Midterm

Pythagoras first calculated the mathematical ratios of the intervals within the harmonic series using an instrument called the _____________________ .

monochord

The principle that the universe expresses itself in numbers, visual angles, shapes, and sounds, all connected within patterns of proportion is ________________________.

musica universalis

The four points at which electricity may be used in the operation of electrophones are sound activation, mechanical action, ____________, and memory storage.

sound generation

A complex system of relating certain emotional and spiritual characteristics to certain scale patterns is best defined as _________________.

ethos of modes

How many modes was Gregorian chant divided into?

8

What does the modern piano (developed in the nineteenth century) have that the original piano (developed in the eighteenth century) does not?

A cast iron frame

What is involved in the basic process of engraving?

A combination of tools cuts music into a metal plate that is then inked for printing

Monophony is a texture of two or more musical lines played simultaneously.

False

This important compositional form was developed in 1265; it layered new secular, popular texts on top of old sacred chants:

Motet

This discovery in Syria in the early 1950s contains fragments of the oldest written song.

The Sumerian clay tablets

The harmonic series is a sequence of pure tones in which the frequency of each is an integer multiple of the ___________.

fundamental

This instrument was invented in the third century BCE by Ctesibius of Alexandria; never meant to be an expressive instrument, it was used in theaters, state ceremonials, weddings, and the Roman circus accompanying gladiatorial combats.

Hydraulis

Which of the following was NOT a change brought about by the new print culture of the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries?

Ideas kept secret under lock and key

The earliest use of stage machinery developed into a common plot device that we call:

Deus ex machina

Some modern types of graphic notation as well as other forms of notation (like waveform and MIDI styles) of the twentieth century owe their development to several modern innovations. Which of the following is NOT one of those innovations?

Mensural notation

Madrigal composers began in the late sixteenth century to write works explicitly for a soloist with accompaniment and led to which notational development?

Figured bass

The earliest computer-based notation systems had a user-friendly, graphic interface.

False

Which of the following is NOT a musical advancement that appeared during the Italian Trecento?

Rejection of accidentals

Which of the following was the traditional way the ancient Greeks structured melody?

The rise and fall of the melody followed the rise and fall of inflection in normal Greek pronunciation

Why was the original printing process for music called a "two-impression process"?

A staff of horizontal lines was printed in a first impression; then, the musical designs (cast in type so that they could be printed at any position on the staff), were printed in a separate impression

What is the accompanying bass section that read figured bass and was first developed in the late sixteenth century called?

Basso continuo

Symbols called neumes were used to indicate the exact pitches within each syllable of plainchant.

False

Which style of sacred chant influenced the use of the rhythmic modes?

Florid organum

This composer eliminated the necessity of placing notes in ligature patterns (or rhythmic modes) since each notehead was an independent, durational unit of sound or silence.

Franco of Cologne

This style of notation includes a collection of attempts at conveying musical concepts or performance instructions that are beyond the capabilities of standard notation.

Graphic notation

How was Gregorian chant transferred between communities before printing machines were used in 1473 to publish complete music pages?

Hand-drawn manuscripts existed for centuries before printing and worked alongside oral traditions and new teaching systems

Which of the following music notation conventions did isorhythm solidify the need for?

Meter and time signatures

Which of the following did NOT appear for the first time during the Renaissance?

Music of the goliards

In 800, Charlemagne decreed the replacement of diverse, local plainchant traditions with Gregorian chant to consolidate his power.

True

This composer's work of the Ars nova made notation of extremely complex rhythmic patterns on multiple hierarchical, metric levels possible. We call this notational style mensural notation.

Philippe de Vitry

Overall, the changes made to orchestral instruments during the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries centered on improving which characteristics of performance?

Power, consistency, and control

This discovery in 2008 indicates that humans had a musical, "harmonic" tradition that could have contributed to the maintenance of larger social networks, which may have helped facilitate the territorial expansion of modern humans.

The cave bone flute

Which of the following contributed to the downfall of the Ballard family printing monopoly in France?

They were so confident in their materials and methods, they did not replace them with newer technology

Which of the following instruments would NOT have been considered a solo or melodic instrument in the opera-influenced music of the seventeenth century?

Trombone

During the late fifteenth century, moveable-type printing was combined with which other printing method to provide the elaborate letter design in liturgical collections?

Woodcut printing