Musical Instrument Design: Practical Information for Instrument Making

Rating:
Summary: A book that bought unexpected pleasure from dissapointment!
Review: I must say I received this book with much expectancy. I won it as a prize and bought it from this website before there were many reviews. I was expecting it to be instructions for how to make a violin, etc. but I was WRONG. It even says in the introduction that it is not about it. So be warned! However, I decided to read it anyway and what a great book it turns out to be. It covers everything from frequency charts of sound waves to the keywork on flutes and everything in between. I would therefore recommend it to anyone from the expert to beginner as it is so complete. I would give it five but for the bad information about its content which I recieved. That said I just wish it was this cheap when I bought it!

Rating:
Summary: Much more than the cover suggests . . .
Review: I'd give this book a "6" if it were an admissible rating. Hopkin loads this book with literally hundreds of both familiar and newly-created instruments that can be made using simple tools. The instructions are step-by-step. The acoustic explanations are interesting and understandable but not required for success.
I recommend Hopkin's book to hobbyists, tinkerers, those who have failed at making instruments on their own; music, art, or classroom teachers; musicians; and I think, most importantly, composers. For composers, new vistas of tone color, sound production, and tonalities appear - through acoustic instruments - no need for electronic synthesis or sampling!

Rating:
Summary: Much more than the cover suggests . . .
Review: I'd give this book a "6" if it were an admissible rating. Hopkin loads this book with literally hundreds of both familiar and newly-created instruments that can be made using simple tools. The instructions are step-by-step. The acoustic explanations are interesting and understandable but not required for success.
I recommend Hopkin's book to hobbyists, tinkerers, those who have failed at making instruments on their own; music, art, or classroom teachers; musicians; and I think, most importantly, composers. For composers, new vistas of tone color, sound production, and tonalities appear - through acoustic instruments - no need for electronic synthesis or sampling!

Rating:
Summary: A book on practical design principles for instrument making
Review: In my book Musical Instrument Design, I have done my best to provide a good, strong overview of design principles for acoustic instruments of all sorts, filled with loads of practical, hands-on information, generously illustrated. This is the only book that does this: there are many books that offer plans for making specific instruments, but no others that lay out underlying design principles in such a comprehensive way. The book covers the familiar instruments, and a host of new and unusual instruments as well. Scattered throughout the main text and the sidebars are ideas and informal plans for many and diverse instruments you can make. There are appendixes and charts full of practical reference information that will make the book a useful handbook long after the first read-through -- for instance, there's a chart laying out frequencies and wavelengths for pitches through the musical range, another chart giving the essentials for various western and non-western musical! scales, an appendix devoted to tools and materials with an extensive where-to-find listing, and much more. I've tried to make the writing accessible and friendly without sacrificing seriousness of purpose, and the math, where it appears, has been kept pretty benign. My qualifications for writing this books: My own explorations in instrument-making have been extensive and highly varied, and I have both the successes and the failures in abundance to show for all that I've learned. More importantly, for the last fourteen years I have been the publisher and editor of the quarterly journal Experimental Musical Instruments. In the course of that work, I've been in constant contact with musical instrument makers of all sorts, as well as acousticians, scholars and theoreticians -- lots of truly skilled, knowledgeable and creative people. Generous, too. I have them to thank for much of what you'll find in my writings on the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Good overview
Review: This book gives a good overview of the phisics of sound making.
A nice guide for every body who want to experience with musical instruments and design or adjust his own.

Rating:
Summary: A Musical Revelation
Review: This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in acoustics and musical instruments. As a non-musician and someone who never thought he could be musical, I found Hopkin's book an absolute revelation. I never learned this much in college music appreciation courses or junior high school band. I plan to use my newly gained knowledge in acoustics, scales, and materials to build instruments for Christmas gifts this year. If you're tinkering with instrument building or just want to learn more about how instruments make musical sounds don't let this one get away.

Rating:
Summary: Good read for teachers and artistes.
Review: This volume covers enough theory and practice in construction of various wind, percussion, and other noisemakers for any artist or teacher to begin exploring novel musical instruments. There's just enough technical information to whet one's whistle, and a freewheeling discussion of materials and methods. For the musician who wants a new toy, decriptions of history and function have enough detail for success on the first try. Teachers will probably find it a good source for stimulating creativity in just about any age group. Check it out!