Question

What are the three characteristics of sound?

Answer 1

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND:

We can distinguish between the sounds produced by different instruments by three characteristics, namely,

a. Pitch or shrillness:

1. Women are said to have a shrill and high-pitched voice, whereas men produce a flat and low-pitched sound. This is due to their shorter vocal cords.
2. Thus, the pitch is directly related to frequency, and frequency is the number of vibrations in one second.
3. The higher the frequency, the more shrill and high-pitched the sound produced. For example, the sound produced by a flute is more shrill than the sound produced by a drum, tabla, or dholak.

b. Loudness and intensity:

1. Loudness is a subjective quantity and differs from person to person.
2. A sound that is loud to one person may not sound the same to another.
3. It depends upon the sensitivity of the ears of a person and the distance of the listener from the source of the sound.

c. Quality or timbre:

1. Sound quality or timbre is that characteristic of sound that can distinguish two sounds of the same loudness and pitch produced by two different instruments.
2. The quality of a sound depends on its waveform. We can easily recognize peoples' voices on the telephone because the waveform produced by the vocal cords of each person is different.
3. Notes produced by a guitar and a violin having the same amplitude and frequency can easily be distinguished because of the quality or timbre of each waveform.