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Sound Vocabulary

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Amplitude

  • How much power is going to the sound source. In music, it's the amplifiers that increase the amplitude of the electric guitar.

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  • The maximum distance moved by a point on a wave measured from its starting position, representing intensity of a sound wave

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Wavelength

  • the sound vibrations moving in the air can be captured and SEEN in electronic sound files (WAV). We can also measure them by the peaks and valleys of the wave lines.

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  • the physical distance between consecutive, identical points of a wave, such as two peaks or troughs

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Frequency

  • is the amount of times the oscillation of the sound wave appears; higher frequency= the more often the vibration happens in the sound, the less frequency, the lower the sound

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  • the rate at which sound waves vibrate, measured in Hertz (Hz) as the number of cycles per second

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Wave speed

  • how fast the sound vibrates: the higher the SPEED, the higher the PITCH.

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  • the distance a sound wave's disturbance travels through an medium per unit of time

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Vibration

  • the amount of movements of a physical object or of air.

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  • produces sound when the back-and-forth motion of an object disrupts the surrounding air, generating pressure waves.

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Sound waves

  • are like the waves on Lake Michigan, they go up and down. They have jagged edges (peaks) and valleys. Sound waves have the same qualities but the ups and downs are the vibrations.

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  • vibrations (energy) that travel through a substance causing particles to bump into each other air

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Sound energy

  • the movement of energy through a substance – such as air or water – in the form of waves

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Pitch

  • the sound we recognize in music as melody.

In music they can go up, down, or stay the same.

We can also create patterns of pitches to create music.

(many other species speak in pitches; i.e. Birds, dolphins, frogs,)

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  • Tells you how high or low the sound is

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Medium

  • The material that carries the sound

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Echo

  • is sound “hitting” a solid source and bouncing off of it. (think how in the gym the sound bouncing off the hard surfaces is the echo.

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  • when a sound bounces off something and comes back to you

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Resonance

  • where something starts shaking or vibrating more and more

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Decibel

  • a numerical measurement of how loud something sound. The higher the number, the louder the sound.

Fun fact: Many ear plugs ae designed to cancel out certain levels of decibels needed in large sound environments. (airplane, heavy machine operator, firearms ranges, lumberjack, etc)

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  • Measure of loudness to normal human ears

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Timbre

  • a french music term for “any sound”.

Expanded meaning, how can you describe that sound?

Ex. Trumpet vs Acoustic Guitar

brassy, loud, bright vs jingling, twangy,

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  • a special quality of sound. It helps us tell the difference between two different musical instruments.

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Transmission

  • process of musical communication from person to person and generation to generation

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Cents

  • Incremental variation of how far away you are from the true pitch
  • The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals.

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Oscillation

  • something moving back and forth, or up and down, over and over again. A repeating pattern over time

Think of clocks, stringed instruments or piano

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Dissonance

  • Two notes that their frequencies have more complex mathematical relationships.
  • sound unstable or clashing

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Consonnance

  • Two notes with frequencies having a simple mathematical relationship
  • Sounds complete and peaceful