Recent content by Phil Freihofner

I'm afraid I must disagree with you on an important point here. The confusion of reed as driver versus reed as valve is pernicious and common. The string metaphor does more to confuse the issue than elucidate it in this regard. A better image (than the driver with string) would be if you turn...

Thank you for the *maths* link. Indeed, these are significantly over my head. I have first year calculus but not a whole lot more beyond what I've picked up as a programmer (ragtag of stuff about vector math and matrices). From where I stand, I assume it would take a multi-year commitment to get...

Thank you for the reply! These links certain look like they should help, but they don't seem to, unless I am missing something. The third article you linked contained the following link, "Pipes and Harmonics," saying it discusses the situation in further detail. But I do not see how the...

I have been trying to understand why two woodwind bore shapes behave so differently. My understanding is that one end of a woodwind is an antinode (driven by the reed of the instrument) and the other end is a node (where the tube is open to the atmosphere). a - - - - - - - - - - n In the...

Hi - My name is Phil Freihofner. I live in Albany, CA. I am an alumni of UC Berkeley with an AB in Music. My main interests (pertaining to this site) involve the physics of acoustics, especially as they apply to music in general and the oboe in particular. I am also a Java programmer and am...