About Creating musical sounds

How do different instruments produce the sounds we classify as music? How do we decide whether something - a piano, a vacuum cleaner - is actually a musical instrument? In this unit we investigate the way vibrations and sound waves are harnessed to create music. By the end of this unit you should be able to: Explain correctly the meaning of the emboldened terms in the main text and use them correctly in context; Identify whether a given sound source can be classed as a musical instrument and explain why (Activity 2); Identify the primary vibrator and any secondary vibrators in the most common types of instrument (Activity 3); Appreciate that, when a note is played, a musical instrument vibrates strongly at certain specific frequencies and that these frequencies correspond to the natural frequencies of the primary vibrator; (Activity 4); Determine whether the sound from a given instrument is transient or sustained (Activity 5); Identify the mechanisms by which different instruments are excited (Activity 6); Explain how a standing wave is formed and locate the positions of the nodes and antinodes (Activity 9); Calculate the speed of a wave on a string given the appropriate formula (Activity 12); Derive an expression for the wavelengths of the normal modes of vibration of a string fixed at each end; from this calculate the string's natural frequencies given the formula relating wavelength to frequency, and thus show that the natural frequencies form a harmonic series (Activity 14); Perform simple calculations involving fundamental frequency, length, mass per unit length and tension of a vibrating string given the appropriate formula (Activities 15 and 16); Derive an expression for the wavelengths of the normal modes of vibration of an air column that is open at both ends; from this calculate the column's resonance frequencies given the formula relating wavelength to frequency, and thus show that the resonance frequencies form a harmonic series (Activity 18); Derive an expression for the wavelengths of the normal modes of vibration of an air column that is open at one end and closed at the other; from this calculate the column's resonance frequencies given the formula relating wavelength to frequency, and thus show that the resonance frequencies form a harmonic series but with the even harmonics missing (Activity 19); Describe what is meant by end correction in relation to vibrating air columns and take these into account when calculating an air column's resonance frequencies, given the formula relating end correction to column radius (Activities 20 and 23); Describe the factors that affect the fundamental frequency of an air column and calculate the fundamental frequency given the appropriate formula (Activities 21, 22 and 23); Describe some of the normal modes of vibration of rectangular bars, circular membranes and circular plates and know that the natural frequencies of these primary vibrators do not form harmonic series; Explain the results of driving a primary vibrator over a range of frequencies and explain the effect damping has on the resultant vibrations; Describe how in some instruments the primary vibrator enlists the help of secondary vibrators to improve the radiation of sound, and explain the properties of such secondary vibrators in terms of their frequency response and damping.