gdritter repos when-computer / 474d099
Some phrasing changes on pitch Getty Ritter 7 years ago
1 changed file(s) with 2 addition(s) and 2 deletion(s). Collapse all Expand all
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drafts/temperament-and-tuning.telml less more
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2626 When we talk about the \em{frequency} of this wave, we're talking about how often the peaks in that wave show up. (The frequency is related to the \em{period} of the wave, which measures the distance between peaks in the waveform: the bigger the period, the less often peaks will show up.) Frequency is measured in \em{hertz} (abbreviated as \em{Hz}), which in this context just means "peaks of the wave per second".\ref{hertz} \sidenote{It's also my least favorite kind of donut.}
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28 In reality, notes played by a physical instrument or produced by a human voice are a \em{lot} more complex than just this simple sine wave: they are often made up of several simultaneous waves being combined together! However, even with very complicated musical sounds, we can still pick out the \em{pitch} of the sound, which is the frequency of the note that is perceptually dominant\ref{pitch}.
28 In reality, notes played by a physical instrument or produced by a human voice are a \em{lot} more complex than just this simple sine wave: they are often made up of several simultaneous waves combined together! However, even with very complicated musical sounds, we can still pick out the \em{pitch} of the sound, which is the frequency of the note that is perceptually dominant\ref{pitch}.
2929 \sidenote{The pitch is heavily related to the \em{fundamental frequency} of a sound, but the two aren't identical: the pitch of a sound is a subjective perceptual property, which may not be identical to the fundamental frequency due to complexities in the sounds or the way we percieve them.}
30 Consequently, for our purposes here, we can treat every note as if it's associated with a single perceptual frequency. I'll often say "the frequency of the note" in this post when I in fact mean "the frequency of the pitch of the note".
30 Consequently, for our purposes here, we can treat every note as if it's associated with a single frequency, by which I will mean note's pitch. I'll often say "the frequency of the note" in this post when I in fact mean "the frequency of the pitch of the note".
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3232 Finally, let's to delve into perception a little bit here: this whole section is a very much handwavey, but bear with me. When notes that have the same pitch are played simultaneously, they are perceived by human being as being "the same note". Additionally, when notes whose pitches are simple ratios are played simultaneously, are perceived as somehow "pleasing" or "complimentary" to each other, while notes whose frequencies are related by more complicated ratios are perceived as "less pleasing".
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