Title:
Improvisation with Helmholtz' double siren

Description:
Hermann von Helmholtz, in his famous book "On the Sensations of Tone", describes an experimental double siren that he used to investigate how the ear perceives beats, difference tones, and the consonance and dissonance of musical intervals. In May 2007, Martin Carlé restored the siren to operation and demonstrated it at the Workshop "Klang und Ton -- Fortschritte in der Erfüllung von Helmholtzens Vermächtnis", which took place at Humboldt University in Berlin. As the conference drew to a close, I wrapped up my talk and then ran my fingers across the beautifully crafted wood and brass instrument. Martin offered to let me play it -- how could I resist the lure of the siren's song! Here is the resulting improvisation...

Author:
sethares

Tags:
beating, dissonance, double, Helmholtz, Humboldt, just, Kulturtechnik, microtone, siren, Tonempfindung, tuning, University,