![]() You can view here animations of longitudinal and transverse waves, single particles being disturbed by a transverse wave or by a longitudinal wave, and particles being disturbed by transverse and longitudinal waves. As it comes from behind you, a transverse waves lifts you up and then drops down a longitudinal wave coming from behind pushes you forward and pulls you back. If this doesn't help, try imagining yourself as one of the particles that the wave is disturbing (a water drop on the surface of the ocean, or an air molecule). A mathematical description might be that in longitudinal waves, the waves (the disturbances) are along the same axis as the direction of motion of the wave transverse waves are at right angles to the direction of motion of the wave. ![]() Longitudinal waves may also be a little difficult to imagine, because there aren't any examples that we can see in everyday life (unless you like to play with toy slinkies). This is very difficult to show clearly in a diagram, so most diagrams, even diagrams of sound waves, show transverse waves. If the disturbance is from a regular vibration, the result is that the molecules end up squeezed together into evenly-spaced waves. If sound waves are moving south, the disturbance that they are creating is giving the air molecules extra north-and-south (not east-and-west, or up-and-down) motion. The "highs and lows" of sound waves and other longitudinal waves are arranged in the "forward" direction.īut sound waves are not transverse. In water waves and other transverse waves, the ups and downs are in a different direction from the forward movement of the wave. They are all essentially talking about the same things, but talking about them in slightly different ways, and using the scientific ideas of wavelength and frequency can help clarify some of the main ideas underlying music theory. Scientists and engineers, on the other hand, talk about the frequency and the wavelength of the sound. ![]() Musicians talk about the pitch of the sound, or name specific notes, or talk about tuning. As we talk about where music theory comes from, it will be very useful to know both the scientific and the musical terms and how they are related to each other.įor example, the closer together those evenly-spaced waves are, the higher the note sounds. (Musicians also have other meanings for the word "tone", but this course will stick to the "a sound with pitch" meaning.) This kind of (regular, evenly spaced) wave is useful for things other than music, however, so scientists and engineers also have terms that describe pitched sound waves. Musicians have terms that they use to describe tones. A regular, evenly-spaced sound wave is heard as a tone. It is this kind of sound that we most often associate with music, and that many musical instruments are designed to make.Ī random jumble of sound waves is heard as a noise. We hear such regular sound waves as tones, sounds with a particular pitch. If the movement of the object is a fast, regular vibration, then the sound waves are also very regular. Those molecules in turn disturb other nearby molecules out of their normal patterns of random motion, so that the disturbance itself becomes a thing that moves through the air - a sound wave. A movement of an object causes a disturbance of the normal motion of the air molecules near the object. Most of the sounds we hear are brought to our ears through the air. However, to get the melodic kind of sounds more often associated with music, the sound waves must themselves be organized and regular, not random mixtures. (When used as a scientific term, noise refers to continuous sounds that are random mixtures of different wavelengths, not shorter crashes and thuds.) These are the kinds of sound we often call "noise", when they're random and disorganized, but as soon as they are organized in time ( rhythm), they begin to sound like music. Crashes, thuds, and bangs are loud, short jumbles of lots of different wavelengths. But the most basic way that music is organized is by arranging the actual sound waves themselves so that the sounds are interesting and pleasant and go well together.Ī rhythmic, organized set of thuds and crashes is perfectly good music - think of your favorite drum solo - but many musical instruments are designed specifically to produce the regular, evenly spaced sound waves that we hear as particular pitches. Beats, measures, cadences, and form all help to keep the music organized and understandable. Sounds can be arranged into melodies, harmonies, rhythms, textures and phrases. Music is organized on many different levels. Music is sound that's organized by people on purpose, to dance to, to tell a story, to make other people feel a certain way, or just to sound pretty or be entertaining.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |