Chapter 15 Sound: The Physics of Music PPTB In general, tubes that produce sound have one opening or both ends open…. To understand harmonics better, we will revisit harmonics of a standing wave in a string… Remember the 1st 6 harmonics in our wave chapter/packet?
Nodes and Antinodes A node is a part of the standing wave that does not move and the anti-node is part of the standing wave that moves the most…
Closed-Pipe Resonators On a closed-pipe resonator, you cannot hear a harmonic on one end, so the harmonics are only the odd # harmonics… Frequency of wave = harmonic # * velocity/(4 * pipe length) OR fn = nv/4L fn = nv/4L(n = 1, 3, 5,… only odd harmonics) So, to solve for the funamental frequency in a closed tube, n=1 v=the speed of sound and L= the length of the tube. Then multiply by 3,5,7…for the odd harmonics, there are no even ones because the second end of the tube is closed.
Closed-tube Resonators
Open-Tube Resonators Open-tube resonators have both ends open and have all harmonics, n=1,2,3,4…etc For open tubes, to find the frequency of the harmonics, you plug in n=1 for the fundamental frequency, then multiply by 2 for the second harmonic, by 3 for the 3rd and so on. Frequency of wave = harmonic # * velocity/(2 * pipe length) OR fn = nv/2L (n = 1,2,3…)
Open-Tube Resonator
Resonance of a String Resonance of a string uses the same formula as an open tube….
String Harmonics
Sound Quality Combination of different frequencies or harmonics produces a sound characteristic called timbre, tone quality, or color. The fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency at which that an instrument will vibrate. Whole-number multiples of the fundamental frequency are called harmonics.
Consonance and Dissonance Dissonance is an unpleasant combination of pitches. Consonance is a pleasant combination of pitches.
Beats When 2 frequencies are close to one another, but not the same, interference produces a phenomena known as beat. The tones cause interference and produce the number of beats per second of the difference between the 2 tones.
Interference Constructive interference is when two crests or compressions occur together. Destructive interference is when compression and rarefaction occur together.