Every acoustic instrument reduces to a source feeding a modifier that yields an output

Evidence

Any acoustic instrument has two main components: … For the purposes of our simple model, the sound source is known as the “input” and the sound modifiers are known as the “system.” The result of the input passing through the system is known as the “output.” … This model provides a framework within which the acoustics of musical instruments can be usefully discussed, reviewed and understood. Notice that the “output” relates to the actual output from the instrument, which is not that which the listener hears since it is modified by the acoustics of the environment in which the instrument is being played. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1056

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the input/system/output decomposition that frames the whole chapter.
• XREF: connects to: All stringed instruments share a source-modifier acoustic model; Every stringed instrument is analyzable as a sound source plus modifiers — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1092; Every musical sound results from a source plus a filtering modifier — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2592 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Musical instrument acoustics reduce to a source-modifier model #corroborates (0.98)
• Musical instruments are analyzed as input through a modifying system to output #corroborates (0.96) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1081
• Every stringed instrument is analyzable as a sound source plus modifiers #expands (0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1092
• All stringed instruments share a source-modifier acoustic model #expands (0.93)
• All musical instruments and voices share a source-filter acoustic structure #expands (0.92) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2592
• Every musical sound results from a source plus a filtering modifier #expands (0.90) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2592
• Wind instruments divide into reed and non-reed sound-source types #expands (0.82) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1160
• Room acoustics act as another system modifying the instrument’s output #expands (0.78)
• What a listener hears differs from an instrument’s raw output #complicates (0.72) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1082