The Sutton Hoo lyre and the music of the Silk Road: a new find of the fourth century AD reveals the Germanic lyre's missing eastern connections

A recent re-examination of finds from Soviet-era excavations in Dzhetyasar, Kazakhstan, has identified the remains of two wooden objects as stringed instruments. Dating to the fourth century AD, one bears a strikingly close resemblance to lyre finds from Western Europe, including the instrument from Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo: the Sutton Hoo lyre.

Melodic ornamentation from Muffat to Telemann

<p>Writers on 18th-century musical ornamentation have traditionally focused on the execution of notated ornaments, and on certain disputes arising from ambiguous and contradictory primary sources. Less attention has been given to the addition of ornaments where not prescribed by the composer. Such ornaments can be short, defined, patterns such as trills, turns, and mordents, or larger measured or unmeasured additions known as diminutions, divisions, or passaggi. Additions of this nature are only in the rarest of cases compulsory. However, the practice of more or less spontaneous embellishment by the performer was so integral to pre-19th-century musical culture that this must have had a significant effect on composition. The scope of this thesis is loosely defined by its titular composers, covering the period between Georg Muffat‟s later publications in the last years of the 17th century and G.P. Telemann‟s death in 1767. Both lived and worked in the German states, a region which had traditionally looked to Italian models of composition and performance. This period saw a flowering of German composition into its own unique and diverse genre which integrated aspects of various styles, most prominently Italian and French music. This thesis centres on stringed instruments, but is directly relevant to woodwind players. Many aspects are also transferrable to the keyboard and to vocal music; however, these musicians will find a large volume of more targeted research elsewhere.</p>

Melodic ornamentation from Muffat to Telemann

<p>Writers on 18th-century musical ornamentation have traditionally focused on the execution of notated ornaments, and on certain disputes arising from ambiguous and contradictory primary sources. Less attention has been given to the addition of ornaments where not prescribed by the composer. Such ornaments can be short, defined, patterns such as trills, turns, and mordents, or larger measured or unmeasured additions known as diminutions, divisions, or passaggi. Additions of this nature are only in the rarest of cases compulsory. However, the practice of more or less spontaneous embellishment by the performer was so integral to pre-19th-century musical culture that this must have had a significant effect on composition. The scope of this thesis is loosely defined by its titular composers, covering the period between Georg Muffat‟s later publications in the last years of the 17th century and G.P. Telemann‟s death in 1767. Both lived and worked in the German states, a region which had traditionally looked to Italian models of composition and performance. This period saw a flowering of German composition into its own unique and diverse genre which integrated aspects of various styles, most prominently Italian and French music. This thesis centres on stringed instruments, but is directly relevant to woodwind players. Many aspects are also transferrable to the keyboard and to vocal music; however, these musicians will find a large volume of more targeted research elsewhere.</p>

Optimization of Intelligent Tuning System for Stringed Instruments Based on Wireless Sensor Network

With the increasing abundance of material civilization, people’s pursuit of spiritual civilization is also higher and higher. Although tuning is the analysis and processing of sound signal, the string signal is also a kind of sound signal, which follows the basic law of acoustics. In the field of wireless sensor network, this paper introduces the status quo of tuning tools for stringed instruments, analyses the existing problems of tuning tools for mainstream stringed instruments, and puts forward an automatic tuning system based on wireless sensor network. The hardware design of intelligent tuning system based on wireless sensor network includes audio acquisition module, tuning control module driver circuit design and voice broadcast module, and network communication module selection analysis. The software design of intelligent tuning system based on wireless sensor network includes embedded software design and mobile software design. Embedded software design mainly includes system flow design and automatic tuning function design. In this paper, an improved endpoint detection algorithm is used to separate the chord tone from the nonchord tone, and an improved pitch detection algorithm is used to get the accurate pitch frequency of the chord tone signal. The function and performance of the tuning system are tested to verify the reliability of the optimized intelligent tuning system.

ANTONIO SALIERI PEDAGOGICAL SCHOOL

The article deals with the pedagogical school of Antonio Salieri, which was formed in the last quarter of the eighteenth – first quarter of the nineteenth centuries. This school was an artistic phenomenon, given that A. Salieri taught not only one instrument, but a whole set of musical disciplines (composition, counterpoint, conducting, solo and choral singing, harpsichord, stringed instruments, etc.). A. Salieri's School is also unique because of the highest professional level preparation of a whole plaid of talented and even brilliant musicians - Ludwig Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johann Nepomuk Gummel Franz Xaver Süsmayr, Anselm Hüttenbrüsner, Ignaz Carlethal Moscheles. Cavalieri, Anna Milder-Hauntmann, Anna Kraus-Vranitsky, etc. Based on sources and scientific works, the author of the article argues that the contribution of A. Salieri to the music pedagogy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is invaluable. Antonio Salieri's pedagogical legacy is a unique phenomenon – he taught composition, instrumentation, instrument, vocals, counterpoint, homophony, polyphony, and most importantly - musical thinking. Many ingenious composers have left a unique legacy, but not many of them can boast of such a large number of students who have shown themselves in all spheres of musical life in the European world. We will not be mistaken when we say that Antonio Salіeri was unique in this. It is unlikely that the pedagogical legacy of another great musician will include pedagogue and methodologist Johann Nepomuk Hummel, the genius composer of all ages L. Beethoven, one of the first romantics – F. Schubert, vocalists - "opera stars'' Catherine Valba-Kanz, Fortunate Franquette, Amalia Josef-Mozatta. And this list can go on and on because the total number is over sixty.

The Design and Construction of an Expressive Mechatronic Chordophone

<p><b>Mechatronic chordophones are stringed instruments that integrate mechanical components and electronics to make music. These instruments offer precise control over multiple sound parameters and expressive techniques for enhanced musical expression.</b></p> <p>There have been multiple successful mechatronic chordophone designs,from robotic slide guitars to bass guitar robots. Among these designs are plucked string and pitch shifting mechatronic chordophones, which make music by exciting the string with a picking mechanism and selecting musical notes with a pitch shifter mechanism. This configuration enables these systems to enhance their musical performance through pitch-based expressive techniques and micro tonal pitches. </p> <p>However, even if these instruments can achieve speeds and precision beyond the capabilities of a human performer, their expressive capabilities are limited. It is difficult for mechatronic chordophones to perform dynamic variations and expressive techniques,and the presence of extraneous noise usually interferes with their musical performance. Furthermore, it is still challenging for users to control such instruments.</p> <p>We have built two mechatronic chordophones. The first is Protochord, a mechatronic monochord prototype. We used this system as a platform for iterative design to develop new expressive mechatronic chordophone subsystems. The second is Azure Talos,a multi-string mechatronic chordophone designed to outperform other existing systems and to afford a wide array of parameters for musical expression. </p> <p>Our research has led to the development of novel mechatronic chordophone subsystems such as: a revolving picking mechanism with superior dynamic variation capabilities compared to that of other existing designs; a fast and precise robot arm pitch shifting mechanism that affords pitch-based expressive techniques; and an optical pickup that rejects extraneous noise. We have demonstrated the technical capabilities of these designs through quantitative evaluation processes, in many cases providing the first set of quantitative tests in the literature of these types of sub-assemblies and systems. A key aim is to provide standards and benchmarks in evaluation criteria which may be used in the development of new mechatronic chordophones.</p> <p>Finally, we developed strategies to assess Azure Talos' musical capabilities through standard guitar techniques, repertoire examples,and creative musical explorations.</p>

The Design and Construction of an Expressive Mechatronic Chordophone

<p><b>Mechatronic chordophones are stringed instruments that integrate mechanical components and electronics to make music. These instruments offer precise control over multiple sound parameters and expressive techniques for enhanced musical expression.</b></p> <p>There have been multiple successful mechatronic chordophone designs,from robotic slide guitars to bass guitar robots. Among these designs are plucked string and pitch shifting mechatronic chordophones, which make music by exciting the string with a picking mechanism and selecting musical notes with a pitch shifter mechanism. This configuration enables these systems to enhance their musical performance through pitch-based expressive techniques and micro tonal pitches. </p> <p>However, even if these instruments can achieve speeds and precision beyond the capabilities of a human performer, their expressive capabilities are limited. It is difficult for mechatronic chordophones to perform dynamic variations and expressive techniques,and the presence of extraneous noise usually interferes with their musical performance. Furthermore, it is still challenging for users to control such instruments.</p> <p>We have built two mechatronic chordophones. The first is Protochord, a mechatronic monochord prototype. We used this system as a platform for iterative design to develop new expressive mechatronic chordophone subsystems. The second is Azure Talos,a multi-string mechatronic chordophone designed to outperform other existing systems and to afford a wide array of parameters for musical expression. </p> <p>Our research has led to the development of novel mechatronic chordophone subsystems such as: a revolving picking mechanism with superior dynamic variation capabilities compared to that of other existing designs; a fast and precise robot arm pitch shifting mechanism that affords pitch-based expressive techniques; and an optical pickup that rejects extraneous noise. We have demonstrated the technical capabilities of these designs through quantitative evaluation processes, in many cases providing the first set of quantitative tests in the literature of these types of sub-assemblies and systems. A key aim is to provide standards and benchmarks in evaluation criteria which may be used in the development of new mechatronic chordophones.</p> <p>Finally, we developed strategies to assess Azure Talos' musical capabilities through standard guitar techniques, repertoire examples,and creative musical explorations.</p>