Introduction Have you ever wondered why you have been moved from your "usual" spot during a rehearsal or performance? In a community band, we are a diverse collective of instruments and experience levels. Consequently, finding the perfect seating arrangement is as much a science as it is an art form. Where we sit isn’t just about who we want to chat with during the interval; rather, it is the "secret sauce" that defines our collective sound. How do we optimise the acoustic en

We know that the pitch of a musical note (how high or low the tone sounds) is almost entirely determined by the frequency of vibration of the sound. Frequencies in the range  between about 27.5 Hz and 4,186 Hz (you might recognise this as the pitch range of a standard piano) sound essentially “musical” to the human ear. The most "verifiable" and elegant fact in music science is that our perception of pitch is logarithmic, not linear . The musical note identified as A2 has a

Proud Mary was John Fogerty’s first serious attempt at writing a song, penned in celebration of his release from the army. Released in 1969, it peaked at number two in the US Billboard Hot 100. However, Ike and Tina Turner’s version of 1971 was even more successful. Did you notice that the music starts with a repeated pair of chords descending by a third? Beethoven’s Fifth meets gospel! Interestingly, John had yet to see the Mississippi at the time he wrote the song! John F