Note (music): Difference between revisions
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{{Image|Sound envelope of a musical note.png|right|180px|The amplitude of a musical note varies in time according to its sound envelope.<ref name=Alten/>}} | |||
In [[music]], a '''note''' is an abstract representation of the [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] and duration of a [[Tone (music)|tone]]. The ''pitch'' designated by a note is objective only in the case of a ''simple tone'' (also called a ''pure tone'') such as produced by a tuning fork, which consists of only a single [[Vibrational spectrum|frequency of vibration]], in which case the pitch is uniquely related to that frequency at a given loudness.<ref name=Hallam/> A [[musical instrument]] on the other hand, produces a ''tone'', which is a superposition of various frequencies with various amplitudes and phases peculiar to the instrument, and also affected by the manner of play that determines the sound envelope of the note (referred to by Lamb below as "adventitious circumstances"). To quote Lamb:<ref name=Lamb/> | |||
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<font face="Gill Sans MT">One musical note may differ from another in respect of pitch, quality, and loudness. The pitch is usually estimated as that of the first simple-harmonic vibration in the series, ''viz.'' that of lowest frequency, but if the amplitude of this first component be relatively small, and especially if it fall near the lower limit of the audible scale, the estimated pitch may be that of the second component. | |||
By "quality" is meant that unmistakable character which distinguishes a note on one instrument from the note of same pitch as given by another...difference of quality, so far as it is not due to adventitious circumstances, can only be ascribed to differences of vibration-form, and so to differences in the relative amplitude and phases of the simple-harmonic constituents. | |||
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==References== | |||
{{reflist |refs= | |||
<ref name=Alten> | |||
{{cite book |title=Audio in Media |author=Stanley R. Alten |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ix4ok8ZQVFIC&pg=PA13 |chapter=Sound envelope |isbn= 049557239X |edition=12th ed |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2010|pages=p. 13}} | |||
</ref> | |||
<ref name=Hallam> | |||
The pitch of pure tones varies somewhat with sound level, perhaps by as much as 5% and varying with the individual listener. | |||
{{cite book |title=The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology |author=Susan Hallam, Ian Cross, Michael Thaut |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=d-2DYVjNVpQC&pg=PT82 |isbn=0199604975 |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=p. 50}} | |||
</ref> | |||
<ref name=Lamb> | |||
{{cite book |title=The Dynamical Theory Of Sound |author=Horace Lamb |edition=Reprint of 1925 Edwin Arnold Ltd. 2nd ed |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TmplbxFZoeAC&pg=PA4 |pages=p. 4 |publisher=Courier Dover |year=2004 |isbn= 048643916X}} | |||
</ref> | |||
}} | |||
Revision as of 11:42, 14 June 2012
The amplitude of a musical note varies in time according to its sound envelope.[1]
In music, a note is an abstract representation of the pitch and duration of a tone. The pitch designated by a note is objective only in the case of a simple tone (also called a pure tone) such as produced by a tuning fork, which consists of only a single frequency of vibration, in which case the pitch is uniquely related to that frequency at a given loudness.[2] A musical instrument on the other hand, produces a tone, which is a superposition of various frequencies with various amplitudes and phases peculiar to the instrument, and also affected by the manner of play that determines the sound envelope of the note (referred to by Lamb below as "adventitious circumstances"). To quote Lamb:[3]
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One musical note may differ from another in respect of pitch, quality, and loudness. The pitch is usually estimated as that of the first simple-harmonic vibration in the series, viz. that of lowest frequency, but if the amplitude of this first component be relatively small, and especially if it fall near the lower limit of the audible scale, the estimated pitch may be that of the second component. By "quality" is meant that unmistakable character which distinguishes a note on one instrument from the note of same pitch as given by another...difference of quality, so far as it is not due to adventitious circumstances, can only be ascribed to differences of vibration-form, and so to differences in the relative amplitude and phases of the simple-harmonic constituents. |
References
- ↑ Stanley R. Alten (2010). “Sound envelope”, Audio in Media, 12th ed. Cengage Learning, p. 13. ISBN 049557239X.
- ↑ The pitch of pure tones varies somewhat with sound level, perhaps by as much as 5% and varying with the individual listener. Susan Hallam, Ian Cross, Michael Thaut (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology. Oxford University Press, p. 50. ISBN 0199604975.
- ↑ Horace Lamb (2004). The Dynamical Theory Of Sound, Reprint of 1925 Edwin Arnold Ltd. 2nd ed. Courier Dover, p. 4. ISBN 048643916X.