Recent interests have been mainly in the field of musical acoustics, specifically concerned with the oscillation mechanisms of musical instruments such as violins, clarinets and flutes. In collaboration with my colleague Professor Steve Garoff and Professor Jim Woodhouse of Cambridge University, I am investigating the interplay of friction and system dynamics in a system derived from my long term interest in the bowed string. The work is based on the most recent references listed below.

Selected Publications

Woodhouse, J., Schumacher, R. T.  and Garoff, S. G., "Reconstruction of bowing point friction force in a bowed string",  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108: 357-368 (2000)

Schumacher, R. T., and Garoff, S. G, "Bowing with a glass bow", Catgut Acoustical Society Journal, November, 1996. Figures in TIFF format available.

Schumacher, R. T., and Woodhouse, J., "The transient behaviour of models of bowed-string motion", Chaos 5: 509 (1995).

Schumacher, R. T., and Woodhouse, J., "Computer modelling of violin playing", Contemporary Physics, 36: 79 (1995).

Schumacher, R. T., "Measurements of some parameters of bowing", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 96: 1985 (1994).

Schumacher, R.T., "Analysis of Aperiodicities in Nearly Periodic Waveforms", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 91: 438 (1992).

Schumacher, R.T., "Compliances of Wood for Violin Top Plates", J. Acoustic Soc. Am. 84: 1223 (1988).

McIntyre, M.E., Schumacher, R.T. and Woodhouse, J., "On the Oscillations of Musical Instruments", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 74: 1325 (1983).

McIntyre, M.E., Schumacher,  R.T. and Woodhouse, J., "Aperiodicity in Bowed-String Motion", Acustica 49: 13 (1981).

Schumacher, R.T., "Ab Initio Calculations of the Oscillations of a Clarinet", Acustica 48: 71 (1981).

Schumacher, R.T., "Self-Sustained Oscillations of the Bowed String", Acustica 43: 109 (1979).