2. Sound Waves and Timbre Carla Piper, Ed. D. Music Lesson Activities

3. Vibrations  A sound wave is a vibrating object which creates a disturbance in a medium  The particles of the medium through which the sound moves is vibrating in a back and forth motion at a given frequency.

4. Frequencies  The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles of the medium vibrate when a wave passes through the medium.  vocal chords of a person  the vibrating string and sound board of a guitar or violin  the vibrating tines of a tuning fork  the vibrating diaphragm of a radio speaker  The harmonic overtone series – natural mathematical relationships in frequencies

5. Timbre  The quality or timbre of the sound produced by a vibrating object is dependent upon the natural frequencies of the sound waves produced by the objects.  Pure tones – Single frequency (flute)  Complex tones - Tuba  set of frequencies in mathematical relationships  the harmonic overtone series  Noise – number of frequencies

6. Recording Sound Waves  Computer sound recorders allow you to record and edit sound.  You get a visual image of the sound wave.

7. Airplane Click on image to play!

8. Telephone Click on image to play!

9. Clock Click on image to play!

10. Bell Click on image to play!