Sound, Pitch, Dynamics, and Tone Color

The Expressive Elements of Music - Add variety and contrast to music

Timbre - The distinctive quality of tone of a sound.
Dynamics - The volume of sound; the loudness or softness of a musical passage.
Tempo - The pace at which music moves, based on the speed of the underlying beat.

Pitch and Frequency

Understanding timbre involves the study of physics and the examination of sound waves and frequencies of sound. Below is a segment from the "Physics Classroom."

The Physics Classroom - Sound Waves - http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/
Pitch, Temperament and Timbre from the Dolmetsch Music Theory Website - http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory27.htm

Pitch and Frequency

A sound wave, like any other wave, is introduced into a medium by a vibrating object. The vibrating object is the source of the disturbance which moves through the medium. The vibrating object which creates the disturbance could be the vocal chords of a person, the vibrating string and sound board of a guitar or violin, the vibrating tines of a tuning fork, or the vibrating diaphragm of a radio speaker. Regardless of what vibrating object is creating the sound wave, the particles of the medium through which the sound moves is vibrating in a back and forth motion at a given frequency. The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles of the medium vibrate when a wave passes through the medium.

A commonly used unit for frequency is the Hertz (abbreviated Hz), where 1 Hertz = 1 vibration/second. As a sound wave moves through a medium, each particle of the medium vibrates at the same frequency. Certain sound waves when played (and heard) simultaneously will produce a particularly pleasant sensation when heard, are are said to be consonant. Such sound waves form the basis of intervals in music. For example, any two sounds whose frequencies make a 2:1 ratio are said to be separated by an octave and result in a particularly pleasing sensation when heard; that is, two sound waves sound good when played together if one sound has twice the frequency of the other. Similarly two sounds with a frequency ratio of 5:4 are said to be separated by an interval of a third; such sound waves also sound good when played together. Examples of other sound wave intervals and their respective frequency ratios are listed in the table below.

The ability of humans to perceive pitch is associated with the frequency of the sound wave which impinges upon the ear. Because sound waves are longitudinal waves which produce high- and low-pressure disturbances of the particles of a medium at a given frequency, the ear has an ability to detect such frequencies and associate them with the pitch of the sound. But pitch is not the only property of a sound wave detectable by the human ear."

"Nearly all objects, when hit or struck or plucked or strummed or somehow disturbed, will vibrate. If you drop a meter stick or pencil on the floor, it will begin to vibrate. If you pluck a guitar string, it will begin to vibrate. If you blow over the top of a pop bottle, the air inside will vibrate. When each of these objects vibrate, they tend to vibrate at a particular frequency or a set of frequencies. The frequency or frequencies at which an object tends to vibrate with when hit, struck, plucked, strummed or somehow disturbed is known as the natural frequency of the object. If the amplitude of the vibrations are large enough and if natural frequency is within the human frequency range, then the object will produce sound waves which are audible." (The Physics Classroom - no longer available.

Timbre

All objects have a natural frequency or set of frequencies at which they vibrate. 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. Some objects tend to vibrate at a single frequency and they are often said to produce a pure tone. A flute tends to vibrate at a single frequency, producing a very pure tone. Other objects vibrate and produce more complex waves with a set of frequencies which have a whole number mathematical relationship between them; these are said to produce a rich sound. A tuba tends to vibrate at a set of frequencies which are mathematically related by whole number ratios; it produces a rich tone. Still other objects will vibrate at a set of multiple frequencies which have no simple mathematical relationship between them. These objects are not musical at all and the sounds which they create are best described as noise. When a meter stick or pencil is dropped on the floor, a vibrates with a number of frequencies, producing a complex sound wave which is clanky and noisy. The actual frequency at which an object will vibrate at is determined by a variety of factors. Each of these factors will either effect the wavelength or the speed of the object.

Frequency = speed/wavelength.

The Harmonic Series from the Dolmetsch Theory Site - http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory27.htm#harmonic

Soundwaves

Screenshot of the Soundblaster Wave Studio

Websites of Interest - Science, Math, and Sound

The Physics Classroom

Resonance - http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/
Guitar Strings - http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/U11L5b.cfm
Open-End Air Columns - http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/U11L5c.cfm
Closed-End Air Columns - http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/U11L5d.cfm

Additional Websites

Sound and Noise - Household Science - http://www.fatlion.com/science/sound.html
Vocal Sound Production - http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/music/voice2.html
Sound Theme Page - http://www.cln.org/themes/sound.html

Dynamics and Tempo

Tempo from the Dolmetsch Theory Site - http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory5.htm#top
Phrasing and Articulation from the Dolmetsch Theory Site - http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory21.htm
Dolmetsch Dynamic Markings - http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory21.htm#dynamics

Glossary

Crescendo - Gradually louder. (Often abbreviated cresc.)

Decrescendo - Gradually softer.

Diminuendo - See decrescendo.

Dynamics - Degrees of loudness or softness in music.

Dynamic accent - Emphasis that a note receives when a performer plays it more loudly than the notes around it.

Flag Wavy line attached to the stem on a note, indicating how long that note is to be held relative to the notes around it.

Flat sign - Symbol which notates a pitch one half step lower than the pitch that would otherwise be indicated—for example, the next lower key on the piano.

Flute - Woodwind instrument, usually made of metal, with a high range, whose tone is produced by blowing across the edge of a mouth hole.

Forte - (f) Loud.

Fortissimo - (ff) Very loud.

Interval - "Distance" in pitch between any two tones.

Mezzo forte - (mf) Moderately loud.

Mezzo piano - (mp) Moderately soft.

Mute - Device used to veil or muffle the tone of an instrument. For string instruments, the mute is a clamp which fits onto the bridge; for brass instruments, it is a funnel-shaped piece of wood, metal, or plastic which fits into the bell.

Notation - System of writing down music so that specific pitches and rhythms can be communicated.

Octave - Interval between two tones in which the higher tone has twice the frequency of the lower tone.

Pianissimo - (pp) As softly as possible.

Piano - (p) Soft.

Pitch - Relative highness or lowness of a sound.

Pitch range - Distance between the highest and lowest tones that a given voice or instrument can produce.

Range - See pitch range.

Sound - Vibrations which are transmitted, usually through air, to the eardrum, which sends impulses to the brain.

Timbre - See tone color.

Tone color - (timbre) Quality of sound that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another.

Musical Texture: Monophonic, Homophonic, Polyphonic

Counterpoint - Technique of combining two or more melodic lines into a meaningful whole.

Homophonic texture - Term describing music in which one main melody is accompanied by chords.

Imitation - Presentation of a melodic idea by one voice or instrument that is immediately followed by its restatement by another voice or instrument, as in a round.

Monophonic texture - Single melodic line without accompaniment.

Musical texture - Number of layers of sound that are heard at once, what kinds of layers they are, and how they are related to each other.

Polyphonic texture - Performance of two or more melodic lines of relatively equal interest at the same time.

Dissonance - Tone combination that is unstable and tense.

Dominant chord - Triad built on the fifth note of the scale, which sets up tension that is resolved by the tonic chord.

Guitar - Plucked string instrument with six strings stretched along a fretted fingerboard.

Harmony - How chords are constructed and how they follow each other.

Incomplete cadence - Inconclusive resting point at the end of a phrase which sets up expectations for phrases to follow.

Progression - Series of chords.

Resolution - Progression from a dissonance to a consonance.

Tonic - See keynote.

Tonic chord - Triad built on the first, or tonic, note of the scale, serving as the main chord of a piece and usually beginning and ending it.

Triad - Most basic of chords, consisting of three alternate tones of the scale, such as do, mi, sol.

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