Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society

Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society is an annual peer-reviewed periodical published by the American Musical Instrument Society that covers organology and the study of historical and ethnographic musical instruments. The journal connects scholarship associated with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Conservatoire de Paris, and engages researchers linked to universities like Harvard University, Oxford University, Yale University, University of Cambridge, and University of California, Berkeley.

History

The journal was inaugurated in the 1970s amid broader developments in musicology and material culture studies involving figures associated with the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the Royal College of Music, the New England Conservatory, the International Council of Museums, and the Society for Ethnomusicology. Early editorial leadership drew contributors from collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Music Museum, the Peabody Institute, the Morgan Library & Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The journal’s trajectory intersects with major exhibitions and projects such as those organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the British Library, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Royal Danish Library.

Scope and Contents

The journal publishes research on historical instruments, organological method, instrument construction and conservation, iconography, performance practice, and ethnographic contexts connected to institutions like the Bodleian Libraries, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, the Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia, and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Typical articles examine makers and workshops (for example, studies referencing Antonio Stradivari, Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Adolphe Sax, Willemje van der Bosch, and Christoph Denner), instrument repertoires associated with ensembles such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and material studies akin to research conducted at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Each issue often contains reviews of exhibitions at venues like the Royal Academy of Arts, the National Gallery of Art, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and the Musée de la Musique.

Editorial Structure and Publication Details

The editorial board historically includes scholars affiliated with Indiana University Bloomington, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Yale University, University of Edinburgh, King's College London, Royal College of Music, and the Conservatoire de Paris. The publisher, the American Musical Instrument Society, coordinates peer review and production alongside partners such as the University of Illinois Press and printing services used by institutions like the University of Chicago Press and the Cambridge University Press. Production cycles align with academic calendars alongside conferences held by the American Musicological Society, the International Musicological Society, the Historic Brass Society, and the Galpin Society.

Indexing and Reception

The journal is indexed or cited in bibliographies and databases used by scholars at the Library of Congress, the British Library, the National Diet Library (Japan), RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, and the MLA International Bibliography. Its reception among curators and researchers has been noted in reviews by the New York Times, coverage in the Times Literary Supplement, and citations in monographs from presses including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press, and Routledge. The journal’s influence is visible in museum catalogues produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Musée du Louvre, and in project reports from the Getty Conservation Institute and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Notable Articles and Contributions

Notable contributions include technical studies on string instrument varnish referencing research by laboratories at the Max Planck Institute, organcase analyses tied to archives at the Bodleian Libraries, brass instrument typologies related to collections at the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali, and field reports from ethnomusicologists working with communities represented in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the British Museum, and the National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico). Influential authors have included scholars with links to Curtis Institute of Music, Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Special issues and articles have intersected with projects on makers such as Antonio Stradivari, Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Heinrich Steinweg (Henry E. Steinway), and Adolphe Sax, and with exhibition catalogues for shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Category:Academic journals Category:Music journals Category:American Musical Instrument Society