Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
I am working on a lab report on the physics of musical instruments; pitch specifically and I am ignorant of the music scale. So, a few questions: is F# higher or lower than F? (seems counterintuitive) It's my understanding that the shorter the length of an instrument, the higher the pitch, however my data isn't bearing this out so is it possible that the electronic tuner used to compile this data was just read wrong or am I missing something fundamental? I've been combing the web, but the information that I have found seems to require at least some prior uderstanding of the scale. Anyone want to weigh in or possibly send me in the right direction? Websites maybe?
Post by Christopher Shawn on Mar 26, 2008 11:33:38 GMT -5
F# is higher than F
The shorter the length of an instrument, especially stringed instruments, the less amount of time the note has to move so the frequency tends to be higher because there is less tension.
Mandolin to Guitar, that kind of thing. But that isnt the same for all instruments, horns and such.
Post by Christopher Shawn on Mar 26, 2008 11:38:14 GMT -5
hippienaustin said:
The shorter the length of an instrument, especially stringed instruments, the less amount of time the note has to move so the frequency tends to be higher because there is less tension.
hmmm...maybe i'm not processing this right, but it seems to be backwards. to make a note on a guitar sharp, you tighten the strings, thus LESS tension. and vice versa to make it flat...no?
Yes that is right, when you tighten a string on a higher fret it makes the note higher. But if we're talking about the overall length of the instrument and its affect on the pitch of the instrument...shorter length equals higher pitch
Post by GratefulHippie on Mar 26, 2008 11:39:27 GMT -5
squid said:
hippienaustin said:
hmmm...maybe i'm not processing this right, but it seems to be backwards. to make a note on a guitar sharp, you tighten the strings, thus LESS tension. and vice versa to make it flat...no?
Yes that is right, when you tighten a string on a higher fret it makes the note higher. But if we're talking about the overall length of the instrument and its affect on the pitch of the instrument...shorter length equals higher pitch
well, i figured out it was me who was backwards...i was thinking if you tighten something it was LESS tension, when its really MORE. i don't think i'm fully awake yet
In reference to wind instruments: my data says that a 19cm instrument is in the pitch of F, 14.5 is G, 12.5 is D and 8.7 is F# Going by a scale that I found these numbers shouldn't be. The 19 should be in the lowest key and the 8.7 in the highest. I was thinking that the numbers were recorded incorrectly, but conversely, I don't know the scale so could just be me. (Thanks for all this input) Yes! This helps tremendously Karma for each of you when I can
Post by Christopher Shawn on Mar 26, 2008 11:52:30 GMT -5
Ah, well more goes into the key of wind instruments than just the length.
You got gerth, all the little tubes and whatnots, the type of metal and or wood. Lots of stuff. its not just the size that counts, its how you manipultate it. I think.
I can remember The Laws of Chords from high school physics. The three factors that affect pitch in a vibrating string are length, mass of the string, and tension.
Post by CincyRooJF on Mar 26, 2008 13:52:16 GMT -5
The notes in the scale are A (A#) B C (C#) D (D#) E F (F#) G (G#) A The two A's are what is called an octave. Even though they are the same "pitch" the second A is actually higher sounding than the first A. This explanes why your 19cm is F and the 8.7 is F# because the F# is one octave plus a half step higher than the F. What you have is probably this: F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F#
