Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [acoustics]

For questions about the physical science of sound production, behavior, and mechanics. Generic physics questions should be asked at our sister site Physics Stack Exchange.

For questions about the physical science of sound production, behavior, and mechanics.

Generic physics questions should be asked at our sister site Physics Stack Exchange.

185 questions
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9 answers

Why do listeners hear the lowest note of a chord most distinctly?

Source: Prof. Bruce Taggart (PhD in Music Theory, U. of Pennsylvania), 58 s of his Coursera video. The lowest note of a chord is the most important one. It's the one that the listener hears most distinctly. Why is the above true? I know no…
user26407
20
votes
4 answers

Will a marching band on the go sound out of tune to an observer due to the Doppler Effect?

Upon reading Simon Singh's Big Bang, I came upon an explanation of the Doppler Effect (besides the known Formula 1 and ambulance sirens examples): Trumpeters were split into two groups and asked to play the note E-flat. One group of trumpeters…
Shevliaskovic
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19
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5 answers

Can eggboxes really be used to treat a room? If so, how?

I'm thinking about acoustically treating my room so I can listen to my mixes in higher clarity. I'm trying to think of how I can do it cheaply (even though you get what you pay for, I suppose), and my uncle, who is a composer, covered his studio in…
Featherball
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15
votes
2 answers

What exactly are complex sounds in terms of audio waves?

If you listen to a song through headphones you have a "right" sound wave and a "left" sound wave, correct? But these waves have a lot of complex sounds combined in them and a digital sound wave is really just a series of sampled points…
Zach Smith
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13
votes
4 answers

What kind of ear protection offers the best compromise between protection and sound fidelity?

Useful when your drummer is loud. (that china still banging in your head after a session)
umegastar
11
votes
6 answers

Is there actually an "undertone series"?

We know there is an overtone series, or harmonic series, i.e. if a note A of 440 Hz is being played on a musical instrument, there will also be different amplitudes of sound of 880 Hz (440 Hz * 2), 1320 Hz (440 Hz * 3) etc. emitted at the same time.…
hillin
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5
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2 answers

how to tune a spring?

So here's the situation I'm in; I had this really weird dream with this really weird instrument in it. It was kinda like half a dulcimer with springs on it. There were 11 springs on it, (But I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be 12, corresponding to…
Tyler
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5
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3 answers

Trouble understanding loudness diagram

When looking at the Wikipedia article about "loudness", I'm presented with the following picture: From my understanding, this represents the threshold for how loud a certain sound has to be to be perceived. If there only would be one curve, I would…
Speldosa
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4
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1 answer

How to lower the tone of a natural horn?

I've received as gift a hollow natural cow horn, similar to those anciently used for signaling before metalworking was discovered. I'd like to know if, given it simplicity (natural carved material creating a conical tube) the tone/frequency it has…
Allison Ross
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3
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2 answers

Sound proofing a wall with rockwool. What's the best density?

I share a wall with a neighbour and I am looking for ways to isolate it a bit more. I read that rockwool does a good job. It might be important to mention that practice instrument is a piano and therefor the low frequencies are my major concern at…
nsn
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2
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3 answers

How do room layouts affect tuning?

For background, I am not a musician, but I know a few things from physics. Physics tells us that we should perhaps expect that if your room changes, then you might need to tune your instruments differently - is this something that you can experience…
QCD_IS_GOOD
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1
vote
3 answers

Could knocking on solid objects create different pitches and notes? If so, how?

Greetings, my fellow music lovers. I'm not certain if this question is on-topic but it's been bugging me for a long time. When we knock or tap our fingers on wood, or other solid objects, we make noises that almost sound like music. Well, for…
Ed Stevens
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0
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1 answer

Acoustic problem of intonation low on neck

I am a bass player for over 35 years. Also play guitar. I have worked on my own electrics, setting intonation, etc. I have an acoustic. When I tune it, the low E, fretted at the 2nd 3rd frets are sharp. I checked on a tuner. Do I need to lower the…
Stubby
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0
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1 answer

How to calculate the expected pitch of the sound?

My question comes from MUS 204, stating: If we know that the noise wave being looped is 128 samples long, and that the audio playback rate is 44,100 samples per second, calculate the expected pitch of the sound, and compare this to what you measure…
Renée
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1 answer

My guitar instrument produced a perfect sine wave?

My homemade guitar was producing perfect sine waves, most guitar waves arent perfectly sine. Anyone have any suggestions for why? Physics project))
Niamh O'Shea
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