Chapter 1: Sound

Sound: Any mechanical vibration transmitted through a physical material –

wood, metal, air, water, whatever.

Vibration: A periodic motion, repeated motion in a set period of time.

Echo: A reflected sound wave.

Direct sound: The first sound you hear.

Reverb/Reverberant field: An electronically produced lasting and continuing

effect in music.

Transducers: Devices that convert energy from one form to another (from
mechanical to electrical), microphones, loudspeakers.

Eardrum: Air pressure waves turn into mechanical motion when it meets the
eardrum.

Pinna: The flappy part of our ears on the outside of our heads, which make up the
outer ear.

Middle ear: Sound wave motions are transferred to a system of tiny bones in the
middle ear.

Cochlea: The main part of our inner ear.

Pitch, loudness, color, and duration: Four main characteristics we perceive with
our ears.

Frequency: The number of times the sound molecules kick back and forth in a
particular amount of time.

Pitch: A quality we describe as high or low.

Loudness: The amount of energy in, or the strength of the air vibrations.

Decibels (dB): The unit of measure used to quantify loudness.

Forte: Loud

Piano: Soft

Crescendo: To get louder gradually.

Decrescendo: To get softer gradually.

Timbre: One of the main qualities of a musical sound that identify it as coming
from a particular instrument.

Overtones: The higher frequency components above the base frequency.

Duration: The length of a sound.

Envelope: The loudness profile can be a useful clue as timbre for our ears to
identify a certain instrument.