Lloyd Loar's "The Physics of Music"

By Mandolin Cafe
March 18, 2008 - 9:00 am

The Physics of Music - Published by Roger H. Siminoff

In the summer of 1943, Lloyd Loar, Professor of Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois was engaged in the teaching of a course entitled "The Physics of Music".

Marion Kerns, a student of Loar's kept a detailed notebook of each of what was to be 12 lectures, with only 11 completed due to Loar's death on September 14, 1943.

The fascinating contents of this notebook are now available thanks to Roger H. Siminoff, who came into its possession among many pieces of memorabilia that Loar's widow Bertha Snyder Loar Westerberg entrusted to his care prior to her death.

Hand-written notes have been retyped verbatim, with annotations by Siminoff to assist the reader. Original diagrams have been scanned and faithfully reproduced in their original form.

Contents cover the basics of musical acoustics, how sound is produced by various instruments, the job of air chambers and apertures, how strings produce sound, what the soundpost in a violin does, and more.

Additional information/purchase:
The Physics of Music, published by Roger H. Siminoff