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Encyclopedia—sound

Characteristics of Musical Sounds

Musical sounds are distinguished from noises in that
they are composed of regular, uniform vibrations, while noises are
irregular and disordered vibrations. Composers, however, frequently
use noises as well as musical sounds. One musical tone is
distinguished from another on the basis of pitch, intensity, or
loudness, and quality, or timbre. Pitch describes how high or low a
tone is and depends upon the rapidity with which a sounding body
vibrates, i.e., upon the frequency of vibration. The higher the
frequency of vibration, the higher the tone; the pitch of a siren
gets higher and higher as the frequency of vibration increases. The
apparent change in the pitch of a sound as a source approaches or
moves away from an observer is described by the Doppler
effect. The intensity or loudness of a sound depends upon the
extent to which the sounding body vibrates, i.e., the amplitude of
vibration. A sound is louder as the amplitude of vibration is
greater, and the intensity decreases as the distance from the source
increases. Loudness is measured in units called decibels.
The sound waves given off by different vibrating bodies differ in
quality, or timbre. A note from a saxophone, for instance, differs
from a note of the same pitch and intensity produced by a violin or
a xylophone; similarly vibrating reeds, columns of air, and strings
all differ. Quality is dependent on the number and relative
intensity of overtones produced by the vibrating body (see harmonic),
and these in turn depend upon the nature of the vibrating body.

Sections in this article:

Introduction

Generation
of Sound Waves

Characteristics
of Sound Waves

Characteristics of Musical Sounds

Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.
Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights
reserved.

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