SOUND

SOUND
SOUND

SOUND

DNUOS
Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 9
 SOUND THEORY

WHAT IS SOUND?

Sound = Vibrations produced by an object. Chrome lab:

Sound Waves

Vibrations that propagate as WAVES

They propagate through different mediums:

Those mediums can be gaseous, liquid or solid. The more dense the materia, the faster
those waves will travel.

Air Liquid Solids

Faster
Slower

340 m/s >1000 m/s >5000 m/s (steel)

Example: The sound of whales

Example: The experiment of the String Phone.
that goes through water for
kilometers.

Of course, thats is why in the vacuum (for example in the space), sound does not
propagate. There are no particles
that can vibrate.
THE VACUUM (El vacío)

Can’t propagate.
0m/s

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 10

 SOUND SHAPES

Not every sound has the same form. They can have numerous shapes:

WEB APP

Chrome lab: Oscillators

WHAT IS NOISE?

Noise = is a sound-wave with an irregular and chaotic shape.

The more irregular a sound-wave is, the more it sounds like noise.

And so, its pitch is less obvious. NOISE doesn’t a have a clear pitch1 (a clear note).

Noise
Pure Sound

REGULAR IRREGULAR

Software

You may try to analyze any

sound with some software
(programas).

Download “Audacity” or “Sonic Visualizer” and record

different type of sounds (noise, different instruments,etc) and zoom in too see the
shapes of the waves.

1 See the term pitch on next section.

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 11

 SOUND QUALITIES OR PROPERTIES
[Link]

WHAT IS PITCH?

Pitch = How HIGH or LOW a sound is. And this depends on

FREQUENCY

Frequency = number of vibrations per second. It is measured in Hz = Hertz

*For Example: 880 Hertz = 880 vibrations per second

The smaller the difference between two wavelenghts, the higher it gets the sound, and
viceversa.

Web App Chrome lab: Voice Spinner

Record your voice, and then change the speed of

reading the sound recording. What happens? How is
related to what we just learned?

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 12

 INFRASOUNDS AND ULTRASOUNDS

Ultrasounds = The sounds higher(+) than 20.000 Hz.

Infrasounds = The sounds lower(-) than 20Hz.

Humans are not able to listen to this extreme pitched sounds, while some animals or
machines do.

# Could you think of some examples? (Write them and explain why).

Web App

The older you get, the less high

frequencies you may listen to.

Check out your hearing of high

notes in the following web.

How old is your hearing?

Video with sound experiments:

Extra Video

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 13

 [Link]

WHAT IS INTENSITY?

Intensity = How LOUD or SOFT a sound is. And this depends on

VOLUME

Sound Volume changes based on the AMPLITUDE of the wavelenghts.

The wider the amplitude (the taller the soundwave), the louder it will be the sound.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Volume is measured

in Db = Decibels

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 14

 [Link]

WHAT IS DURATION?

Duration = How LONG or SHORT a sound is. And this depends on

TIME

Sound Duration changes based on how much time a sound exists, or how long is
perceived..

Tis is very much related with RHYTHM and note VALUES. Will learn more about that
later in the book.

LONG
Sound

SHORT
Sound

[Link]

And this timbre or color

WHAT IS TIMBRE?
depends on the material that
vibrates and other specific
Timbre = What allows the listener to identify the
components of the sound
instrument or object producing the sound.
waves.

•Example: If two different instruments (for example violin/flute) play the same pitch
(note), duration and intensity, we will differentiate them thanks to the timbre (colour).

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 15

 Video

“Why different instruments playing the

same note sound different”

The soundwaves are very complex.

They have strange and different shapes

because they are a combination of multiple
pitches (frequencies) over the main one.

Those are called harmonics.

Harmonics= small frequencies that add

together over a main note.
Th
to ey a
wa form dd t
ve a oge
co
mp ther
lex

Web App

Chrome lab: Spectrogram

A spectrogram shows all the harmonics of
a given sound.
This app allows you to see the spectrum
(the shape of the timbre) of any sound. ¡Hit
the record button or another pre-recorded
sound and try it!

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 16

 E X E RCIS ES
S O U N D E X E RCIS ES

1. Which of this sound waves is noise? Explain why…

2. Having soundwaves on the left as a reference, draw the following soundwaves

A softer sound A higher pitched sound

A louder sound A lower pitched sound

Prof. Josu Izco MUSIC 2ºESO 17