1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I am your host, 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And in a previous 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: episode called How Music Works the Physics, I talked a 6 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: lot about the basic underlying science behind music and that 7 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: included how sound works and concepts like overtones, harmonics, resonance, 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,480 Speaker 1: and more So. If you haven't heard that episode, I 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: really recommend you check it out. It will give you 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: the underlying principles on what I'm gonna build on today, 11 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: and it's gonna give a lot more of what I'll 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: be saying in this episode more context. However, you're like, yeah, no, 13 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: I'm good, let's do this. I'll just say this. Remember 14 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: that playing any note on most musical instruments produces a 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: fundamental frequent See that's the note that we hear that's 16 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: being played, as well as a series of overtone frequencies, 17 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: and it's those overtones that shape the sound and give 18 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: it the quality we associate with that specific instrument. We 19 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: call it timber. And that's why a C note played 20 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: on a flute sounds different than the same C note 21 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: played on a recorder or a guitar or a xylophone. 22 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: If it weren't for these overtones, the notes played on 23 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: instruments would sound more similar to one another. There'd be 24 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: no real point in making different instruments. But as we know, 25 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: musical instruments have their own distinct qualities. Before we move 26 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: on to specific groups of musical instruments, I do want 27 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: to talk a tiny bit about music theory, but only 28 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: a tiny bit, because one, music theory gets really complex 29 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: and very specific and it requires a lot more discussion 30 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: than I can cover in an episode. And two I 31 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: get really lost in the weeds pretty early on with 32 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: music theory. If I'm being on a I am not 33 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: a musician. I've never taken courses in music theory. All 34 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: the learning I've done has been on my own, and 35 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: I am admittedly a novice in the field. But while 36 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: I've talked about frequencies and pitches and stuff, I haven't 37 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: really talked about why we have specific notes in Western music. 38 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: Why do we have the notes we have. The notes 39 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: in Western music are A A sharp, B, C C sharp, 40 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: D D sharp, E, F F sharp, G n G sharp. 41 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: Each of those represents a specific frequency, or rather I 42 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: should say frequency s because you can have different octaves 43 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: of the same note. Right, you can have an A 44 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: and then go up an octave. You still have an A, 45 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: but it's twice the frequency of your previous A. Each 46 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: note in this sequence is a semi tone apart from 47 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,519 Speaker 1: the previous note, as well as a semi tone apart 48 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: from the following note, and collectively it's called the chrome 49 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: matic scale. Now I could have started on any one 50 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: of those notes, and after the letter G you wrap 51 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: back around to the letter A and get back to 52 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: my starting point. That's still a chromatic scale, but it 53 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: raises a question like why is there an A note? 54 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: Why does the sequence go up to G? Why do 55 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: all notes except B and E have sharp notes? What 56 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: even defines a note? These pitches correspond to frequencies that 57 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: Western musicians and audiences have found appealing over time, and 58 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: so it kind of solidified out of what people liked. 59 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: There are other music scales, by the way, such as 60 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: the diatonic scale. While the chromatic scale includes the twelve 61 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: semi tones found in Western music, the diatonic scale is 62 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: a scale of seven notes, five whole tones, and two 63 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: semi tones and do re mi fa, so lat do 64 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: that little bit you've heard if you've ever listen the 65 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: sound of music that represents a diatonic scale. And it 66 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: gets way more complicated than all this. But to really 67 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: dive into that, we'd have to go into a whole 68 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: history of music and the development of music theory and philosophy, 69 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: and we'd have to talk about ratios and major keys 70 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: and minor keys, and honestly, it's way more than what 71 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: we really need to consider for this episode. The important 72 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: thing for us to note, ha ha ha, is that 73 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: the pitches represented in the chromatic scale tend to be 74 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: the ones that Western musical instruments are designed to replicate 75 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: when they are properly tuned. So you can think of 76 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: musical instruments as being a reflection of our natural kind 77 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 1: of affinity towards these particular notes in the West. And 78 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: I have to keep saying that because music, while it 79 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: is a universal thing among humans that you know, we 80 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: make music, it's not a universal set of laws across 81 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: all cultures. All right, I got all that out the way. 82 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: Let's talk about the general classifications of modern instruments, and 83 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: for the purposes of this podcast. Again, I'm just talking 84 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: about the typical instrument groupings that you would find in 85 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: a Western orchestra. And I realized this brings a lot 86 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: of cultural baggage into the discussion. But just know that 87 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: the examples I give are meant to represent large groups 88 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: of instruments across different cultural boundaries that share, you know, 89 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: similar qualities. If after I cover all the major classifications 90 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: in Western orchestras, I have a bit of extra time, 91 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: we'll tackle some stuff that isn't typically part of those ensembles. 92 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: There's one in particular that I know I'm going to 93 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: cover that you don't typically find in an orchestra. Now, 94 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: out of all the categories of those musical instruments, I 95 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: would say percussion is the easiest to explain. Now, I 96 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: do not mean it's the easiest to play by any means, 97 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: because I think playing any musical instrument requires skill and 98 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: lots of practice and dedication, especially if you want to 99 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,600 Speaker 1: do it well. Also, you've got to remember that my 100 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,679 Speaker 1: original co host and the co creator of tech Stuff, 101 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: Chris Palette, is himself a talented drummer. He played professionally 102 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: and stuff, and while I always like to give him 103 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: a bit of the business when it comes to drumming 104 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: and whether or not it counts as music. In truth, 105 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 1: I acknowledge that being a great percussionist is really to 106 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: be an accomplished musician. Percussion instruments are, of course the 107 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 1: kind you strike or rub or otherwise you know, cause 108 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: to vibrate directly, and they're probably the oldest subset of 109 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: musical instruments, as it seems like we'd probably figure out 110 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: pretty early on as human beings that if you hit 111 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: that thing with that other thing, it makes a pretty 112 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: cool sound. But this is all a guest based on intuition. 113 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: We really don't know when humans first started making music, 114 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: except it was definitely before last Wednesday. Percussive instruments produced vibrations, 115 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: as I said, after being struck or rubbed or scraped. 116 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: And there are a couple of instruments that occasionally get 117 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: grouped with percussion, perhaps because it's hard to figure out 118 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: where else to stick them because they aren't your traditional instruments. 119 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: But I'm going to ignore those because they are the outliers. 120 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: So generally you're talking about stuff like drums, xylophones, symbols, 121 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. There are also instruments that span 122 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: percussion and other categories like stringed instruments, and the most 123 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: obvious example of this type of instrument is the piano 124 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: or the piano forte. Because the piano has strings, obviously, 125 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: but those strings are struck rather than plucked or strummed 126 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: or bode. There are little hammers inside the piano. They 127 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: swing when their respective key is pressed on the keyboard, 128 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: and the hammer strikes its respective string, which then vibrates 129 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: at its fundamental frequency. And that's determined by a lot 130 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: of stuff, including the length of the string, what the 131 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: string is made of, the thickness of the string, and 132 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: how much tension is on it. But a standard piano 133 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: has a D eight keys, some have more, many have fewer, 134 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: but that means they also if they have a D 135 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 1: eight keys, they have a D eight strings and usually 136 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: eighty eight hammers. Will transition over to stringed instruments in 137 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: a second since we're on the subject, but really, percussion 138 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: is is one of the simplest ones for me to 139 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: explain from a physics perspective. The only other thing I 140 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: might mention is that some percussion instruments are said to 141 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: be pitched, meaning they can produce musical notes of one 142 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: or more pitches, and some are considered unpitched, meaning they 143 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: produce a sound of indefinite pitch. So a xylophone is 144 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: a pitched percussion instrument, as each wooden bar produces a 145 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,439 Speaker 1: different pitch when you strike it with a hammer. Symbols 146 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: or shakers or bass drums and similar instruments are said 147 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: to be unpitched, and this is a good time to 148 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 1: talk about why some sounds are considered unpitched. Some sounds 149 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,959 Speaker 1: consist of numerous frequencies at similar levels of amplitude, and 150 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: amplitude is volume. You know. Remember in the previous episode 151 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: I was talking about overtones and how most musical instruments 152 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: produce not just a fundamental frequency, but several other frequencies, 153 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: and those other frequencies are typically at much lower amplitudes 154 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: than the fundamental, so we don't hear them as distinct pitches. 155 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: But some instruments produce multiple frequencies of sound at near 156 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,320 Speaker 1: equal amplitudes, and we get this weird combination effect. Audio 157 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: engineers will talk about the color of noise, and you've 158 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: likely encountered examples of this, such as white noise or 159 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: pink noise. White Noise is any collection of equally spaced 160 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: frequencies of sound within a specific bandwidth, all at the 161 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: same amplitude. So the high frequencies and the low frequencies 162 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: all are at the same volume, and you get that 163 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: white noise. This is going to come back to play 164 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: a little bit later. The other colors of noise describe 165 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: distributions of amplitude that either increase or decrease with bands 166 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: of frequencies, so that you get louder high frequencies than 167 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: low frequencies. That's pink noise, or you get the opposite, 168 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: you know, higher low frequencies than than the high frequencies 169 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: that would be blue noise. So unpitched percussion instruments produce 170 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 1: sounds that are closer to noise. Not that this means 171 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: they are unpleasant, but rather the frequencies of sound they 172 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: produce are such that we do not perceive a specific 173 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: note or pitch with them. Now that we've got the bing, 174 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: bang boom stuff out of the way, let's talk about 175 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,440 Speaker 1: instruments that use either strings or air to create sound. 176 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: And if we peek at the physics behind these instruments, 177 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: we're going to see that they rely on the same 178 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: underlying thing, which are called standing waves. So what is that, Well, 179 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:41,199 Speaker 1: there are different kinds of waves. You've got traveling waves, 180 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,599 Speaker 1: So these are waves that start at one point and 181 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,319 Speaker 1: then they travel down through whatever medium they're going through. 182 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: If you had a way of seeing the wave, you 183 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,839 Speaker 1: would actually watch as it started at a point of 184 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: origin and move all the way through its medium. You 185 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: could follow it from start to finish. Standing waves are 186 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: a bit different. This is another tough concept to get 187 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: across without visual aids. But imagine you've got a slinky 188 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,319 Speaker 1: and you've attached one into the wall, so you've you 189 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 1: glued one end of a slinky to wall. Don't actually 190 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: do this, and then you stand far enough back where 191 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,079 Speaker 1: you've stretched the slinky out from the wall to you 192 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: so it's nice and tight, and you send a quick 193 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 1: pulse by moving the slinky up and then down, and 194 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:23,959 Speaker 1: you just whip it down the length. You would be 195 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: able to watch that go all the way to the wall. 196 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: It would hit the wall, and then this pulse would 197 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: reflect off the wall. But because that that side of 198 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 1: the slinky is actually anchored to an unmoving point, uh, 199 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 1: then that reflection will get inverted. The pulse will be 200 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: as if it were a down then up as opposed 201 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: to an up then down, and it will come back 202 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,719 Speaker 1: the length of the slinky. Now, let's say just as 203 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: the wave is reflecting, you introduce a second pulse down 204 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: the length of the slinky in the original orientation of 205 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 1: the first pulse, So you're going up and then down. Now, 206 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: that mean that these two pulses, as they're traveling toward 207 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: one another, are inverted with respect to each other, and 208 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,319 Speaker 1: once they pass through the center point, they undergo what's 209 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: called destructive interference. In the very middle of the slinky, 210 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: you would have no movement. It would be equilibrium, and 211 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: the two pulses would pass through and continue on for 212 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: the rest of the length of the slinky, But that 213 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: little middle point, which we would call a node, wouldn't move. 214 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 1: So the points in a standing wave that maintain equilibrium 215 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:35,559 Speaker 1: that do not oscillate are the nodes. The oscillating points 216 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: with the greatest amplitude or deviation from the equilibrium are 217 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: called anti noodes. And you can actually see this on 218 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: the string of a guitar. If you were to strum 219 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: a guitar string and slow things down, you'd see all 220 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,559 Speaker 1: the points along the string that are still relative to 221 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: the links on either side. They're going up and down, 222 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: like if you were doing this super slow motion with 223 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: a strobe light effect, you would really be able to 224 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,559 Speaker 1: see it, and it's kind of trippy. And that is 225 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: a standing wave. The wave does not appear to move. 226 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: You see the peaks and troughs going up and down, 227 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: but you have these fixed points, these nodes that are 228 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,599 Speaker 1: not moving, and so the wave doesn't seem to be 229 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: moving down the length of the medium. It just seems 230 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 1: to be this up and down oscillation on either side 231 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: of these anchored nodes. So that's a standing wave. And 232 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: wind instruments do this just like stringed instruments do, except 233 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: in wind instruments we're talking about the movement of a 234 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: column of air that's the medium, as opposed to a string. 235 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: So instead of a physical string between two anchor points, 236 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: we're talking about a column of air inside an instrument, 237 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: and we're going to get back to that a little 238 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: bit later in this episode. Alright, so let's get to 239 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: those stringed instruments. Producing notes on stringed instruments involves plucking, strumming, bowing, 240 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: or otherwise causing strings to vibrate, which produces the corresponding 241 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: sound of the musical instrument. The sound produced, as I 242 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: mentioned with the piano, depends upon the length of string, 243 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: what the string is made of, how thick or stiff 244 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,959 Speaker 1: the string is, and the amount of tension on that string, 245 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: Plus the overall design of the musical instrument matters as well, 246 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: such as whether or not the instrument has a resonance chamber. Okay, 247 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: so some general rules. Let's say that you've got two strings. 248 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: They're made out of the exact same material, they have 249 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: the same thickness, they are under the same amount of tension, 250 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: but one is longer than the other one. The longer 251 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: of those two strings will produce the lower note when 252 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: you strum them. But if you have two strings that 253 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: are of the same material, they're the same thickness and 254 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: they're the same length, whichever one has more tension on 255 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: it will produce a higher note. It will vibrate at 256 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: a higher frequency, So the tighter string will vibrate faster 257 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: than a looser string. If you have two strings that 258 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: are made of the same stuff, they're the same length, 259 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: they're at the same tension, but they are a different 260 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: thick nous, you've got one that's thicker than the other. 261 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: The thicker string will produce a lower note than the 262 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: thinner string. It will vibrate more slowly. You've got more 263 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: mass there. So on an instrument like a guitar, you 264 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: can have all the strings be the same length right there, 265 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: the same length from nut to bridge, right the top 266 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: of the neck, all the way down to the base 267 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: of the strings. They're all the same, they aren't stopping 268 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: at different points. So on an instrument like a guitar, 269 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: you can have all the strings be the same length 270 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: from the top of the neck down to the very 271 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: base of the strings. All those strings are the same length. 272 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: They stretch the entirety of the fretboard, but each of 273 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: those strings are of a different thickness and a different tension. 274 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: To have each one tuned to a specific frequency a 275 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: vibration that represents a specific note. Tuning a guitar consists 276 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: of adjusting the tension on those strings. So the tuning 277 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: pegs are all about either increasing the tension by turning 278 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: the tuning peg to tighten the string, or decreasing the 279 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: tension by turning the peg the other direction to loosen 280 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: the string. And strings get out of tune over time. 281 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: They may stretch because of the fact that it's a 282 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: you know, elastic material like the nylon strings you might 283 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: find on the ukulele, or it could be environmental factors 284 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: like the temperature or humidity. Those can all affect them. 285 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: When we come back, I've got more to say about 286 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: stringed instruments and how they work, but before we get 287 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: to that, let's take a quick break. There are several 288 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: stringed instruments that have a single fixed string dedicated to 289 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: each note within the instruments range. So a piano is 290 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: a great example. You've got your standard eighty eight notes 291 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: on a typical grand piano. Harps also fall into that 292 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: general category. There are some bode liars that can work 293 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: a little differently, but most harps are the same way, 294 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: where every string is dedicated to a specific note. So 295 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: musicians who play these instruments have to manage way more strings, 296 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,159 Speaker 1: but they don't have to make any big changes to 297 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: those strings. They don't have to alter the strings length 298 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 1: to produce different notes. They just plug a different string. 299 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: But other stringed instruments like the guitar family, or violins 300 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 1: or cellos, viola's stuff like that, they require players to 301 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: change the length of the strings by pressing down on 302 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: the neck of the instrument, you know, pinching the string 303 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: and thus changing the anchor points for that string. Changing 304 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: the length of the string changes the strings vibration frequency, 305 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: thus changing the pitch. Guitars have a fretboard, with the 306 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,920 Speaker 1: frets providing that anchor point for the string at specific intervals. 307 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: Makes it really easy. The frets are space such that 308 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 1: playing an open string and then playing each fret moving 309 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,199 Speaker 1: up the neck toward the body will follow the chromatic scale. 310 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: Each fret is a semi tone apart from the one 311 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: before and the one after it. I can actually demonstrate this. 312 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: I am going to uh play up the scale on 313 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: the G note of my cigar box guitar. So this 314 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: is the open string and the first fret would be 315 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: a half tone or a semi tone up, and then 316 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:21,919 Speaker 1: the next one and next m Yeah. So just by 317 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: altering the length of the string you have changed how 318 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: frequently it will vibrate and us increase the pitch. If 319 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: you ever ever see anyone doing air guitar and they're 320 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,720 Speaker 1: moving their hand back when the guitar pitch is going up, 321 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: they're doing it wrong. Pianos are similar to guitars in 322 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 1: the sense that if you play twelve consecutive keys, including 323 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: both the white and the black keys, you play the 324 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 1: chromatic scale. Each key in sequence is one semi tone 325 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: apart from the one before it and the one that 326 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: comes after it. Bode String instruments like the violin are 327 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,399 Speaker 1: different from instruments like guitars in several important ways. The 328 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,440 Speaker 1: musician plays the instrument by drawing a bow strung with horsehair, 329 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,959 Speaker 1: typically with a coating of rosin on it to increase friction, 330 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: and they draw this horsehair against one or more strings 331 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: on the instrument like a violin violence. By the way, 332 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: you have four strings, a standard guitar has six, and 333 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: when you do this, when you draw the horsehair against 334 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: the string, it causes that string to vibrate. Unlike a guitar, 335 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,880 Speaker 1: the violin and instruments like it don't have a fretboard. 336 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 1: They have what are called fingerboards, but there are no 337 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 1: frets on them. Musicians can still change the length of 338 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: strings by pressing down on them, similar to a guitarist, 339 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: but without the frets. It involves learning the relative positions 340 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: of where your fingers need to go on that fingerboard 341 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,439 Speaker 1: and requires a lot of muscle memories that you can, 342 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,919 Speaker 1: you know, replicate notes accurately, wind bode the strings. Vibrations 343 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: transferred to the body of the violin through the bridge 344 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: that's the part at the base of the strings, and 345 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: it goes down into the body of the violin through 346 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: what is called the sound post, which is in the 347 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:14,200 Speaker 1: resonance chamber. The sound boast is both to transmit vibrations 348 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 1: from the top of the violin to the the back 349 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: of the violin and make the whole body vibrate and resonate, 350 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: but it's also meant to support the top of the violin. 351 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: There's a lot of pressure on the top of a 352 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: violin because of the tension that's on those strings. The 353 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: sound emerges from holes that are in the top of 354 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: the violin's face. These are called f holes, and the 355 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,120 Speaker 1: resonating body amplifies the sound of the strings significantly. Many 356 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: stringed instruments have resonance chambers which helps amplify and direct sound. 357 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: In fact, the cigar box guitar I was just playing 358 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: has a resonance chamber. That's the box, the actual cigar box, 359 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: and the The luthier who made my cigar box guitar 360 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,159 Speaker 1: has cut a hole in that box so that the 361 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 1: sound can reson nate outward. If you don't have a 362 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: resonance chamber, then the vibrating strings would be pretty quiet 363 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: and it would be difficult to hear it over other instruments. 364 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: The way you produce vibrations with a stringed instrument, whether 365 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: it's by strumming or plucking or boeing or striking the strings, 366 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: will help shape the sound as well the strings themselves 367 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: and the design of the instrument as a whole. So 368 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: all of these things contribute to the specific overtones that 369 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: are created when you play that instrument. And that's why 370 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: each of those instruments sounds different from the other instruments. 371 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:39,199 Speaker 1: Whether it's a banjo, guitar, lute, mandolin, harp, piano, violin, 372 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: or whatever. It's the specific qualities of those types of 373 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: instruments that gives each one its own sound. Another thing 374 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:50,200 Speaker 1: that shapes the quality of the sound is whether the 375 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: strings are doubled. Some instruments double up on strings for 376 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: specific notes, like the mandolin tends to do this. I 377 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: think it was done that way in order to make 378 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: my fingertips cry, but really the more likely original reason 379 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: was it was done to amplify the volume of sound, 380 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: because as instruments got louder, people had to figure out 381 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 1: ways of making older instruments be able to play along 382 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: with newer, louder instruments. And some of you may be 383 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: wondering why I'm bothering going through all this stuff, and 384 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: it's really just to illustrate that over time, we've really 385 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: learned how to shape instruments so that they can harness 386 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: the power of physics, even before we had a full 387 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: understanding of those physics. And this required an enormous amount 388 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: of trial and error as people learned what did and 389 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:44,360 Speaker 1: didn't work, and then taught this to younger generations who 390 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: improved upon previous methods while learning more about the actual 391 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: science behind the practice. The reason I went with stringed 392 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: instruments after percussion is that it's pretty easy to get 393 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: your mind wrapped around what is creating the sound, because 394 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: ultimately it's the vibration of those strings. Although those strings 395 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: could be feeding vibrations into some other part of the 396 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,200 Speaker 1: musical instrument, but we can see the strings vibrate, So 397 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: this one's pretty easy to grasp. You know, you see 398 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: it and you're like Oh, that's what's making the noise. 399 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: But what about instruments that you blow into. Well, it 400 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,960 Speaker 1: helps if we continue our division of the instruments into 401 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: their classifications. So I'm going to go with woodwinds next, 402 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,919 Speaker 1: which confusingly also includes instruments like the flute, but more 403 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: on that in a second. First, we know sound ultimately 404 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: relates back to vibration. There are a few different basic 405 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,399 Speaker 1: types of woodwinds that create vibration in different ways, and 406 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 1: I'll start with read instruments. These instruments typically have a mouthpiece, 407 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: though some double read instruments don't have a full mouthpiece. 408 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: But the instrument has a read, or sometimes two reads, 409 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: and those those reads vibrate when you force air against 410 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:00,119 Speaker 1: them in a specific uh direction. If you're force sing 411 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: an airstream against them properly, you cause the read to vibrate, 412 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: and as the vibration of that read, that ends up 413 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: causing the oscillations of air pressure that's going into the instrument, 414 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: the fluctuation the wave of air pressure. So the source 415 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: of vibration for these read instruments are the reads themselves. 416 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: That's pretty easy to understand. But what about instruments like 417 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,680 Speaker 1: the recorder? Or the penny whistle or the flute. These 418 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: don't have reads. There's no obvious physical element in the 419 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: instruments that's vibrating. So what is creating the vibrations that 420 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: make the sound. Well, I'll start with the humble recorder, 421 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: which I remember playing way back in middle school, shortly 422 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: after the recorder had been invented. I'm kidding, I'm not 423 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: that old, but my former co host Lauren would have 424 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: made that joke, So this one goes out to her. 425 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: If you look at a recorder, you'll see that below 426 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: the mouthpiece on the body of the recorder is a notch, 427 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: and that notch is a piece that some people call 428 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: the ramp. If you were to cut the recorder in half, 429 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 1: down the full length of the instrument, you would see 430 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: that the ramp is like this shelf like structure that 431 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: comes to a point, and the point faces the mouthpiece. 432 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: The mouthpiece itself leads to a very narrow passage that's 433 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: called the wind way. It's it's narrow so that it 434 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 1: forces the wind through a very narrow channel. Blowing into 435 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,760 Speaker 1: the recorder forces air down this wind way. Then the 436 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:31,360 Speaker 1: air hits the edge of this ramp, and here's where 437 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 1: the vibration happens. When the stream of air hits that 438 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: sharp ramp, some of the air deflects up out of 439 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: the instrument, so up the ramp like dukes of hazard 440 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 1: going off the highway. Some of the air, though, continues 441 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: into the air column that's inside the recorder's body, the 442 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: bore of the recorder, so it continues forward, and the 443 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: oscillation of the jet of air is what creates the 444 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,919 Speaker 1: basic vibration within the recorder. It's the source of the sound. 445 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: I'll get to what's going on in the body of 446 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: woodwinds in a minute, because that bit is standard across 447 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: the board to some extent. But first I want to 448 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 1: chat about how a flute creates vibrations. Now, when I 449 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: say flute, I'm specifically referring to transverse or side blown flutes. 450 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: If you were to look at the mouth hole for 451 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: the flute, you would see it has a sharp edge. 452 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: This acts very much like the ramp in a recorder. 453 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: So if you blow down properly on the mouthpiece, you 454 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: create an edge tone. The frequency for the main edge 455 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: tone depends upon the velocity of the stream of air 456 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,360 Speaker 1: and the distance from the air stream to the edge, 457 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: so with a recorder, this would mean changing the length 458 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,680 Speaker 1: of the wind way, which you can't really do because 459 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: it's a physical structure. But with a flute you can 460 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: actually do that. You can roll the flute so it's 461 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: a little closer to your lips or a little further away, 462 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: and you can actually shape the edge tone that way. 463 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: This becomes important because by varying both the velocity of 464 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: the air dream and the distance between the edge and 465 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 1: the lips, a flow disc can vary the flute pitch. 466 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: This is called overblowing. But to understand that, it's time 467 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: we talk about what's going on inside all these different 468 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 1: instruments once the oscillating air molecules are in there. So 469 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: think of a cross section of a woodwind instrument. Imagine 470 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: we can visualize what's happening inside of it. And let's 471 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,879 Speaker 1: think of flutes and recorders, because these are types of 472 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: open ended tubes like a pipe you would use in plumbing. 473 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: If you were to stop up the end of the instrument, 474 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,639 Speaker 1: you would have a closed ended tube. And something interesting 475 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: happens that I'll get to in a moment. Now. Before 476 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: we play our recorder or our flute, the air inside 477 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: the instrument is at a pressure that's equivalent to the 478 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,920 Speaker 1: ambient atmospheric pressure. That is, the pressure inside a recorder 479 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: or an oboe, or a clarinet or a flute. It's 480 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: the same as the air pressure inside the room. And 481 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: it's like that as long as it's not being played. 482 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: As soon as you start blowing into the instrument, you're 483 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 1: introducing waves of increasing and decreasing air pressure. Those fluctuations 484 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: that were caused by the read and the read instrument, 485 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: or the ramp of a recorder or the mouthpiece of 486 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: the flute, for example. At either end of instruments like 487 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:21,359 Speaker 1: the flute or recorder, you have the anti noodes. Now, 488 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,119 Speaker 1: remember when I was describing standing waves. The anti noode 489 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: is where you get the big fluctuations and amplitude. So 490 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: at the anti noode you've got low air pressure and 491 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,399 Speaker 1: maximum movement of air so velocity uh so. And this 492 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,719 Speaker 1: is all with respect to atmospheric pressure in the center 493 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 1: of this air column. So in the center of the 494 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: bore of your flute, let's say, in between the anti 495 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 1: noodes that are at the ends, you've got the node. 496 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: This is an area of high air pressure and very 497 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: low or no velocity with respect to atmospheric pressure. So 498 00:28:57,040 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: this is the opposite of what we saw with stringed instruments, 499 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,479 Speaker 1: because with those is really easy for us to imagine right, 500 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: the anchored points at either end of a string are nodes. 501 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: They cannot move right, so they're locked in place. The 502 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: bits that wobble about on the string are further in 503 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: from those points. That's where the anti noode is. It's 504 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 1: very easy to visualize, but with an instrument like a 505 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 1: flute or recorder, that lockdown part is actually in the middle. 506 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: It's in between the anti noodes. The ends of the 507 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: air column are the parts oscillating, and the bit in 508 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: the middle is remaining an equilibrium. This is actually how 509 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: the air column inside the instrument is vibrating, and the 510 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: frequency of that vibration determines the fundamental frequency or tone 511 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: we hear coming from that instrument. So this column of 512 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: air inside the instrument is vibrating many times per second. 513 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: If we were doing this with a recorder, we would 514 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 1: start with all the holes on the recorder covered right, 515 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: so we don't have any holes uncovered. This creates the 516 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 1: maximum length bore for the recorder blowing into the mouthpiece 517 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: of the record or would force an air stream against 518 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: the ramp, which would create this oscillating effect that would 519 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: start the vibration pattern down the bore of the recorder. 520 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 1: Somewhere near the center of the bore would be the 521 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: note where the air pressure is that the highest and 522 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: the air velocity is at its lowest. The vibration would 523 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 1: create the note we hear played by the recorder. But 524 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: what if we open up one or more of those 525 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: holes that we've covered up. Well, if you do that, 526 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: you're decreasing the length of the air column, just as 527 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: pressing down on the guitar's fretboard effectively reduces the length 528 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,480 Speaker 1: of the vibrating string and increases the frequency or pitch. 529 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 1: So the holes in a recorder aren't quite big enough 530 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: to have an open hole completely cut off the air 531 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: column at that point, But that ends up getting a 532 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 1: little too deep into the physics of recorders. Basically, if 533 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 1: you have a recorder or a penny whistle and you blow, 534 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: as you start to lift fingers off the holes from 535 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: the far end and you move up the instrument, you'll 536 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: hear the notes in increasing in pitch as you do so. 537 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: By taking your thumb off the thumb hole on the 538 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 1: underside of the recorder. You divide the air column into 539 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: two parts, which means you get two notes inside the recorder, 540 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:16,719 Speaker 1: not just one. And the vibration the frequency has increased 541 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: again because those air columns are shorter, just as if 542 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: you had a shorter string vibrating. So you get to 543 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: you a second register of notes in the recorder. With 544 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: a really well designed recorder, you can get up to 545 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: four registers or thirty notes playable on an instrument with 546 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: just eight holes, which is pretty amazing. And it's all 547 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,800 Speaker 1: because of the physics of these standing waves of air 548 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 1: pressure inside the instrument. Now, when we come back, I'll 549 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: explain how instruments like the clarinet and the oboe are 550 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: very different from this. But let's take a quick break now. 551 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: Not all would wind instruments fall into the cab story 552 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:04,400 Speaker 1: of open tube physics. Some like the clarinet and the 553 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: obo are closed tubes. Uh, and obo's and saxophones actually 554 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: get a little more complicated. They actually fall into conical 555 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: pipe designation. That's going to get a little too deep 556 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: into it. We're gonna stick with closed tubes. So the 557 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: major difference from a physics perspective on these instruments is 558 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: how those standing waves form inside the bore of the instrument. 559 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: So with a flute, we learned that the ends of 560 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: the instrument are where the antinodes are, where the point 561 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 1: of maximum oscillation in regard to air velocity is, and 562 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 1: with the node or the equilibrium point inside the boar 563 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,120 Speaker 1: of the instrument. A closed ended pipe has a node 564 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: at the closed end, and this makes sense. It's like 565 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,160 Speaker 1: the anchor point for a guitar string, like at the 566 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:54,960 Speaker 1: nut of the guitar, So the mouthpiece would represent the 567 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,000 Speaker 1: closed end of the pipe and the node uh would 568 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: be there with respect to velocity. This also means that 569 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: the harmonics of a closed pipe system are different from 570 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 1: an open pipe system. To really get into all of 571 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: this would require way more physics and math than worked 572 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: well for an audio podcast. But really the important thing 573 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 1: to remember is that the nature of the tube of 574 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 1: the bore, whether it's open or closed or conical, is 575 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: going to affect how those standing waves form inside the instrument, 576 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: and the way the standing waves form affects the different 577 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: types of overtones the instrument is capable of producing when played, 578 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 1: so you get a very different tone out of a 579 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,960 Speaker 1: clarinet or an oboe than you would with a flute 580 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 1: or recorder. And part of that is because the harmonics 581 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: that a clarinet or oboe can create are very different 582 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 1: because of the nature of those standing waves than the 583 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,280 Speaker 1: harmonics you get out of a flute or a recorder. 584 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,280 Speaker 1: I'm sure all that's clear is mud right. Well, if 585 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: nothing else, remember that the length of the column of 586 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: air is inversely proportional to the frequency of the sound 587 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: you produce. The longer the column of air is, the 588 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 1: lower the frequency will be, and thus the lower pitch 589 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 1: of note you will produce. And just as we talked 590 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: about with stringed instruments like the harp or piano, which 591 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 1: have strings dedicated to specific notes, there are read instruments 592 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:28,040 Speaker 1: that fall into that kind of category too. For example, 593 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: the harmonica harmonicas have brass reads in them. It's the 594 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: vibration of those reads that produce the notes you hear 595 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 1: when someone plays harmonica, and the lengths of the reads 596 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,960 Speaker 1: determine the frequency of vibration. A longer read is going 597 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,840 Speaker 1: to vibrate more slowly. It's going to take longer for 598 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 1: a full oscillation to happen than a shorter read, and 599 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: so a longer read will produce a lower note. Moreover, 600 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: harmonicas actually have two plates of reads, so if you 601 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 1: were to take harmonica apart, you would find under the 602 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: top plate you would find a read late. This would 603 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:12,120 Speaker 1: be a plate that has typically brass reads mounted on it. 604 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: The next layer down would be a structure called the comb. 605 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 1: This is a notched structure. It directs the air blown 606 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 1: into the harmonica or drawn through the harmonica to the 607 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 1: appropriate reads. Below the comb is a second read plate. 608 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: This is the draw read plate. So blowing into the 609 00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:35,919 Speaker 1: harmonica activates the top read plate, and drawing air through 610 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 1: the harmonica activates the lower red plate. And you have 611 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:42,520 Speaker 1: ten holes that you can blow into with your standard harmonica. 612 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,160 Speaker 1: So if you choose hole number one and you blow 613 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,040 Speaker 1: into it, you're gonna get one note as the air 614 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: is directed to the upper read plate and makes that 615 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: read vibrate. If you breathe in, you will get a 616 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 1: different note because it's going to pull air in and 617 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: direct it to the lower read plate and it will 618 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:05,320 Speaker 1: vibrate that read. Now, typically the draw note is the 619 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 1: next one up on the scale from the blown note. 620 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,400 Speaker 1: So if the blow note for a whole one in 621 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:15,000 Speaker 1: your harmonica is a C. The draw note for a 622 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,360 Speaker 1: whole one is probably a D. Harmonicas tend to have 623 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: ten holes, so you get twenty notes. Pretty nifty. Let's 624 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: move on to talk about brass instruments. So with woodwinds, 625 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:29,160 Speaker 1: we're producing vibrations to create those standing waves using either 626 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,280 Speaker 1: reads or in the case with the flute or the recorder, 627 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,640 Speaker 1: by using an edge that deflects part of the airstream. 628 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:39,640 Speaker 1: But with brass instruments, the source of vibration comes from 629 00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,760 Speaker 1: something else. It comes from the lips of the person 630 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:46,239 Speaker 1: who is playing the instrument. So the player presses their 631 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:51,600 Speaker 1: lips against a mouthpiece. The mouthpiece position depends upon the instrument. 632 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,480 Speaker 1: Some instruments require more of a centered placement, others require 633 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: more of a two thirds placement. It all depends on 634 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: the specific instrument you're looking at. And the player forces 635 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,400 Speaker 1: air through their lips and they keep enough tension on 636 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,840 Speaker 1: their lips to create a buzzing vibration, and this is 637 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,560 Speaker 1: what creates the fluctuating wave of air that goes down 638 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:16,959 Speaker 1: the tube of this instrument and ultimately produces the musical note. 639 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:21,480 Speaker 1: The use of the lips has a specific name, and 640 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:26,160 Speaker 1: it's the umbature, and it gets pretty complicated, well beyond 641 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:28,440 Speaker 1: just the buzzing I described, and it brings into stuff 642 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:31,880 Speaker 1: like the tongue and the teeth and the face muscles 643 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 1: and everything that's needed to create specific types of buzzing 644 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: in order to produce specific notes. Because by altering the umbashure, 645 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,320 Speaker 1: a player can get different notes out of a brass instrument, 646 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,800 Speaker 1: even if that instrument has no valves or pitch control. 647 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,200 Speaker 1: So a bugle, like a typical bugle, is an example 648 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:54,760 Speaker 1: of such an instrument. If you look at a bugle, 649 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:57,480 Speaker 1: you'll notice that it doesn't have any keys or valves 650 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,160 Speaker 1: or a slider or anything like that. In fact, you 651 00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,320 Speaker 1: could uncurl a bugle and you would end up with 652 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:07,120 Speaker 1: a really long horn and no controls for it. And 653 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:09,960 Speaker 1: you might think that because you have an instrument that 654 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,080 Speaker 1: you can't change the length of you know, we were 655 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: talking about with woodwinds that by pressing the keys or 656 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 1: by moving your fingers off of holes you shorten that 657 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,319 Speaker 1: air column. Well, this is an instrument where you can't 658 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,239 Speaker 1: do that. You can't change the length of the air 659 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,359 Speaker 1: column in it. So if you can't change the length 660 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:26,920 Speaker 1: of the air column in it. How can you change 661 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 1: the frequency? How can you play different notes on an 662 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,920 Speaker 1: instrument like that? Well, it's done by altering the umberature. 663 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: By adjusting air flow and tension, players can change the 664 00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 1: vibrational frequency of their buzzing lips so the bugle will 665 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:47,320 Speaker 1: only resonate at specific frequencies those harmonics we've talked about before. 666 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,799 Speaker 1: So through this alteration and vibration, a bugle player can 667 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,600 Speaker 1: sound a bugle along a certain sequence of notes the 668 00:38:55,719 --> 00:39:01,040 Speaker 1: harmonics for that instrument. Typically, bugle plays can get five 669 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:04,480 Speaker 1: different notes. Really good bugle players might be able to 670 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,239 Speaker 1: get a sixth note, and they're all based on the 671 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:13,560 Speaker 1: fundamental frequency of the bugle. Interestingly, the actual fundamental frequency 672 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:17,640 Speaker 1: of the bugle itself. The first harmonic is too low 673 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,800 Speaker 1: for bugle players to play because it would require a 674 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:26,120 Speaker 1: lip vibration that's too slow to replicate. So the lowest 675 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:30,040 Speaker 1: note a bugle player can aim for is the second harmonic. 676 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:33,440 Speaker 1: If you've listened to my previous episode on the subject, 677 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,480 Speaker 1: you know that to learn the second harmonic you take 678 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:39,680 Speaker 1: the frequency of the first harmonic and you multiply it 679 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:43,520 Speaker 1: by two, right, you just it's all whole integers. So 680 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:47,000 Speaker 1: This means the second harmonic is the same note as 681 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:50,360 Speaker 1: the first harmonic, but it's an octave higher. Most bugle 682 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:54,640 Speaker 1: players can play the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth harmonics, 683 00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:58,279 Speaker 1: so five notes, and most bugle calls only consist of 684 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,560 Speaker 1: those five notes. Expert players might be able to get 685 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,840 Speaker 1: out the seventh harmonic as well, for a total of 686 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: six notes, but it's not easy to do. The specific 687 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,400 Speaker 1: notes depend upon the bugle, but most bugles I know 688 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,240 Speaker 1: of are in the key of B flat, and typically 689 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,680 Speaker 1: it's treated as if it were a C C and 690 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:19,360 Speaker 1: B flatter fairly close to each other, so you can 691 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 1: kind of fudget a little bit. Now, all brass instruments 692 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:26,839 Speaker 1: use ummature alterations as part of how to produce different notes, 693 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,239 Speaker 1: but in order to produce even more sounds, people got 694 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,200 Speaker 1: really clever and inventive, and that's what leads us to 695 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:37,200 Speaker 1: instruments that have valves or other methods of pitch alteration. 696 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,520 Speaker 1: So let's go with valves first and talk about instruments 697 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:45,120 Speaker 1: like the trumpet, which I should add was the whole 698 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:47,640 Speaker 1: inspiration for me to do this episode in the first place. 699 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:49,919 Speaker 1: Was I sat down and said, how the heck does 700 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,480 Speaker 1: a trumpet make so many different sounds with just those 701 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,920 Speaker 1: three keys. Because I'm not a musician, I never went 702 00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:59,160 Speaker 1: had banned, so I just didn't know how that worked. 703 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,120 Speaker 1: So if you look at a trumpet, you'll see that 704 00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:05,400 Speaker 1: it has those three valves. You know, there's three pistons 705 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,920 Speaker 1: that you can push down, and those valves give the 706 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:10,800 Speaker 1: player the same effect as if they can magically change 707 00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:15,600 Speaker 1: the length of the trumpet. Each valve, when depressed, opens 708 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,239 Speaker 1: up a section of tubing for air to flow through. 709 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:22,399 Speaker 1: It's adding more sections for air to travel through, thus 710 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:26,200 Speaker 1: expanding the length of the air column, and that means 711 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:30,120 Speaker 1: the frequency of the vibration of that air column has 712 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:34,560 Speaker 1: to decrease because as the length increases, the frequency decreases, 713 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:37,600 Speaker 1: and so the pitch goes down. Assuming that the player 714 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:40,920 Speaker 1: is maintaining a stable umbature. Will get to that, and 715 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:42,800 Speaker 1: that last part is really important if you play a 716 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:45,480 Speaker 1: trumpet in a stable way, so you're not changing the 717 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:49,120 Speaker 1: vibrational frequency of your lips as you're playing. You can 718 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:53,640 Speaker 1: get seven different notes by using the valves in various combinations. 719 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,839 Speaker 1: So if you were depressed the second valve the middle one, 720 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 1: you would go a half step down from the trumpet 721 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:05,960 Speaker 1: just being played naturally. Pressing the first valve down is 722 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:08,880 Speaker 1: one whole step down from the scale, and then you 723 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:13,120 Speaker 1: could press them in various combinations to go down another 724 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:16,880 Speaker 1: sequence of semi tones. But like the bugle player, the 725 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,759 Speaker 1: trumpet player can change their umbature and increase or decrease 726 00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:24,000 Speaker 1: the frequency with which their lips are vibrating and thus 727 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:27,840 Speaker 1: produce higher or lower notes respectively. Then use the valves 728 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:30,680 Speaker 1: to in effect change the length of the trumpet and 729 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:33,359 Speaker 1: thus play way more notes than you could play if 730 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 1: it were like a bugle, and changing the length of 731 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:39,560 Speaker 1: the instrument changes the resonant frequency. Remember, the horn is 732 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,400 Speaker 1: only going to produce sounds at the harmonics in the 733 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,680 Speaker 1: key for that horn, but pressing down a valve and 734 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,120 Speaker 1: opening up a new pathway for air to flow through 735 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:52,560 Speaker 1: lengthens the horn, so you change the horns harmonics. It's 736 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:55,600 Speaker 1: like the trumpet just grew a few inches, which affects 737 00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:58,920 Speaker 1: the frequencies it can produce. This is even easier to 738 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,440 Speaker 1: understand with the troumba. Own Like trumpet players, trombone players 739 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:05,480 Speaker 1: can play different notes by changing the umberature, but they 740 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:09,240 Speaker 1: can also use the slide on the trombone to physically 741 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:13,480 Speaker 1: lengthen the air column inside the instrument. Sliding the slide 742 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:17,400 Speaker 1: out lengthens the overall instrument. Thus it lengthens the overall 743 00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:19,960 Speaker 1: path for the air to go through, it lowers the 744 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:24,800 Speaker 1: frequency or note. Pulling the slide back decreases the length 745 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:28,279 Speaker 1: of the path and increases the frequency or pitch. So 746 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,920 Speaker 1: by changing both umbature and the slide position, a trombone 747 00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 1: player can play many notes. They can even change their umbature, 748 00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:38,680 Speaker 1: move the slide out, and play a higher note than 749 00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:41,640 Speaker 1: the one they had been playing, because again they've changed 750 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,600 Speaker 1: the vibrational frequency of their lips. By increasing that vibrational frequency, 751 00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:48,279 Speaker 1: they're playing a higher note even though they're moving the 752 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:51,719 Speaker 1: slide out at around the same time. It's a really 753 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:55,600 Speaker 1: complicated thing, and it makes me just respect musicians even 754 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:58,960 Speaker 1: more than I already did, because they're like freaking magicians. 755 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:01,880 Speaker 1: So it all comes down to how can I use 756 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,760 Speaker 1: this thing to create sounds that please people using vibrations 757 00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:09,799 Speaker 1: in clever ways. That's the basics of all instruments. I'm 758 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:14,719 Speaker 1: endlessly impressed with the incredible ingenuity we humans have had 759 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:18,239 Speaker 1: in making different musical instruments. To take advantage of these 760 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:22,479 Speaker 1: elements of physics that I talked about, and I hope 761 00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:25,680 Speaker 1: that this episode was interesting to you and that you 762 00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:29,400 Speaker 1: get a deeper appreciation and understanding of how musical instruments 763 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:32,800 Speaker 1: work and how they produce these sounds. There are tons 764 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:38,239 Speaker 1: of amazing videos and articles about musical instruments online. I 765 00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:40,840 Speaker 1: highly recommend if you want to learn more, to be 766 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:43,719 Speaker 1: very specific in what you're searching for. For example, if 767 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:46,320 Speaker 1: you want to learn more about how trumpets work or 768 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:51,239 Speaker 1: how guitar harmonics work, doing a quick search online is 769 00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:53,680 Speaker 1: going to pull up tons of resources and give you 770 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:57,759 Speaker 1: a deeper understanding. I consider this more of an overview because, 771 00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:00,480 Speaker 1: as I said, to really get into it quire a 772 00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:03,640 Speaker 1: series all on its own, and honestly I should leave 773 00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:07,000 Speaker 1: that to somebody who has far more expertise than I do. 774 00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:10,080 Speaker 1: But I hope that you've enjoyed this. If you guys 775 00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:12,560 Speaker 1: have any suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, you 776 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:15,440 Speaker 1: can reach out to me on Facebook or Twitter. The 777 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:19,080 Speaker 1: handle we use is text stuff HSW, so I will 778 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:21,560 Speaker 1: look out for your messages there and I'll talk to 779 00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:29,719 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Y. Text Stuff is an I 780 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:33,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 781 00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:36,840 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 782 00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:38,480 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.