Sound consist of vibration, according to physics, and some physics think that everything in the universe, also matter, consist of vibrations. With this in mind, there are some things that happen before music comes into being: first of all sound waves must be created, such as what happens when a guitar string is plucked. That sound travels through the natural environment as a wave, and that sound reaches the pinna of a human, which functions to collect and somewhat amplify the sound.
Then, the sound travels to the inner ear, where the sound stimulates tiny hair called cochlea. The cochlea translates sound or wave frequencies into neural impulses and shoots them to the brain. So in conclusion, when does a sound become music? The art of music is solely a practical one. The number of musicians, as well as non-mnsicians, who are acquainted with the cause of sound and music, is but small, therefore a brief dissertation on the subject will not be devoid of interest or instruction.
Driggs says, in regard to his new theory of acoustics, " I discard the belief that sound is produced by air alone, commonly called concussion, producing waves or circles of air, and shall treat sound itself as possessing a more independent existence, and attempt to show that atmospheric air acts more in the capacity of a medium to convey it to the ear, and is the telegraph wire that conveys the impression it receives, and that is not the first cause.
Driggs appears to be tinged with a kindred opinion. He is evidently mistaken in supposing that any scientific man acquainted with the laws of acoustics entertains the opinion that atmospheric air is either the first or only cause of sounu, or that it is eventhesale medium for conv'eying it.
Sound is caused by the simple but rapid mechanical vibrations of various elastic bodies. These when moved or struck so as to vibrate, communicate the same kind of vibrations to the auditory nerve of the ear, and are then appreciated by the mind. Sound is conducted through the air, but there are other conductors superior to air, such as iron which conducts it seventeen times fasterj some kinds of wood eleven times, and water four and a half times faster. This power of conduction depends oil the peculiar structure of the body not its densityj the atmosphere, however, is the great and general medium of s6und, although any other body which can communicate the same vibrations to the auditory nerve will answer the same purpose.
By closing the ears and inserting a long strip of dry wood between the teeth, the ticking of a watch or any other sound produced at the extreme end of it will be heard more distinctly than coming through the air, and having both ears open j this is a very old and well-known fact. The instrument called the syren for counting the number of sound waves produced in a second of time, will yield the same tones in water as in air, thus proving that air is not the sole cause or medium of sounds.
A strong wind moving at the rate of twenty feet per second causes no sound j a body, such as the haud, swept rapidly through the air, although it produces waves, does not cause sound. Why is this? If sound is caused by vibrations, why do the waves of the atmosphere produced in these instances not cause sound?
It has been demonstrated by accurate experiments that the air must move with a wave velocity of 1, feet per second to produce sound j a lesser wave velocity is not appreciated as sound by the human ear. The wings of a bee or a musquito must therefore vibrate to produce air waves of 1, feet velocity, or we could not hear their humming noise.
The chirp of a cricket and the booming of a cannon move with a velocity of 1, feet per second. Simple sounds consist of a succession of rapid waves moving irregularly; musical sounds consist of a series of simple sounds falling upon the ear at regular inter-vals. These sounds or vibrations reach the ear and agitate the air within it, communicat- ing an equal Amount of vibration to thetym-pan or membrane stretched across a cell in the head, in which are arranged a series of curious little bones, namely, the malleus hammer , incus anvil , os orbicularo rounded bone and the smallest in the human body , and the stapes stirrup.
The latter is connected with a membrane, which closes three semi-circular canals filled with water j these are lined with an expansion of the auditory nerve, which take up the vibrations to the mind. The sense of sounds—both simple and harmonious—depends on the proper condition of the very delicate. It is easy to conceive how a very small derangement of the ear bones, the membranes, or the fluid in the ear cells, will injure the sense of hearing in regard to both the volume and the character of sounds.
If we take the string of an instrument and strike it so as to produce sixteen waves moving at the rate of 1, feet per second, weob-tain what ii considered the lowest musical sound, which is the note, C. If we vibrate the string, so as to produce thirty-two vibrations in the same time, we obtain the same sound exactly, but a different pitch j it is also the note, C, but an octave higher.
Generally, the greater the mass, the more slowly it vibrates and the lower the pitch. However, the pitch can be altered by changing the tension or rigidity of the object. For example, a heavy E string on an instrument can be made to sound higher than a thin E string by tightening the tuning pegs, so that there is more tension on the string.
Nearly all objects, when hit, struck, plucked, strummed or somehow disturbed, will vibrate. When these objects vibrate, they tend to vibrate at a particular frequency or set of frequencies. This is known as the natural frequency of the object. It will make this same sound every time.
This sound can be changed, however, by altering the vibrating mass of the glass. For example, adding water causes the glass to get heavier increase in mass and thus harder to move, so it tends to vibrate more slowly and at a lower pitch.
What is Sound? When we hear something, we are sensing the vibrations in the air. These vibrations enter the outer ear and cause our eardrums to vibrate or oscillate. Attached to the eardrum are three tiny bones that also vibrate: the hammer , the anvil , and the stirrup.
These bones make larger vibrations within the inner ear, essentially amplifying the incoming vibrations before they are picked up by the auditory nerve. The properties of a sound wave change when it travels through different media: gas e. When a wave passes through a denser medium, it goes faster than it does through a less-dense medium. This means that sound travels faster through water than through air, and faster through bone than through water.
When molecules in a medium vibrate, they can move back and forth or up and down. Sound energy causes the molecules to move back and forth in the same direction that the sound is travelling. This is known as a longitudinal wave.
Transverse waves occur when the molecules vibrate up and down, perpendicular to the direction that the wave travels. Speaking as well as hearing involves vibrations. To speak, we move air past our vocal cords, which makes them vibrate.
We change the sounds we make by stretching those vocal cords.
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