mem@sii.UUCP (Mark Mallett) (08/25/83)
b Can anybody tell me, or point me to literature describing, why certain combinations of tones are pleasing and some aren't? That is, I'd like to know some of the physics of harmony. For instance, why are major thirds, fourths, fifths & major triads pleasant? I can tell the ratio of the frequencies of all the notes involved, and that the base-10 logarithms of those ratios are rather interesting. Any real information would be appreciated. Mark E. Mallett decvax!sii!mem
tab@ihuxl.UUCP (08/26/83)
A treatment of this subject in incredible detail can be found in the
book On the Sensations of Tone (as a Physiological Basis for the
Theory of Music) by Hermann Helmholtz. Although it was written over
a century ago, it still seems to be the main text at the intersection
of music, physiology, and psychoacoustics. A paperback version in
English is published by Dover. I would also expect any reasonable-
sized library to have it.
T. A. Burrows
Bell Labs - Indian Hill