"He who understands nothing but chemistry does not truly understand chemistry either"
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799)
Music is not purely a form of art. There is a great deal of science that goes behind the production of beautiful musical sounds. In order to understand how music is possible, one must have an understanding of physics. Physics allows us to create musical instruments with different tone qualities and the ability to be played in a certain way to produce a specific pitch or note. Music is sound, and sound is vibrations or waves that are at the right frequency to be perceived by the human ear. Audible vibrations are waves with a frequency between 16 and 20,000 vibrations per second. So what causes sound waves? Sound waves are caused by a disturbance in an elastic medium. These can include the strings on a violin, the reed on a clarinet, and even the human vocal cords. Click on the links below to discover how science makes it possible to create a variety of musical sounds.
Stringed instruments produce sound when an action such as plucking or bowing causes them to vibrate. When a string is fixed at both ends, two transverse waves will move from the left and right side of the disturbance. When the waves hit the fixed ends of the string, they bounce back and continue to vibrate until they are eventually stopped by friction and "leaks" through the fixed points. It can be proved with mathematics that standing waves are the only stable vibrations that are possible for a string with two fixed ends. Because these waves are standing waves, the only possible wavelengths are found by 2L/n, where L is the length of the string and n is the harmonic number, which is can be any integer describing the mode of the stret...
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...of valves that attach to additional tubing. When the valves are pressed additional lengths of tubing are inserted into the airway of the horn to lower the pitch.
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Askill, John. Physics of Musical Sounds. Litton Educational
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Fletcher, Neville H. and Rossing, Thomas D. The Physics of
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Harder, Paul O. and Steinke, Greg A. Basic Materials in
Music Theory. Prentice Hall. 2000.
Levarie, Siegmund and Levy, Ernst. Tone: A Study in
Musical Acoustics. Kent State University Press. 1968.
Roederer, Juan G. The Physics and Psychophysics of Music:
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Serway, Raymond A. and Beichner, Robert J. Physics for
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It was proposed that if the length of the PVC pipes were to increase, then the sound produced will have a lower amplitude each time because the sound will lose energy as it continues in the pipe for a certain amount of time. However, the data actually showed that with every increase in pipe length, the amplitude got louder as well, thus refuting the hypothesis. These results made sense because what was created inside the PVC pipes was a standing still sound wave, or a resonance wave. These kinds of waves have certain locations on its wavelength in order for the change in sound to be heard, which it usually half a wavelength. With this, the tuning fork is 83.3Hz and a usual wavelength is about 300Hz, 300/83.3 = 3.6 meters, which is about 4 meters (half = 2 meters). So for the change in sound to be heard, the pipes had to be about 2 meters in change according to the frequency of the tuning
Oxford’s dictionary defines music: as vocal or instrumental sounds or both, combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. Music, as a form of expression and communication, comes in many forms and styles: classical, folk, country, rock, and electronic
Most people are familiar with the word "music", however they barely consider the definition of it. After carefully think, everyone has their own opinions on this term and it is hard to have an uniform criterion of music sounds. According to the text book, Michael B. Bakan states five propositions to define the music. The first one is about the tone and the second one talks about the music is organized in some way. The next two are claims that music is human organized and a product of human intention and perception. The last proposition argues music cannot separate from Western culture. Among these propositions, I think the music is a product of human intention and perception is most interesting and worth to discuss. So I assert that the most
The theremin is an electronic musical instrument that is played using electrical fields. When it was first introduced, people were shocked to see this instrument that could be played without even touching it. The theremin unsually is tuned so that it has a range of three and a half octaves. The theremin's operation is based on the theory of beat frequencies. Two antennas stick out on each side. Usually a vertical antenna is located on the right which controls the pitch. The closer the players hand is, the higher the pitch. A horizontal loop antenna is located on the left and controls the volume. The closer the hand is, the louder the volume.
A timpani is one of the percussion instruments that has a definite pitch. They are also struck by a mallet on the surface of the drum, which is made out of calfskin and is stretched over a copper shell.(1) When analyzing the mallets many notice that they are home made. Timpani’s come in all different sizes, which determines the change in the pitch. They can come in sizes such as a thirty-two inch, twenty-nine inch, twenty-sixth inch, twenty-three inch and the smallest is a twenty inch, which is a higher pitch than the larger timpani’s.(2) Some sound characteristics of a timpani might be evaluated by words such as powerful, deep, booming, or hollow. Timpani’s also create their sound by a petal located at the bottom of the
Music has been around since the dawn of time, ever since man first inhabited this planet we have learned to communicate in ways other then conventional speaking. Different Cultures all have there own specific way of communicating through music. Music is basically broken into two specific groups Eastern Music and Western Music. Eastern music is mainly derived from the orient and India. While, Western music first emerged from Europe. Western music has developed in many ways since the middle ages through its form, sound, and message.
Music is something that I believe we could not live without. There is a quote by a philosopher named Friedrich Nietzschethat says “without music, life would be a mistake”. I interpret this to mean that humans would not be creative if it were not for music. There is a reason that music can take us where word cannot. When you hear so many different sounds coming together to make a perfect harmony it is obvious that no words can make you feel the same way as the music. The best thing about music is that there are literally too many genres to choose from. There are different genres of music for any mood you are in. The origins behind these different genres is an interesting and rich history that is begging to be studied and written about. Let me explain....
Music is an art that combines vocal and instrumental sounds to produce something that gives different emotions to the listeners. Music can make a person sad, happy and romantic at the same time. Playing an instrument is also a music, not only singing a song. I had this misunderstanding that music has the song and the musical instrument included in it. But I realized that musical instruments have more importance and beauty than a song including in it.
Since the earliest days of human civilization music has been a key tool for communication of stories which carried emotions through them. If we think back to our youngest years of life music has surrounded us whether it was from our parents singing us lullabies or from some sort of toy that played music we can say that musical melodies have helped shape or lives one way or another. Once we start growing up and figuring out who we are our musical preferences change; some people like classical and some like punk. We start to befriend people who like the same music as us and eventually we may attend a musical event. Our lives somewhat revolve around the music that we listen to.
What does music mean to you? Music is something that has been around for many years. It started out as just some drums and a few instruments, but has changed a lot over time. The dictionary defines music as “an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.” When I think of music I think of it has a story combined with instrumental sounds. Over the years, it has changed so much, some for the good and the bad. There are many different types of music and different emotions it will bring.
The vibration of the strings of a guitar causes the sound wave, but is not actually what you are hearing. The amplification of the sound wave is what is actually heard. The differences in the tension of the stings and the mass of the strings affect the pitch of the sound produced. The ends of each string are nodes, or where the wave does not travel from its initial position. The note you hear from the string is actually the first harmonic of the wave; other harmonics created when plucking a string form the undertones and overtones of a note. The waves on a guitar string are transverse waves, meaning they travel perpendicular to the original position. The waves are also standing waves, because they remain in the same position.
It has been scientists' belief that music must have been present in the ancestral population prior to the dispersal of humans around the world. Therefore it is believed that music must have been in existence for at least 50,000 years, with the first music being invented in Africa and then evolving into becoming a fundamental constituent of human life. Any culture of music is influenced by the aspect of their culture, including their social and economic organization, climate, and access to technology. People express their emotions and ideas through their music. Music expresses the situations and how music is listened to and played. The attitude towards music players and composers varies between regions and periods of history. Music history" is the distinct subfield of musicology and history which studies music (particularly western art music) from a chronological perspective. ("History of Music")
To fully understand any musical style, one must be able to analyze the various elements of music as they exist in that particular style. In this first musical close-up, we shall briefly describe these elements of music. In subsequent musical close-ups, we shall examine one or another of these elements in greater detail as it pertains to a given style or topic.
Music has been around for thousands of years throughout the world dating all the way back to prehistoric times proven by the digging up of a 9,000-year-old flute that had seven holes drilled into it to create a musical scale in China ("Prehistoric flute music:," 2000). Music went through numerous stages before becoming what we know music as today. The earliest periods of music were the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Periods which took place from the years 500-1760. The next cluster of periods were the Classical, Romantic, and Modern Periods which ended in 1930 to bring us to the most recent periods: Twentieth Century Period and the ongoing Contemporary and Twenty First Century Periods.
Music is one of the few things that has remained constant through the centuries this world has existed. Not only does music provide entertainment, it also has several effects linked to it. Music allows emotions of happiness and sadness to arise. From those emotions, physical effects, negative or positive, can occur. Music has a profound effect on the emotional, social, intellectual, and physical aspects of a person.