The Essence of Music: The Pulse of Sound

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The impact of two masses or energies propagating a wave throughout a space is the origin of sound.

 

The wave consists of displaced particles in a space spreading out from a center in concentric circles throughout an atmosphere.

 

Space is a vacuum. Sound cannot be heard in space because there are no particles out there to displace. 

There are two categories of sound. One is Noise, and the other is Tone. 

Noise is the random and disorganized mixture of wavelengths. With Noise there are too many frequencies such as in the sound of glass breaking or of ocean waves crashing onto the beach to isolate any particular Tone.

 

Today there are a growing number of composers who are using Noise in their works. 

Tone as differentiated from Noise is a sound wave characterized by a Frequency.

 

Frequency refers to the number of cycles a sound vibrates per second. The standard measurement of all frequency is Hertz (Hz). Thus, 1 Hz = 1 cycle per second (cps).

 

Tone is different from Noise in that a Tone is assigned a specific frequency and given a name. In music, the pitch A vibrates at a frequency of 440Hz. 440Hz = 440 cycles per second. Tone is the specialized designation of a pitch as a musical sound (or note).

 

A Tone actually consists of a combination of frequencies with a dominant tone appearing more frequently and not just one frequency vibrating alone.

 

The human ear is capable only of perceiving sounds within a range of frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz (20,000 Hz). Beyond this range sounds are inaudible to the human ear.

 

The sounds below the human range of hearing are called INFRASONIC (less than 20Hz) and those above the normal range are known as ULTRASONIC (more than 20,000 Hz).

 

Sounds below the range human earing are not heard, they are felt. Sounds above human hearing are capable of transmitting radio communication and produce sonographic images of a fetus in the womb.

 

Sounds within the range of human hearing are known as ACOUSTIC.

All frequencies are part of a seemingly infinite scale of frequencies that span a range from 0.001 Hz to 300 GHz. Therefore, all tones are constructed of frequencies, even though not all sounds are desirable or can be heard with the human ear.

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Related Music:

Crackle

Disco Orchestra

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Related Articles:

Hook and Earworms

Music and Trance States of Mind
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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/

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