What determines the volume and pitch. Physical parameters of sound

Pitch

Pitch- a property of sound, determined by a person by ear and depending mainly on its frequency, i.e., on the number of vibrations of the medium (usually air) per second that affect the eardrum. As the vibration frequency increases, the pitch of the sound increases. As a first approximation, the subjective pitch is proportional to the logarithm of the frequency - according to the Weber-Fechner law. A sound that has a certain pitch is called a tone in music.

Basic information

Pitch is the subjective quality of the auditory sensation, along with loudness and timbre, allowing all sounds to be placed on a scale from low to high. For a pure tone, it depends mainly on frequency (with increasing frequency, the pitch rises), but with subjective perception, it also depends on its intensity - with increasing intensity, the pitch seems lower. The pitch of a sound with a complex spectral composition depends on the distribution of energy along the frequency scale.

The units of pitch in music are tone, semitone, cent.

Also, the pitch is measured in mel - a scale of pitches, the difference between which the listener perceives as equal. A tone with a frequency of 1 kHz and a sound pressure of 2 10 −3 Pa is assigned a height of 1000 mel; in the range of 20 Hz - 9000 Hz, about 3000 chalk are placed. The measurement of the pitch of an arbitrary sound is based on the ability of a person to establish the equality of the pitches of two sounds or their ratio (how many times one sound is higher or lower than the other).

Measurement

The pitch is measured on a relative scale: octaves, inside octaves - notes. An octave is a musical interval corresponding to the ratio of the frequencies of two sounds equal to 2. (That is, for a note with the same name in the next octave, the frequency expressed in hertz will be exactly 2 times higher than in the current octave).

Within an octave, the smallest musical interval is a semitone (the musical interval between the two nearest notes in an octave, approximately corresponding to the frequency ratio of the two sounds, equal to . "Approximately", because in nature the notes within the octave are unevenly spaced (see Pythagorean tuning, comma).

Correspondence of notes in octaves to specific frequencies (in hertz) is set by the standards.

In the entire range of heights, they can be obtained using intervals between short pulses, for example, single intensity readings in discrete time t = ndt, where dt = 22.7 μs.

A sound with a seemingly constantly rising or falling pitch, one type of acoustic illusion, is called a Shepard tone.

Frequency signals of a complex spectrum without a fundamental frequency (the first harmonic in the spectrum) are called residual. The perception of the height of a frequency signal coincides with the perception of the height of the residual version of the same signal.

Notes

Literature

• Ghazaryan S. In the world of musical instruments: Book. for students Art. classes. - 2nd ed. - M.: Enlightenment, 1989. - 192 p.: ill.

see also

• Critical hearing band
• Changing the pitch ( English)

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Pitch" is in other dictionaries:

A form of human perception of the vibrational frequency of a sounding body. As the frequency increases, the pitch of the sound increases. * * * SOUND PITCH SOUND PITCH, sound quality, form of human perception of the vibration frequency of the sounding body. As the frequency increases, the pitch of the sound ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

pitch- the subjective quality of sounds, due to their frequency. By frequency, sounds can be defined as low or high. Dictionary of practical psychologist. Moscow: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998. pitch... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

Sound quality, a form of human perception of the vibrational frequency of a sounding body. As the frequency increases, the pitch increases... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Sound quality, determined by a person subjectively by ear and depending in the main. on the frequency of the sound. With increasing frequency of V. h. increases (i.e., the sound becomes “higher”), decreases with decreasing frequency. In small limits V. z. also changes in... Physical Encyclopedia

The subjective quality of sounds, due to their frequency, i.e. number of vibrations per second. On this basis, sounds can be defined as low or high. The unit of pitch is chalk... Psychological Dictionary

Pitch- a characteristic of auditory perception that allows you to distribute sounds on a scale from low to high frequencies. Depends primarily on frequency, but also on the magnitude of the sound pressure and the waveform of the sound... Russian encyclopedia of labor protection

pitch- Qualitative characteristic of sound according to the frequency of oscillations, determined by the organoleptic method with the help of hearing. [GOST 24415 80] Piano topics ... Technical Translator's Handbook

Pitch- SOUND PITCH. A subjective characteristic of the perception of sounds, determined by their frequency (the number of vibrations per unit time). This quantitative characteristic of the auditory sensation allows you to arrange sounds from low to high. See hearing, timbre. ... ... New dictionary methodological terms and concepts (theory and practice of teaching languages)

If a kid, of course, one who had heard how to play the piano before, saw near the key, ask him to depict a bird on the instrument, then he will quickly begin to sort through the keys on right side keyboards to get high sounds. If… … Music dictionary

pitch- depends not only on the frequency of the fundamental tone, but also on a number of additional factors, such as loudness, duration and spectral composition of the sound. The pitch of a compound signal is determined by the lowest (fundamental) frequency, or present... ... Russian index k English-Russian Dictionary in musical terminology

Questions.

1. Using Figure 70, tell us how the dependence of the pitch of sound on the frequency of oscillation of its source was studied. What was the conclusion?

In the experiment in Fig. 70 we have a ruler clamped in a vise and making a sound when it vibrates. By moving the ruler in the vise so that its vibrating piece becomes smaller, we notice that when the shorter part of the ruler vibrates, the sound it makes becomes higher and the frequency of oscillation increases. From this experience, we can conclude that as the frequency of oscillation increases, the pitch of the sound increases.

2. What was the purpose of the experiment shown in Figure 75? Describe how this experiment was carried out and what was the conclusion.

In the experiment in Fig. 75 when a cardboard plate comes into contact with a rotating toothed disk, a sound is heard that is heard as a result of the vibrations of the plate. With an increase in the speed of rotation of the toothed disk, the frequency of oscillations increases and, accordingly, the pitch of the sound increases.

3. How to make sure from experience that more than two tuning forks alt publishes the one that has a higher natural frequency? (Frequencies on tuning forks are not indicated).

A tuning fork with a higher sound on a sooty record will leave a more frequent trace, i.e. fluctuates with a greater frequency (see Fig. 76)

4. What determines the pitch of the sound?

The pitch of the sound depends on the frequency of vibration.

5. What is called a pure tone?

A pure tone is the sound of a source making harmonic vibrations of one frequency.

6. What are the fundamental tone and overtones of sound?

The main tone is the frequency component of a complex sound with the lowest (smallest) oscillation frequency.
Overtones - a set of frequency components of a sound without its main tone. Overtone frequencies are multiples of the fundamental frequency.

7. What determines the pitch?

The pitch of the sound is determined by the pitch of the fundamental tone.

8. What is the timbre of sound and how is it determined?

The timbre of sound is the overtone coloring of sound; specific characteristic of musical sound. The timbre of a sound is determined by the totality of its overtones.

Exercises.

1. Which insect flaps its wings more often in flight - a bumblebee, a mosquito or a fly? Why do you think so?

The higher the frequency, the higher the sound. Therefore, the mosquito flaps its wings more often.

2. Teeth rotating circular saw create a sound wave in the air. How will the pitch of the sound emitted by the saw change when it is idling if you start sawing a thick board of dense wood on it? why?

The pitch will decrease as the speed of the circular saw will decrease.

3. It is known that the tighter the string on the guitar is, the higher the sound it produces. How will the pitch of guitar strings change with a significant increase in ambient temperature? Explain the answer.

When the temperature rises, the guitar string stretches, therefore, the period of oscillation increases, which means that the frequency and pitch of the sound decrease.

Sound, that is, the number of vibrations of the medium (usually air) per second that affect the human eardrum. As the vibration frequency increases, the pitch of the sound increases. As a first approximation, the subjective pitch is proportional to the logarithm of the frequency - according to the Weber-Fechner law.

Basic information

Sound pitch is the subjective quality of a person's auditory sensation, along with loudness and timbre, which allows all sounds to be placed on a scale from low to high. For pure tone (what is this?) it depends mainly on the frequency (with increasing frequency, the pitch rises), but subjectively - also on its intensity (amplitude?) - with increasing intensity, the pitch seems lower. The pitch of a sound with a complex spectral composition depends on the distribution of energy along the frequency scale.

Frequency signals of a complex spectrum without a fundamental frequency (the first harmonic in the spectrum) are called residual. The perception of the height of a frequency signal coincides with the perception of the height of the residual version of the same signal.

Write a review on the article "Pitch"

Notes

Literature

• Haynes B., Cooke P.R. Pitch // The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London; New York, 2001.

see also

An excerpt characterizing the pitch

The source of this extraordinary power of insight into the meaning of occurring phenomena lay in that popular feeling, which he carried within himself in all its purity and strength.
Only the recognition of this feeling in him made the people, in such strange ways, from an old man who was in disfavor, choose him against the will of the tsar to be representatives of the people's war. And only this feeling put him on that highest human height, from which he, the commander-in-chief, directed all his forces not to kill and exterminate people, but to save and pity them.
This simple, modest and therefore truly majestic figure could not fit into that deceitful form of a European hero, supposedly controlling people, which history invented.
For a lackey there can be no great person, because the lackey has his own idea of ​​greatness.

November 5 was the first day of the so-called Krasnensky battle. Before evening, when, after many disputes and mistakes of the generals, who went to the wrong place; after dispatches of adjutants with counter-orders, when it had already become clear that the enemy was fleeing everywhere and that there could not be and would not be a battle, Kutuzov left Krasnoye and went to Dobroe, where the main apartment had been transferred that day.
The day was clear and frosty. Kutuzov, with a huge retinue of generals who were dissatisfied with him, whispering after him, rode on his fat white horse to Good. All along the road crowded, warming themselves by the fires, lots of French prisoners taken this day (there were seven thousand of them taken that day). Not far from Dobry, a huge crowd of ragged, bandaged and wrapped with whatever prisoners buzzed in conversation, standing on the road near a long line of unharnessed French guns. As the commander-in-chief approached, the conversation fell silent, and all eyes stared at Kutuzov, who, in his white hat with a red band and a wadded overcoat, sitting with a hump on his stooped shoulders, slowly moved along the road. One of the generals reported to Kutuzov where the guns and prisoners were taken.
Kutuzov seemed to be preoccupied with something and did not hear the words of the general. He screwed up his eyes in displeasure and peered attentively and intently into those figures of prisoners who presented a particularly pitiful appearance. Most of the faces of the French soldiers were disfigured by frostbitten noses and cheeks, and almost all had red, swollen and festering eyes.
One group of Frenchmen stood close to the road, and two soldiers - the face of one of them was covered with sores - were tearing a piece of raw meat. There was something terrible and animal in that cursory glance that they threw at the passersby, and in that vicious expression with which the soldier with sores, looking at Kutuzov, immediately turned away and continued his work.
Kutuzov looked at these two soldiers for a long time; Wrinkling even more, he narrowed his eyes and shook his head thoughtfully. In another place, he noticed a Russian soldier, who, laughing and patting the Frenchman on the shoulder, said something affectionately to him. Kutuzov again shook his head with the same expression.
- What are you saying? What? he asked the general, who continued to report and drew the attention of the commander-in-chief to the French taken banners that stood in front of the front of the Preobrazhensky regiment.
- Ah, banners! - said Kutuzov, apparently with difficulty breaking away from the subject that occupied his thoughts. He looked around absently. Thousands of eyes from all sides, waiting for his word, looked at him.
In front of the Preobrazhensky Regiment he stopped, sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Someone from the retinue waved for the soldiers holding the banners to come up and place them around the commander-in-chief with flagpoles. Kutuzov was silent for several seconds and, apparently reluctantly, obeying the necessity of his position, raised his head and began to speak. Crowds of officers surrounded him. He scanned the circle of officers with a keen eye, recognizing some of them.
– Thank you all! he said, addressing the soldiers and again to the officers. In the silence that reigned around him, his slowly spoken words were clearly audible. “Thank you all for your hard and faithful service. The victory is perfect, and Russia will not forget you. Glory to you forever! He paused, looking around.
“Bend down, bend down his head,” he said to the soldier who held the French eagle and accidentally lowered it in front of the banner of the Transfiguration. “Lower, lower, that’s it. Hooray! guys, - with a quick movement of your chin, turn to the soldiers, he said.

With the help of this video lesson, you can learn the topic “Sound sources. Sound vibrations. Pitch, tone, volume. In this lesson, you will learn what sound is. We will also consider ranges sound vibrations perceived by human hearing. Let us determine what can be the source of sound and what conditions are necessary for its occurrence. We will also study such characteristics of sound as pitch, timbre and loudness.

The topic of the lesson is devoted to sound sources, sound vibrations. We will also talk about the characteristics of sound - pitch, volume and timbre. Before talking about sound, about sound waves, let's remember that mechanical waves propagate in elastic media. Part of the longitudinal mechanical waves, which is perceived by the human hearing organs, is called sound, sound waves. Sound is mechanical waves that are perceived by human hearing organs, which cause sound sensations. .

Experiments show that the human ear, human hearing organs perceive vibrations with frequencies from 16 Hz to 20,000 Hz. It is this range that we call the sound range. Of course, there are waves whose frequency is less than 16 Hz (infrasound) and more than 20,000 Hz (ultrasound). But this range, these sections are not perceived by the human ear.

Rice. 1. Human ear hearing range

As we said, the areas of infrasound and ultrasound are not perceived by human hearing organs. Although they can be perceived, for example, by some animals, insects.

What's happened ? Sound sources can be any body that vibrates with sound frequency(from 16 to 20000 Hz)

Rice. 2. An oscillating ruler clamped in a vise can be a source of sound

Let us turn to experience and see how a sound wave is formed. To do this, we need a metal ruler, which we clamp in a vise. Now, acting on the ruler, we will be able to observe vibrations, but we will not hear any sound. And yet around the ruler is created mechanical wave. Note that when the ruler moves to one side, an air seal forms here. On the other side, there is also a seal. Between these seals, an air vacuum is formed. Longitudinal wave - this is a sound wave, consisting of seals and air discharges. The vibration frequency of the ruler in this case is less than the sound frequency, so we do not hear this wave, this sound. Based on the experience that we have just observed, at the end of the 18th century an instrument called a tuning fork was created.

Rice. 3. Propagation of longitudinal sound waves from a tuning fork

As we have seen, sound appears as a result of vibrations of the body with a sound frequency. Sound waves propagate in all directions. There must be a medium between the human hearing aid and the source of sound waves. This medium can be gaseous, liquid, solid, but it must be particles capable of transmitting vibrations. The process of transmission of sound waves must necessarily occur where there is matter. If there is no substance, we will not hear any sound.

For sound to exist:

1. Sound source

2. Wednesday

3. Hearing aid

4. Frequency 16-20000Hz

5. Intensity

Now let's move on to discussing the characteristics of sound. The first is the pitch. Sound pitch - characteristic, which is determined by the frequency of oscillation. The higher the frequency of the body that produces vibrations, the higher the sound will be. Let's turn again to the ruler, clamped in a vise. As we have already said, we saw the vibrations, but did not hear the sound. If now the length of the ruler is made smaller, then we will hear the sound, but it will be much more difficult to see the vibrations. Look at the line. If we act on it now, we will not hear any sound, but we observe vibrations. If we shorten the ruler, we will hear a sound of a certain pitch. We can make the length of the ruler even shorter, then we will hear the sound of even higher pitch (frequency). We can observe the same thing with tuning forks. If we take a large tuning fork (it is also called a demonstration tuning fork) and hit the legs of such a tuning fork, we can observe the oscillation, but we will not hear the sound. If we take another tuning fork, then, by striking it, we will hear a certain sound. And the next tuning fork, a real tuning fork, which is used to tune musical instruments. It produces a sound corresponding to the note la, or, as they say, 440 Hz.

Next Feature- sound timbre. Timbre called sound color. How can this characteristic be illustrated? Timbre is the difference between two identical sounds played by different musical instruments. You all know that we have only seven notes. If we hear the same note A, taken on the violin and on the piano, then we will distinguish them. We can immediately tell which instrument created this sound. It is this feature - the color of the sound - that characterizes the timbre. It must be said that the timbre depends on what sound vibrations are reproduced, in addition to the fundamental tone. The fact is that arbitrary sound vibrations are quite complex. They consist of a set of individual vibrations, they say vibration spectrum. It is the reproduction of additional vibrations (overtones) that characterizes the beauty of the sound of a particular voice or instrument. Timbre is one of the main and striking manifestations of sound.

Another feature is volume. The loudness of the sound depends on the amplitude of the vibrations. Let's take a look and make sure that the loudness is related to the amplitude of the vibrations. So, let's take a tuning fork. Let's do the following: if you hit the tuning fork weakly, then the oscillation amplitude will be small and the sound will be quiet. If now the tuning fork is hit harder, then the sound is much louder. This is due to the fact that the amplitude of oscillations will be much larger. The perception of sound is a subjective thing, it depends on what the hearing aid is like, what the person's well-being is like.

List of additional literature:

Are you familiar with the sound? // Quantum. - 1992. - No. 8. - C. 40-41. Kikoin A.K. On musical sounds and their sources // Kvant. - 1985. - No. 9. - S. 26-28. Elementary textbook of physics. Ed. G.S. Landsberg. T. 3. - M., 1974.

Sound waves, like other waves, are characterized by such objective quantities as frequency, amplitude, phase of oscillations, propagation velocity, sound intensity, and others. But. in addition, they are described by three subjective characteristics. These are sound volume, pitch and timbre.

The sensitivity of the human ear is different for different frequencies. In order to cause a sound sensation, the wave must have a certain minimum intensity, but if this intensity exceeds a certain limit, then the sound is not heard and only causes pain. Thus, for each oscillation frequency, there is the smallest (threshold of hearing) and the greatest (threshold pain sensation) the intensity of a sound that is capable of producing a sound sensation. Figure 15.10 shows the dependence of hearing and pain thresholds on sound frequency. The area between these two curves is hearing area. The greatest distance between the curves falls on the frequencies to which the ear is most sensitive (1000-5000 Hz).

If the sound intensity is a quantity that objectively characterizes wave process, then the subjective characteristic of the sound is the loudness. The loudness depends on the intensity of the sound, i.e. determined by the square of the oscillation amplitude in sound wave and ear sensitivity (physiological features). Since the intensity of the sound is \(~I \sim A^2,\), the greater the amplitude of the oscillations, the louder the sound.

Pitch- sound quality, determined by a person subjectively by ear and depending on the frequency of the sound. The higher the frequency, the higher the tone of the sound.

Sound vibrations occurring according to the harmonic law, with a certain frequency, are perceived by a person as a certain musical tone. High frequency vibrations are perceived as sounds high tone, low frequency sounds - like sounds low tone. The range of sound vibrations corresponding to a change in the frequency of vibrations by a factor of two is called octave. So, for example, the tone "la" of the first octave corresponds to a frequency of 440 Hz, the tone "la" of the second octave corresponds to a frequency of 880 Hz.

Musical sounds correspond to sounds emitted by a harmoniously vibrating body.

Main tone A complex musical sound is called a tone corresponding to the lowest frequency that exists in the set of frequencies of a given sound. Tones corresponding to other frequencies in the composition of the sound are called overtones. If the frequencies of the overtones are multiples of the frequency \(~\nu_0\) of the fundamental tone, then the overtones are called harmonic, and the fundamental tone with a frequency \(~\nu_0\) is called the first harmonic overtone with the following frequency \(~2 \nu_0\) - second harmonic etc.

Musical sounds with the same fundamental tone differ in timbre, which is determined by the presence of overtones - their frequencies and amplitudes, the nature of the increase in amplitudes at the beginning of the sound and their decline at the end of the sound.

At the same pitch, sounds made, for example, by a violin and a piano, differ timbre.

The perception of sound by the hearing organs depends on what frequencies are included in the sound wave.

Noises- these are sounds that form a continuous spectrum, consisting of a set of frequencies, i.e. Noise contains fluctuations of various frequencies.

Literature

Aksenovich L. A. Physics in high school: Theory. Tasks. Tests: Proc. allowance for institutions providing general. environments, education / L. A. Aksenovich, N. N. Rakina, K. S. Farino; Ed. K. S. Farino. - Mn.: Adukatsia i vykhavanne, 2004. - S. 431-432.