The Materials Of Music: Sound And Time

Question 1

Compression and rarefaction

Answer 1

Alteration of increased( compression) and decreased( rarefaction ) pressure in the air caused by an activated(vibrating) surface or air column.

Question 2

Sound wave

Answer 2

One complete cycle of compression and rarefaction

Question 3

Frequency

Answer 3

Number of compression-rarefaction cycles that occur per unit of time(usually one second).

Question 4

Human ear frequency range

Answer 4

20-20,000 cycles per second

Question 5

Four Properties of sound

Answer 5

🔹pitch
🔹intensity
🔹duration
🔹timbre

Question 6

Pitch

Answer 6

The highness it lowness if sound.

The grater the number of sound waves produced per second, the higher the sound we hear and vice versa

Question 7

Tone

Answer 7

Musical sound of definite pitch. (the series of partials constitute a musical tone). The individual partials that make up a musical tone are not distinguished separately but are heard by the human ear as a blend that characterizes timbre.

Question 8

Sound

Answer 8

Sensation perceived by the organs of hearing when vibrations reach the ear

Question 9

Intensity(amplitude)

Answer 9

Loudness or softness of a pitch. Measures on a scale from 0 to 130 dB

Question 10

decibels

Answer 10

Intensity(amplitude) physical measurement.

Question 11

Mezzo piano (mp)

Answer 11

Moderately soft.

Avg dB: 60

Question 12

Pianissimo (pp)

Answer 12

Very soft.

Avg dB: 40

Question 13

Piano (p)

Answer 13

Soft.

Avg dB: 50

Question 14

Mezzo forte (mf)

Answer 14

Moderately loud.

Avg dB:70

Question 15

Forte (f)

Answer 15

Loud.

Avg dB:80

Question 16

Fortissimo (ff)

Answer 16

Very loud.

Avg dB: 100

Question 17

Duration

Answer 17

the length of time a pitch, or tone, is sounded.

Question 18

meter and rhythm.

Answer 18

patterns of duration,

Question 19

Meter

Answer 19

describes regularly recurring pulses of equal duration, generally grouped into patterns of two, three, four, or more with one of the pulses in each group accented.

Question 20

beats

Answer 20

patterns of strong (>) and weak ( ._.) pulses

Question 21

Duple (two-beat) and triple (three-beat) meters

Answer 21

These are the two basic meters. All other meters result from some combination of these two.

Question 22

meter

Answer 22

A recurring pattern of stresses or accents that provide the pulse or beat of music.

Question 23

Rhythm

Answer 23

a pattern of uneven durations. A rhythm may be a pattern of almost any length.

Question 24

Timbre

Answer 24

the tone quality or color of a sound. It is the property of sound that permits us, for instance, to distinguish the difference between the sound of a clarinet and an oboe.

Question 25

How is timbre determined

Answer 25

by the shape of the vibrating body, its material (metal, wood, human tissue), and the method used to put it in motion (striking, bowing, blowing, plucking). It is also the result of the human ear’s perception of a series of tones called the harmonic series, which is produced by all instruments.

Question 26

harmonic series

Answer 26

the various pitches produced simultaneously by a vibrating body.
This physical phenomenon results because the body vibrates in sections as well as in a single unit. A string, for example, vibrates along its entire length as well as in halves, thirds, quarters, and so on.

Question 27

Partials or harmonics

Answer 27

The pitches produced simultaneously by the vibrating sections of the body

Question 28

The first partial is called…?

Answer 28

fundamental - the lower frequency partial. It is perceived as the loudest, so the ear identifies it as the specific pitch of the musical tone

Question 29

more about harmonic series

Answer 29

Although the harmonic series theoretically goes to infinity, there are practical limits; the human ear is insensitive to frequencies above 20,000 Hz. (Hz is the abbreviation for hertz, a standard measurement of frequency expressed in cycles per second.)