Originally Posted by
markscarts
Dr. Cohen, my understanding then is that my last two questions can't be simply answered. Your best advice is that the OP or I should not entertain such questions on an internet forum, but rather read the articles referenced in $90.00 worth of books. Also, it seems that you feel the need to denigrate everyone here by suggesting that "everyone believes they are physicists when in fact they are not." Misconceptions such as, "I'll take exception to the statement above that vibrations are carried by air" cannot be addressed, because it is more important to belittle the non-physicists that contribute to the discussion.
I would very much love to read the articles you referenced, and perhaps some day I shall. In the meantime, let me make some uneducated observations.
I can skin a calf, make a thong from a piece of the hide, and string it under tension between the ends of a stick, making a crude bow. When I pluck the thong, it makes a sound that I like. I pluck it in time to my brother's blowing on a jug. All is well, but I discover that when I turn a washtub over and firmly plant one end of the bow on the bottom of the tub, the resulting sound is louder and of a different character; I like it. I much prefer the volume and tone. While physics has everything to do with what's going on with sound, I am not required to have a degree in physics to know that my purpose in adding the washtub is to increase the volume and color the sound I'm getting from my bow.
I submit that illustrates the most basic form of most portable stringed instruments - a stick, a string and a resonator, usually hollow: A gourd, a hollow log, a washtub. Why is the resonating chamber there? One reason is to increase the volume. Therefore, I disagree not with any of the experts here, but with folk who post that the soundbox of a mandolin does not serve to amplify the sound, as I read in a recent thread. Likewise, those who post that no sound comes from soundholes are in error, and those who do not seem to understand that sound waves travel through the air are in error. That's no shame to them, but it seems a bit shameful to me that these things can't be addressed except by referring us to scholarly articles.
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