The Physics of Sound Waves: Music, Instruments, and Sound Equipment (Second Edition) describes the properties of sound waves as they relate to the production of sound by musical instruments, the perception and interpretation of sound, fast Fourier transform analysis, recording and reproduction of musical sounds, and the quality of sound in both indoor and outdoor environments.

With a nontechnical description of the modern musical scale, musical intervals, and what makes combinations of musical tones sound pleasant or unpleasant, this book outlines what affects the perception of loudness and pitch, and other related topics. Sound equipment, such as microphones, amplifiers, mixers and loudspeakers and ways of connecting musical equipment and devices using hardwired and wireless digital interfaces, including USB, Bluetooth and MIDI. Analysing, synthesizing, recording and storing music are included. The discussion gives special attention to demystifying some of the technical terms and helping the reader understand what the analog and digital specifications of sound equipment mean in terms of performance, quality and value.

Graphics and animations are used to explain sound production in strings, percussion and wind instruments, and this knowledge is applied to describe selected instruments, including examples from various cultures. Each chapter has topics for further discussion and concludes with questions and problems. Solutions for all questions and problems as well as a mathematical description of waves are provided in the appendix.