Musical Soundwaves

[Dave Bunch]

Since so many instruments share the strings/bridge/soundboard configuration,
I would say the impact of the hammers is the greatest factor contributing to
sound we would recognize as being a piano.

Seems I remember at a convention some years back, someone had recorded some
piano notes minus the actual hammer impact. It sounded more like a clarinet
than a piano.

Dave Bunch

----- Original Message -----
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: Musical Soundwaves


> Interesting responses. Fairly consistent. Thanks to all. I'm surprised its
that simple.
>
> Oboe. Oboe. Oboe. OK, now I know how to spell it (never did hang around
orchestras much).
>
> One further question before I go get a book on the topic. What part of the
piano is the greatest influence on its sound? More specifically, to what
degree is the soundboard responsible for the piano-like sound pianos make.
Even bad pianos with even worse soundboards still sound quite a bit like a
piano, maybe a bad piano, but still quite a bit like a piano (you can easily
tell it is not a flute). Is it mostly the hammers and strings, or perhaps
more likely, it is the hammers, strings, soundboard, rim, etc. - everything
combined. This may seem like a dumb question, but one response indicated
that it seemed that a saxophone (thanks spell checker) sound was largely
caused by the mouthpiece rather than the rest of the horn. Is there any
chance the soundboard may well play a big role in helping us hear the piano
wires (by acting as a transducer), but not actually have a whole lot to do
with the "piano sound".
>
> I'll try and stop asking questions............. if someone can answer the
above!  :-)
>
> Terry Farrell
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Smith" <dsmith941@hotmail.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 9:59 AM
> Subject: Re: Musical Soundwaves
>
>
> > Terry, although I am a rookie's rookie as a piano technician, I do have
> > education and experience in acoustics and engineering, so here is my
shot at
> > your querry.
> >
> > When different instruments or voices produce the same fundamental tone,
they
> > all differ in many other ways which our ears interpret for us.  For
example,
> > differences in attack (beginning of the sound), release ending of the
> > sound), frequency content (overtones, etc included in the sound in
different
> > proportions), degree of inharmonicity, vibrato, phasing as it reaches
the
> > two ears, and probably on and on.
> >
> > Having spent many years workng with frequency and fourier analysers in a
> > previous life, I noticed that many things can sound indistinguishable
from
> > each other, if you filter out the attack and just listen at a filtered
> > fundamental frequency.  It is all the other "small" things that make all
the
> > difference.
> >
> > Hope this helps without offending due to my simplistic thoughts.
Somewhere
> > in my moldering boxes of books is a rigorous explanation which I would
be
> > happy to dig out if no one else fills that need.
> >
> > Dave Smith
> >
> >
> > >From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
> > >Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
> > >To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> > >Subject: Musical Soundwaves
> > >Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 09:10:24 -0400
> > >
> > >Why does a flute sound like a flute? Why does an obo sound like an obo?
Why
> > >does a guitar sound like a guitar? And last, but certainly not least,
why
> > >does a piano sound like a piano?
> > >
> > >Does anyone have a simplistic explanation for what is the cause of
unique
> > >sounds/tones among various instruments? If you play A4 at a pitch of
440 Hz
> > >on any instument, you will hear the pitch of 400 Hz. But they will all
> > >sound different. So I guess they all do something different to the
> > >soundwave that reaches your ear. What is that difference? How does a
> > >speaker reproduce these differences of they only move in and out?
> > >
> > >Thanks for any thoughts.
> > >
> > >Terry Farrell
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>