The Acoustics of Music

Today’s Topics
• Sound waves
• Harmonics, partials, and overtones
• Acoustics of musical instruments
• Acoustics of musical venues
 Acoustics
Acoustics: The science of the production, transmission, and reception
of sound
Subdisciplines of acoustics (for example):
• Architectural acoustics – achieving good sound within buildings
• Bioacoustics - studies the hearing and calls of animals, how animals are
affected by the sounds of their habitat
• Environmental acoustics – studies noise caused by traffic, aircraft,
industrial equipment, etc.
• Musical acoustics – how musical instruments produce sound, how
room design and sound reproduction processes affect musical sound
and the perception of sound as music
 The Stimulus for Hearing: Sound
Waves
Sound waves occur when the vibration of an object causes changes in the air
pressure around the object.
• Here, a loudspeaker is
producing a tone
•The diaphragm of the speaker
moves outward, and
inward repeatedly
• Increased density of air
molecules
• Increased air pressure
• compression (aka condensation)
• Decreased density of air
molecules
• Decreased air pressure
• expansion (aka rarefaction)
Compression/expansion process occurs hundreds or thousands
of times per second
The pattern of air pressure changes propagates through the air
and is called a sound wave.
Sound wave – repeating pattern of air pressure
changes traveling through air.
 Pure Tones and Sine Waves
Tuning forks produce a very simple sound wave known as a pure tone.

Pure tone – simple sine wave pressure vibration.

Most sounds are NOT

pure tones, but more
complex waves!
 Frequency
Frequency
- number of times per second that the pressure wave goes through an entire cycle.
- Unit of measurement is Hertz (Hz)
- Determines the pitch of the tone E tuning fork (329.63 Hz)
(higher frequencies = higher pitch) A tuning fork (440 Hz)
 Amplitude
Amplitude Peak amplitude
- size of the air pressure changes maximum displacement from
- Determines loudness of the tone resting state

Peak-to-Peak amplitude
difference between high peak
and low peak of wave
 Complex Tones
Simple (pure) tone : single frequency

200 Hz sine wave (pure tone)

200 Hz complex tone

Complex tone
• vibrations at more than one frequency
• still perceived as a single tone
• multiple component frequencies give single
tone a different sound quality (timbre)

timbre – the distinctive quality of a particular tone.

Distinguishes between the same pitch played by a
guitar or oboe or piano or saxophone, etc.
 Component Frequencies and
Fourier Analysis
Complex tone

Fourier Analysis
Component vibrations Sum of vibrations
Any complex sound can be explained
as a series of sine functions of different
frequencies

A Fourier analysis on this complex

tone would represent this wave with 4
sinusoidal waves.

The complex wave is simply the sum of

each of the component waves.
 Harmonics
Pitched musical instruments produce component frequencies that are (for the
most part) limited to integer multiples of the lowest frequency of tone.

harmonics – integer multiples of the lowest frequency of a sound wave

1st harmonic (fundamental frequency)

2nd harmonic (fundamental frequency x 2)

3rd harmonic (fundamental frequency x 3)

4th harmonic (fundamental frequency x 4)

5th harmonic (fundamental frequency x 5)

6th harmonic (fundamental frequency x 6)

 Partials and Overtones
Pitched musical instruments produce
component frequencies at or near
harmonics.

partials – the actual component

frequencies present in a sound wave (not an overtone)

For pitched musical instruments,

partials usually close to ideal
1st overtone
harmonics. However, some
instruments produce partials that are
slightly sharper or flatter than true
harmonics. 2nd overtone

overtones - the actual partials (above

the fundamental frequency)
3rd overtone
 Inharmonicity
Inharmonicity – measure of how much a partial (overtone) deviates from its closest
ideal harmonic
Most pitched instruments are designed to have partials that are close to being
harmonics (LOW inharmonicity)
You’ll often hear partials and overtones referred to as harmonics even if they have
some inharmonicity – don’t be confused by this!

Timbre
- Quality or “color” of a tone
- Depends on particular partials created by a particular instrument
- Different instruments have different degrees of inharmonicity
• Perfectly harmonic (no inharmonicity): bowed string instruments (e.g. violin, cello),
brass instruments (e.g. trumpet, trombone), reed instruments (e.g. oboe, clarinet)
• Nearly harmonic: plucked string instruments (e.g. guitar, banjo)
• Approximately harmonic: tuned percussion (e.g. xylophone, steel drum)
• Non-harmonic: untuned percussion (snare drums, cymbals, etc)
 Emphasis on Different Partials
Timbre is also affected by which partials are emphasized
Different instruments create sounds that emphasize different partials

Power spectra show the amount of energy at each partial

Guitar Clarinet

Musical instruments create different power spectra at different pitches as well:

(Trombone partials at different Bb pitches)

 Acoustics of Musical Instruments:
Coupled Acoustics
Coupled Acoustics
Musical instruments make sound by having two vibrating devices:
(1) a tone generator
• vibrated by musician
• strings: plucking/bowing/striking with “hammer”
• wind/brass: mouthpiece produces vibrations (air provided by musician)
• drums: stretched skins or membranes struck by musician
• usually doesn’t have enough power to be heard at a distance
(2) a tone resonator
• amplifies the sound
• strings: body of instrument
• wind/brass: column of air inside instrument
• drums: body of drum itself
Any particular resonator will amplify some frequencies more than others.
The different loudnesses of particular component frequencies help give instruments
their characteristic timbres. So, a resonator helps to amplify the sound, but also
helps shape the timbre of the sound.
 Acoustics of Musical Venues
Architectural Acoustics
Properties of music venues important for experience of music
(1) direct / reflected sound
(2) sound absorption
(3) reverberation time

Direct vs reflected sound

Direct sound – sound that travels directly from the source to the listener. Affects
how clearly one experiences the sound
Reflected sound – sound that reaches listener after bouncing off of other surfaces.
Timing of when direct / reflected sound reaches listener can either add pleasant
qualities or “muddy” it up and add distracting echoes.
Initial Time-Delay Gap – time at which first reflection is heard after direct sound
- About 15 ms is optimal (over 35ms makes hall too reflective like large arena)
- acoustic intimacy – degree to which sound seems to be coming from nearby
vs. distant/remote source (gives sense of size of room)
- the shorter the ITDG, the more “intimate” the venue
 Clarity Index
Clarity Index
• Clarity refers to how clear the sound quality is – can you distinguish every
note in a fast solo, or do they blend together and become hard to
distinguish?
• Clarity index – ratio of early sound energy (before 80ms) to later
reverberant energy (after 80ms): Concert Hall
C unoccupied 80
(dB)
Amsterdam, Concertgebouw -3.3
 E080 ms 
C80  10 log 
Boston, Symphony Hall -2.7
Vienna, Gr. Musikvereinssaal -3.7
 E80ms  Basel, Stadt-Casino -2.3
Berlin, Konzerthaus -2.5
Cardiff, Wales, St. David’s Hall -0.9
The preferred clarity index depends on the type Tokyo, Hamarikyu Asahi -0.2
Zurich, Großer Tonhallesaal -3.6
of music played in the venue. The higher the
number, the more definition (clarity) there is in the music
Venues featuring opera and speech require a higher clarity index.
Dry C80 = 4.67 dB C80 = -1.33 dB C80 = -12.5 dB
 Venue Shape – Concert Halls
The preferred shape of venue depends on
type of performance the venue is made for.

Beranek (2004)
• performed extensive study of 50 major halls
• Interviewed conductors, music critics,
experienced listeners
• Preferred shape of concert halls – shoe-box shape Boston’s Symphony Hall
• Narrow width of hall gives stronger side-to-side
reflection, complementing direct sound and
“surrounding” listener
• Also, irregularities (balconies, textured surfaces,
etc) help distribute sound more evenly
• Fan-shaped halls reflect sound AWAY from
listeners making music seem like it’s coming
from far away. Concave back walls also tend to
reflect sound back to stage, which is often
annoying for musicians. London’s Olivier Theatre
 Venue Shape – Opera Houses
Beranek (2004)
• Preferred shape of opera houses– horseshoe shape
• Not as acoustically ideal but preferable for other reasons
• Brings audience and performers closer together, which increases visual
clarity (seeing expressions, gestures) and acoustical clarity (more clearly
hear lyrics and speech)

Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston

 Sound Absorption – Porous
Absorbers
Some sound reaches listener directly, some reaches listener after being
reflected from other surfaces. Some sound is absorbed as well
• Materials covering walls/ceilings, carpet, curtains, etc absorb sound waves
• Two basic types of sound-absorbing materials used in music venues:
porous absorbers and resonant absorbers

Porous absorbers
• Most frequently used
• Materials: fiberglass, cotton, felt,
neoprene foam, carpet, etc.
fiberglass
• Spaces between fibers or particles
disrupt the compression/expansion
foam
of air molecules of sound wave,
reducing power of reflected sound
• More disruptive of higher-frequency
sound waves, so they absorb more
high frequencies than low felt
frequencies
 Sound Absorption – Resonant
Absorbers
Resonant absorbers
• usually light-weight partitions made of wood or plasterboard
• Absorb frequencies around their resonant frequency
• Usually attached to walls, but with space between the wall and panel,
allowing panel to vibrate
• The frequencies of the sound wave that cause the resonant absorber to
vibrate lose energy (it takes energy to vibrate the panel!)
• This results in less energy in that frequency range being reflected
• These absorbers work better at lower frequencies
• Often used together with porous absorbers to help achieve good acoustical
response
 Reverberation Time
Overall Reverberation Time of Venue
• Affected by room shape and materials present in venue
• Reverberation time: the length of time if takes a sound to decay by 60 dB
• measure of how long sound wave remains audible once source has stopped
• “Dry” venue: very LOW reverberation time
• “Reverberant” venue: lots of reflected sound and sounds reverberate (linger)
• Performers prefer somewhere in between very dry and very reverberant
• Too dry
• Performer feels like things are empty and you aren’t creating enough
sound to fill the room
• Easy to hear imperfections in performance
• Too reverberant – hard to hear yourself and play precisely with others
• Highest rated concert halls have reverberation times of 1.8 – 2.0 seconds
• Highest rated opera houses have reverberation times of 1.24 – 1.6 seconds
• When audience must discern speech (speeches/plays), short reverb times
are preferred (.7 – 1.0 seconds)
• Instrumental music – longer reverberation times (up to a point!)
• Operas (both music and lyrics important) – intermediate reverberation time