Handbook of Materials for Percussion Musical Instruments

This book describes the properties of materials used for making percussion instruments for classical music played by a symphony orchestra in which the instruments could be played as a soloist instrument or as a group or several groups of instruments, as they are included into a musical work. A chapter is devoted to the bells. The scope of this book is primarily confined to percussion instruments of symphony orchestras taking into account the centuries of musical art and tradition. This book bridges the gap in the technical literature on describing the properties of materials for percussion instruments―timpani, other drums, marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, gong, cymbal, triangle, celesta, castanets.

Dr. Voichita Bucur, currently an adjunct professor at RMIT Melbourne, Australia, received her bachelor in Engineering in 1962 from Polytechnic Institute Brasov, Romania, and her PhD in Mechanics and Ultrasonics in 1984 from the Institut Supérieur des Materiaux, St Ouen, Paris today named Institut  Superieur de Mecanique de Paris, France. Her fields of research encompass development of non-destructive techniques (vibrational, acoustic, ultrasonic, X-rays) for the assessment of the quality of trees, wood products and wood-based composites, mechanical characterisation of materials with non-destructive techniques, wood science and technology, and mechanical characterisation of wood for musical instruments. In 2004, she was awarded the silver medal by Société d’Encouragement du Progrès, France, for contributions to mechanics, acoustics, wood science, education and service to the society. In 2007, she received the distinguish award at 15th International Symposium on Non-destructive Testing of wood, Duluth, Minessota, USA, for contribution to the development of non-destructive techniques for wood and wood-based composites