Acoustics write up

Section 2- the principles of musical instruments

In order to create a musical note an instrument has to vibrate,
whether it is a stringed instrument i.e. guitar or a pipe filled with air
i.e. flute.
Wind instruments-Wind instruments make sound vibrations in
many ways. These could be by vibrating reeds by the mouthpiece,
the lips of the musician vibrating or by the circulation of the
musicians breath within the tube. The inside of the tubes need to
be as smooth as they can be in order to get the best possible sound
out of the instrument.
The length of the tube can change the pitch of the instrument, for
example a clarinet has a low pitch and this is because the clarinet is
quite a long instrument, and a piccolo has a high pitch because it is
quite a short instrument. When you blow inside a glass bottle that is
filled with water it will resonate the bottle resulting in it vibrating
and a frequency will then be produced.
When more water is added or water is taken away from the bottle,
this then changes the frequency. The less water the lower the
frequency. This is because the compressions and rarefactions are
happening further apart, this then creates longer wavelengths. Its
these wavelengths, which then determine the frequency.
Flutes-The same happens in wind instruments. The longer and larger
the instrument, the lower the frequency of that instrument is. A flute
has a mouthpiece this is then where the musician applies air
pressure. The reeds in the mouthpiece vibrate and this creates a
ripple effect and after the air has work its way around the shape and
the size of the instrument it will produce a frequency. If none of the
holes in the flute are covered then it will produce a higher
frequency, as the holes arte covered the frequency will get lower
and lower, the longer the tube, the wider the wavelength, the lower
the frequency.
Dynamic range of a flute: Its original pitch is middle C (C4) and it
has a range of about three octaves to C7.
Frequency range of a flute: 250Hz 2500Hz
Dynamic range of a clarinet-The dynamic range of the Clarinet is
greater than any other woodwind instruments to either dynamic
end, extremely soft, or extremely loud.
Frequency range of a clarinet- 125Hz-2000Hz

Envelope of a flute

Brass instruments- a trumpet blown without any valves pressed

will produce a high frequency. When the buttons on a trumpet are
pressed the amount of air within the tube increases, the longer the
tube the wider the wavelength. Trombones have sliders, which when
are pulled towards the mouthpiece produce a higher frequency and
then when it is extended it creates a lower frequency and extends
the tube distance. Mouthpieces on brass instruments do not have
reeds that vibrate musicians vibrate their lips to push vibrating air
into the instrument. Higher pressure from the lips can increase the
frequency, however only a few notes can be produced this way. The
addition tubing on brass instruments help to solve this problem.
Stringed instruments- Stringed instruments make sound with
vibrating strings, and the pitch is modified by the thickness, tension
and length of the string. Stringed instruments can be played in
many ways, and can also come in many variations. Stringed
instruments range from the simple lyre, to the modern guitar, violin
and piano. These all rely on the sound of strings.
All stringed instruments make sounds with tensioned strings. Longer
strings produce a lower tone than shorter ones. Tighter strings
produce a higher than looser ones. Thicker strings produce a lower
sound than thinner strings. Thats why even though all the strings
on a guitar are the same length; they all sound a different note.
String instruments can be plucked bowed or in the case of a piano
struck. Bowing allows very long, sustained notes with interesting
dynamics. Electric guitars use magnetic pickups to convert vibration
to an electric signal. String instruments must be tuned perfectly by

tightening or loosening the strings.

Different notes can be produced in different ways by stringed

instruments. Instruments like the zither, harp and piano have sets of
parallel strings, one for each note that can be sounded individually,
or together to make chords. Instruments like the guitar or violin use
the fingers to lengthen or shorten the length of strings, to produce
different pitches.
Frequency range of a guitar- 80Hz-1200Hz
Frequency range of a violin- 196Hz-3.4KHz
Percussion- Percussion instruments are the simplest and most
primitive musical instruments. The easiest definition of a percussion
instrument is something that produces sound by being struck.
Percussion instruments are usually rhythm or accent instruments,
although instruments like bells, xylophone or glockenspiel can play
melodies. Since they are so simple, percussion instruments are very
varied from symbols and maracas to normal drums and
vibraphones. A symphony orchestra usually has many different
percussion instruments for each piece played.
Percussion instruments make sound by being hit. Drums have a
hollow body that amplifies the noise of a stretched membrane being
hit. Some instruments are shaken, like maracas. Others resonate
when hit like bells. Yet others, like cymbals, just plain make noise
when theyre hit. Percussion instruments can even be odd things like
ratchets or castanets.
While different notes are not usually played on a percussion
instrument, drums are usually tuned to a specific tone. Tightening or
loosening the head of the drum tunes them. The tighter the drum
the higher the note will be. Some drums are also arranged so

different pitches can be played. The larger the drum, the lower the
pitch.
Frequency range of a drum- 65Hz-150Hz
Dynamic range of a drum- Cymbal crashes can hit around 120dB on
the initial transient. Drums can get up to 110dB.
Envelope- ADSR (attack, decay, sustain and release). The envelope
of an instrument is its trait relating to time and force; its often
called its shape. We can see the envelope of instruments by looking
at their waveforms. For example if the amplitude of the waveform is
bigger at the start of the wavelength then the source of the sound
has a strong attack and if the crests of the waves are close together
then they have a high frequency and if they are far apart then they
have a low frequency.
Here is an image of the different envelopes for piano, strings and
the organ

As you can see in the above picture, the piano has a strong attack
and a short sustain, this is because the string is struck in a piano so
the initial impact of the hammer hitting the string in the piano is
what creates the sound and the sound then eventually fades away.
The strings have an equal attack the whole way through and a long
sustain. This is because a bow is used to create the sound so the
sustain is longer.