Physics of Music Essay - 851 Words

He who understands nothing but chemistry does not truly understand chemistry either Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799) Music is not purely a form of art. There is a great deal of science that goes behind the production of beautiful musical sounds. In order to understand how music is possible, one must have an understanding of physics. Physics allows us to create musical instruments with different tone qualities and the ability to be played in a certain way to produce a specific pitch or note. Music is sound, and sound is vibrations or waves that are at the right frequency to be perceived by the human ear. Audible vibrations are waves with a frequency between 16 and 20,000 vibrations per second. So what causes sound waves?†¦show more content†¦The frequency of a vibrating string is 1) inversely proportional to its length, 2) directly proportional to the square root of the tension, and 3) inversely proportional to the square root to the mass per unit length. Waves with a higher frequency create a higher pitch. Therefore, to create a higher pitch on a stringed instrument you use your finger to fix the string farther down to make it shorter, use the tuning pegs to tighten the string, or play on a thinner string. Since there are no strings involved in wind instruments a different technique must be used to create a sound. In wind instruments, sound is passed through an air column. There are some differences in the physics of these vibrations. The motion in the air column is longitudinal rather than transverse like the motion of the waves in the string. Also, there is an open end and a closed end of the air column rather than the two closed ends of the string. In reed instruments such as the clarinet and saxophone, the sound is produced by the reed, a thin piece of cane that is placed on the mouthpiece in front of a slit that is slightly smaller than the reed. When air is forced through the instrument, the difference in pressure on either side of the reed causes it to move towards the slit. The reeds elasticity eventually causes the reed to move back to its original position causing a vibration. The pitch is determined by the length of the air column. The air column isShow MoreRelatedThe Physic s of Music Essay examples880 Words   |  4 PagesPhysical science is the study of non-living matter which I will be talking about the physics of music, and how pitch and frequency play a role together in science. Physics is known to be the most fundamental science, based on the principle and concepts. It deals with matter, motion, force, and energy, (Shipman-Wilson Higgins, 2013). In this report I will be dealing with pitch, frequency sound and waves which are also dealing with physical science and how they our related. 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