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The document discusses how different musical instruments produce different wave shapes when playing the same note, which causes differences in sound. It explains that each note is made up of a fundamental frequency plus overtones, and the combination of these frequencies produces the sound wave we hear. Different instruments have different physical characteristics that affect the overtones produced, shaping the sound wave differently and allowing us to distinguish between instruments playing the same note. The complexity of an instrument's sound wave, determined by the number of overtones, contributes to its unique timbre or "quality of sound."

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Evan Sheppard
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58 views

Brochure

The document discusses how different musical instruments produce different wave shapes when playing the same note, which causes differences in sound. It explains that each note is made up of a fundamental frequency plus overtones, and the combination of these frequencies produces the sound wave we hear. Different instruments have different physical characteristics that affect the overtones produced, shaping the sound wave differently and allowing us to distinguish between instruments playing the same note. The complexity of an instrument's sound wave, determined by the number of overtones, contributes to its unique timbre or "quality of sound."

Uploaded by

Evan Sheppard
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Harmonics But Why?

WHAT ARE WE REALLY


HEARING?
Different instruments
produce different shapes
of waves. This is because
they have different
overtures, but why is that? Same pitch but a
Each instrument is shaped
differently and made out different sound?
of different materials. Also
the source of these waves
can vary between a reed
(wood wind), vibrating lips
Every note is made up of a
fundamental frequency and
(brass) and vibrating
overtones. When you combine strings (guitar, violin,
this fundamental frequency and piano).
overtones you get the wave that
we hear which below is the yellow
line.

By Evan
QUESTION
So how do you identify the Sound
same note when played by the Complexity
flute or the tuba? There is
obviously a difference in sound Quality of a Note
but what causes that to
As see below all of these
happen. The basic idea behind instruments are playing the
note A440. Every single
this is that sound is made up of instrument has a wave shaped
waves in the form of differently. This difference in
shape is how we identify the
compressed air particles and
rarefacted air particle (not The sound that we hear is based
compressed). These waves can on the constructive and
deconstructive affect of multiple
take an infinite number of waves happening
simultaneously. The resulting
shapes, based on the wave is what we hear. A wave
with many different overtones is
fundamental frequencies and heard as quality based on the
overtures that they are made complexity of the wave. Waves
can become very complex as
up by. This is called the quality seen below.
of the sound. Each instrument
will have a sound quality
proportional to the complexity
of the wave it produces.
difference in the sound.

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