Introduction:
Sound is actually a pressure wave; it is produced by a mechanical disturbance in the medium (in most cases- air) in which it is openly adjacent to. After the sound is first produced, it continues to disturb adjacent air particles and causes them to vibrate and hence the vibrations travel to the following adjacent air particles and so on like a chain reaction; however as the sound vibrations travel through the air particles, the vibrations and the loudness of the sound grows weaker and hence after a certain distance- the sound seizes to travel any further. Out of the three states of matter, sound is further travelled through gas/air as the particles are more spaced out so the vibrations are greater and freer to move around, hence the sound travels further and faster. Through liquid- sound vibrations are more delayed as the particles feel thicker to travel through and they are closer together hence the vibrations are not so great and the sound does not travel as far neither does it travel as fast. Solids are the hardest for sound to travel through as the disturbance of sound vibrations through the particles are more difficult to travel as the particles of the object/s are more slower/still so the sound is not able to vibrate/travel to its full potential- this is why sound does not travel to far through walls etc. Sound from solids is best exposed by two solids colliding together so that the particles get a stronger vibration and collide heavier with each other; then the stronger vibration travels further through the additional particles of the object and through other particles of matter. The sound waves are produced by the vibration of an object of which causes the air particles surrounding the object to vibrate- they...
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...dals (such as the orchestra harp- has 7 pedals) to alter the pitch. The pedals control other mechanisms inside the neck of the harp and make the tuning discs rotate- tightening the strings and hence produces a higher pitch- these pedals provide the harp with a range of alterable pitches. The smaller sized harps have sharping levers to tighten the strings a half step tighter.
Amplification for the harp is not easily achieved/not straight forward. Amplifying the harp involves two processes- both capturing the sound with a microphone and then using a combination of pre-amplifier/amplifier or a PA to transmit the sound to the listener. Some of the larger harps have the option of plugging an amplifier or a speaker in to it such as a guitar.
Above image of a harp with an amplifier plugged into it.
Below is an image of a harp being amplified through microphone method:
The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether if the sound is affected when it travels through different length pipes. The method used to do this experiment was created by using 5 different PVC pipes in the lengths of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 centimeters. Then, using a tuning fork, sound will be produced on one end of the PVC pipe and measured with a decimeter on the other end. This experiment was recorded using 5 trials for each independent level and the average decibels (dB) for each pipe length were recorded.
Woodwinds (clarinet, oboe, bassoon, etc.) are different from piano in that they require wind (created by the player) to create a tone (using a reed or reeds to create the vibrations needed for sound). In addition to using different techniques to make the reeds vibrate in different ways, the player also changes the tone (creates the notes) by pressing and releasing (using their fingers) keys that are attached along the length of the instrument, or by covering up, then opening, various holes on the instrument.
...the strings, the piano hammers hit the strings, which allows a more mellow, rather than nasal sound to be produced. The hammer size graduates from bass to treble in order to produce the range of pitch available on a piano along with the string size. The harpsichord has different sized strings, but generally uses the same size jacks.
...ype of chain reaction. The pressure wave consists of what is known as compressions and rarefactions. The compression parts are areas of high pressure, where the air molecules are compressed into a small space. On the other hand, the rarefactions are areas of low pressure, where the air molecules are spread out. The result of the compressions and rarefactions is a longitudinal sound wave (Henderson).
The modern piano is an odd mix of instrument types; it’s both a percussive and a string instrument. When a key is pressed, a hammer strikes a string, which produces the note. We know that percussion instruments such as drums were made as far back as we have discovered written documents and probably long before. However, it is more difficult to determine exactly what the string instruments were like. We have some documentation found in the Bible that speak of harps and lyres, but there is no concrete knowledge of tuning or the style of music played; we can only guess at it using what few written sources that survive. However, we have drawings of the lyres and harps that were used. The harps used by the Assyrians for example, were held or hung against the player’s chest while he played which also enabled him to dance or walk easily during ceremonies. Conversely, the Egyptian harps were made in a variety of sizes and were either set on the floor or a stand. The player stood or crouched to play it during more intimate settings. (Blom 8) The Greek lyre however was plucked compared to the harp’s...
The mechanical motions of the ossicles directly vibrate a small membrane that connects to the fluid filled inner ear. From this point, vibration of the connective membrane (oval window) transforms mechanical motion into a pressure wave in fluid. This pressure wave enters and hence passes vibrations into the fluid filled structure called the cochlea. The cochlea contains two membranes and between these two membranes, are specialized neurons or receptors called Hair cells. Once vibrations enter the cochlea, they cause the lower membrane (basilar membrane) to move in respect to the upper membrane (i.e. --the tectorial membrane in which the hair cells are embedded). This movement bends the hair cells to cause receptor potentials in these cells which in turn cause the release of transmitter onto the neurons of the auditory nerve. In this case, the hair cell receptors are very pressure sensitive. The greater the force of the vibrations on the membrane, the more the hair cells bend and hence the greater the receptor potential generated by these hair cells.
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
When it comes to classic musical instrument, piano is definitely one of the names that pop up in your mind. Indeed, after its first appearance around the year of 1700, piano has never left the stage of high culture and top class performance. Till today, three hundred years have past since it was first invented. Surely, a lot of changes have been made during this long period of evolution, the designers learnt to utilize better materials but the basic inner mechanism have stayed the same. However, the outside appearance of piano did changed a few times throughout the course of time. The first piano borrowed quite a bit of its look and design from the harpsichord because it was invented by Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori, an Italian harpsichord maker. (Powers, W. 2008) Namely, a noticeable amount of improvements have been made during the evolution of the instrument base on the demand of the time and arena. In this essay, stringed instruments with keyboard which are in the
Ultrasound is sound waves that have a frequency above human audible. (Ultrasound Physics and Instrument 111). With a shorter wavelength than audible sound, these waves can be directed into a narrow beam that is used in imaging soft tissues. As with audible sound waves, ultrasound waves must have a medium in which to travel and are subject to interference. In addition, much like light rays, they can be reflected, refracted, and focused.
The new era in plectral instruments began in Iberia, Spain in the mid 15th century with the creation of the vihuela (Bellow). The vihuela was practically a flat backed lute with six paired strings, which were most commonly plucked at the same time. Since there was no machined production at the time, many vihuelas were unique to whoever built them, the number of sound ports, shape, or neck varied. However, a majority of them had the same build and concept of a modern guitar. These were the one of the first instrument to feature...
Instruments used in band have not always been the way they are today. Each instrument has evolved and changed overtime to become the way we know them today. Several common instruments in band like the clarinet and snare drum have very different histories and ways they came to be. The clarinet is actually considered a newer instrument compared
for each pickup allows you to adjust the sound to the way you like it, while the
Examples of Hirasawa's on stage instruments include: The Tubular Hertz, a synthesizer making use of large pipes that are pulled by the user, and The GRAVITON, a sampler that is powered by a bike wheel; The GRAVITON was used as part of a live show performed entirely outdoors using solar and kinetic power. Recently, Hirasawa has made use of Tesla Coils and an increasingly elaborate LASER HARP, which triggers different samples when lasers are blocked in different contexts, adding a kinetic element to the sampled sound. Alongside these instruments, Hirasawa makes use of computers in order to create elaborate live shows in which the audience effects the set list, such as The Interactive Live Show.
"Musical Instruments in the Middle Ages." Musical Instruments in the Middle Ages. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2014. .