XI: Shape, regulation

 

content

From regular measure to „the science of good modulation“

Examples of „modulation“ in English

Definitions in English dictionaries

 

 

From regular measure to „the science of good modulation“

 

It was also Vitruvius who used the verb „modulor“ for regulating sounds and make music, and the variation „modulatio“ twofold: for the calculation of measurements from a standard unit (e. g. Liber 5, Caput 9, 2-3), and for inflection of tone (e. g. 5, 4, 3). Later “modulatio” was used for rhythmical measure and melody.

 

Definitions

 

In Latin „modulatio“ meant:

„I. a regular measure.

I. In gen.: dorica, a marching to time

II. In partic., a rhythmical measure, modulation; hence, singing and playing, melody, in poetry and music“

(Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, 1879)

 

„1 Inflection of tone, modulation.

2 Calculation of measurements from a standard unit.“

(P. G. W. Glare, 1982)

 

In Italian, French and English "modulazione" resp. "modulation" has been used since the 14th century for regulations of voice and singing. Later the meaning was expanded to mean: forming something according to due measure and proportion.

 

The „Science of good modulation“ as applied in archtecture

 

On the application of the “science of good modulation” in Gothic architecture – according to Augustine’s “De musica” (ca. 385) - see Otto Georg von Simson (1952, 10):

„The science of good modulation is concerned with the relating of several musical units according to a module, a measure, in such a way that the relation can be expressed in simple arithmetical ratios. The most admirable ratio, according to Augustine, is that of equality or symmetry, the ratio 1:1, since here the union or consonance between the two parts is most intimate. Next in rank are the ratios 1:2, 2:3, 3:4 ... Augustine uses architecture, as he does music, to show that number, as apparent in the simpler proportions that are based on the 'perfect' ratios, is the source of all aesthetic perfection.“

 

bibliography

Architekturmodelle und Musterhäuser - architectural models and model houses

see also:

Deutungen früherer Architektur – und teilweise auch: der Kunst

 

 

Examples of „modulation“ in English

 

Some nice examples of the use of „modulation“ in English (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) are:

 

Oure lorde ... fillid ... hir lippys with modulacyone (ca. 1450)

 

‚I will sing of thy mercy and judgement’, sayes David;

when we fixe our selves upon the meditation and

modulation of the mercy of God, even his judgements

cannot put us out of tune (1631)

 

To this purpose the infinite wisdom of God ordained Speech, which as it is a sound resulting from the modulation of the Air, has most affinity to the spirit (1674)

 

Strange is the Force of modulated Sound,

That, like a Torrent, sweeps o'er ev'ry Mound! (1721)

 

May the nightly Pow'r,

Which whispers on my Slumbers,

cease to breathe

Her modulating Impulse

through my Soul (1751)

 

The poets of Elizabeth had attained an art of modulation, which was afterwards ... forgotten (1779)

 

There was a touching modulation in these words about her father

that Walter understood too well (Charles Dickens, 1848)

 

We feel, if the drawing be a good one,

that each modulation of the line as our eye passes along it

gives order and variety to our sensations (1909)

 

The emotion that filled her heart

vibrates through every modulation of her voice (1948)

 

 

The use of the English words modulate and modulation in telecommunication – for changing the frequency or amplitude of a carrier wave – starts 1908. The other languages followed soon after.

Since 1939 „modulation“ is also in various use in biology.

 

 

Definitions in English dictionaries

 

In the “New International Dictionary of the English Language” (Funk & Wagnalls, 1987) we read under „modulate“:

 

„1. To vary the tone, inflection, or pitch of

2. To regulate or adjust; temper, soften

3. Music To change or cause to change to a different key

4. To intonate of sing

5. Electronics To alter the frequency or amplitude of (a radio carrier wave)

6. v. i. Electronics To alter the frequency or amplitude of a carrier wave

7. v. i. Music To change from one key to another by using a transitional chord common to both.“

 

In the “Encarta World English Dictionary” (1999) we read under “modulation”:

 

„1. adjustment of sound: adjustment of the tone, pitch, or volume of sound, or of something that produces sound, for example, a musical instrument or the human voice

2. slight alteration: slight alteration that makes something less strong, forceful, or severe

3. Physics process of modulating carrier wave: the process of changing the amplitude or frequency of a wave, used in radio broadcasting to superimpose a sound signal on a continuously transmitted carrier wave.“

 

In „Webster’s Dictionary“ we read under „modulation“:

 

„1: an inflection of the tone or pitch of the voice;
specifically : the use of stress or pitch to convey meaning

2: a regulating according to measure or proportion: tempering

3: a change from one musical key to another by modulating

4: the process of modulating a carrier or signal (as in radio);
also: the result of this process“

 

 

Bibliography

Nachschlagewerke für Begriffsgeschichte