Sound - Musical sound - Characteristics of musical sound

Sound

Sound is a form of energy that appeals to the sense of hearing. Sound is produced by a body which is in a state of vibration.

        For instance, a vibrating tuning fork’s sound requires a material medium for it is propagation because sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum. If sound waves need a medium like solid, liquid, or gas. So that in space we cannot speak with our nearby person.

Longitudinal waves

        A longitudinal wave is one in which the particles vibrate parallel to the direction of propagation of sound. The waves produced by a vibrating tuning fork are longitudinal.

Transverse waves

        A transverse wave is one in which the particles of the medium vibrate perpendicular to the direction of propagation of sound.

Wavelength

Wavelength is the distance between two successive particles in the same state of vibration.

Period

        The time taken by the vibrating body to make one oscillation is a period.

Frequency

        The frequency of the wave is the number of times the particles of the medium vibrate per second.

Velocity

        The velocity of sound is the distance travelled by the sound wave in one second.

Musical sound

In general, sound can be classified as musical sound and noise. A pleasant sound produced by a regular, continuous simple vibration is a musical sound. On the other hand, noise is produced by irregular vibration.

Characteristics of musical sound

Pitch

        The characteristic that enables us to distinguish a shrill sound from a dull sound is pitch. The higher the frequency, the shriller the sound and the greater will be the pitch. The pitch depends on the frequency.

Intensity

        Intensity defines the volume of the loudness of the sound. The intensity of a musical note depends on the square of the amplitude.

Quality

        Quality or timbre is that characteristic that enables us to distinguish the musical sounds of the same pitch and intensity produced by different musical instruments. This is the most important characteristic of music. It depends on the shape of the sound wave produced.

Resonance

        The air column inside a pipe can be set in vibration with the same frequency as that of the excited tuning fork. The intensity of the sound will be maximum in such a case due to the reinforcement of sound. This is called resonance.