Neandertal flute revisited

The 11 April 1997 Issue of Science has a picture of the Neandertal
flute fragment on page 205. The age is given as between 43,400 and 67000
years, based on the dating (by methods unspecified) of sediments above
and below the the flute's layer.

I haven't read Fink's book or essay "The Origin of Music," so I can't
comment on why he thinks that this sequence or diatonic sequences in
general follow the harmonic series. I tried to read his web page via
Lynx -- an interesting, if frustrating experience. If anyone missed the
earlier discussion, Fink's web page is at
http://www.webster.sk.ca/greenwich/fl-compl.htm

Anyway, Fink and the discussion in Science mention work suggesting that
newborn infants prefer consonant to dissonant tone combinations. I've
also read that they prefer their mother's speech (or at least her speech
sounds) suggesting that near term fetuses can hear in utero (shades of
L.Ron Hubbard and his "engrams"). If this were so, musical preferences
should be culture-specific. I've read elsewhere that young children
show no preference for consonant chords accompanying simple melodies.
Any up on this area?

I did get a chance to see the April Discover and was amused by the
mastodon tusk tuba (tusks are mostly solid ivory), windchimes, etc.
Clever....

--John




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I recommend you contact one of my colleagues here in California:

Antonio Barata
CalPoly State University

di545@academic.calpoly.edu


He has worked with these issues at great length, and was involved with
the construction of a new Perf. Arts Center on his campus. He's a great
source of info., and can also put you in touch with the other folks
in the field.

-- Brian Belet

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Two good halls that I have heard recently are at the Eastman School and the
remodeled concert hall at the College-Conservatory at the University of
Cincinnati.
rbs

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''Little'' Bridges Hall of Music at Pomona College (Claremont, CA) is an
extraordinary place for hearing both chamber and large ensemble musics and
quite beautiful to look at as well. There is not much of a backstage, but
that could be solved in a number of ways; too, the organ console could be
better placed.

However, in general, I find that a 500-600 seat hall is a curious beast. A
recital hall for chamber music is probably optimal at 150-250 seats. An
professional orchestral hall will probably demand - for economic reasons -
a capacity of well over 600. If the target is to play classical repertoire,
then I would look seriously at those halls in Salzburg, Vienna, Prague
where the repertoire was premiered (how about ''historical performance
practice'' for concert hall architecture?*). If the needs are very diverse
it might be worthwhile looking at the mistakes (and some successes) made by
IRCAM in attempting to design a flexible space. If recording is very
important I would look at the Sendesaal of Hessischer Rundfunk in
Frankfurt, which seats around 600, sounds great, but feels like a cross
between an airplane hanger and a basketball court.

In any case, sound isolation is extremely important, the climate control
must have the ability to be shut down immediately and noiselessly
(Heinz-Klaus Metzger has quipped that Webern was the last composer to
compose before the advent of air conditioned concert halls), the chairs
should be comfortable, and glass walls never work in concert halls. And by
all means, if there is to be an organ, put it in an appropriate tuning,
with split keys if needed.

* One historical practice germane to the tuning list that might be worth
reviving is the use of resonant cavities in the walls or under the stage
floor to amplify particular frequencies. _The New Grove_ article on
acoustics describes some of these. With automated controls it should be
possible to modify the dimensions of such cavities to optimize the hall for
individual concerts or even pieces.

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