dispersion.
10. Spherical Waves.
11. Cylindrical Waves.
12. Waveguides.
13. Radiation from a Baffled Piston.
14. Diffraction.
15. Arrays.

Wonderful Book
I think this is one of the best books on Physical Acoustics.
I would recommend this book to anyone starting to learn acoustics. This statement does not mean that advanced students should not go for this book, as it also covers advanced materials.

My opinion about the book can resumed as follows:

- Clear and concise
- Very good presentation
- Relatively easy to follow
- Very good for self-studying (plan to study the book is recommended by the author)
- There is a derivation (or instructions on how to get) to almost every equation in the book.
- Not too theoretical. Many practical interpretations of the mathematical results are given. (percentage of mathematics well balanced)
- The author makes apparently difficult material simple!

From this book one can jump to more advanced texts (Theoretical Acoustics by Morse and Ingard and Acoustics - An Introduction to its Physical Principles and Applications by Pierce).

Fundamentals of Acoustics by Kinsler et al is also a good book for a beginner, but I think this one is much better.

Moral of the story, I really like this book!

Ps: This is an opinion of a beginner on Physical Acoustics more interested in air applications, that never had lessons about this topic. I don't know if my opinion will change as my knowledge on this field increases:) I doubt it! ... Read more

Product Description
Being unplugged doesn't mean you're without power. Develop the agility and strength that will give your performances power by making them appear effortless. All music in each 96-page book is shown in TAB and standard notation and recorded on the accompanying CD and/or DVD for demonstration and playing along. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great teaching book
This is a great teaching book with a lot of theory.I wish that I had gotten the one with a CD or DVD but it is still very helpful.I highly recommend it.Amazon makes it so easy to buy something.Thanks! ... Read more