Where Music Meet Science Part 2: Timbre and Complex Waves

[@ncssm]

Thanks for your feedback. We'll send that onto Mr. Laird. Perhaps that's something we can work on in our next series of videos.

[@christopherdalyii381]

Great video, very well explained. The graphical representations of the harmonic frequencies of the cello actually helped me understand what is meant when it is said that an instrument has a "warm" sound, at least the technical definition. Thanks!

[@kateallen2640]

This is so helpful for those of us that may be musically inclined but have little formal knowledge. I live in Durham so this seems like home. Good job

[@chiragchirag4649]

Thank you so much for giving such interesting & useful knowledge on free plateform .

[@worldaroundrecords]

!!!! this was an unexpected gem. Excellent presentation, thank you.

[@Chaosrush77]

Is it just me or does the female's A sound out of tune?

[@bobwebster835]

+Chaosrush77 it sounds higher than the males to me

[@connorbonhammusic]

it was sharp. very sharp. she was almost singing an Bb

[@andrewsilver7048]

Yep she hit an A#

[@billyarsenault1970]

They are comparing timbre - not pitch. So close enough for the example.

[@TonyMarProductions]

@@billyarsenault1970 y pa que te emputas?

[@balasubramanianp1372]

Amazing! Thanks

[@saunderson01]

Insightful and easy to comprehend!!! Thank you for sharing

[@swanson5014]

Gathering the most information possible for a scinece fair.

[@Tyler-ur2ig]

I don't understand why you use a 3d graph in this video. Couldn't you represent the data with just amplitude and frequency

[@zak8953]

I believe the z-axis is time. So there needs to be three axes. They could've made the graph more legible though.

[@albertomolano]

I think the waves are air perturbations that occur in 3D, so it is a more accurate representation

[@aldomaresca9994]

@@zak8953 i think youre right. However, i think its making it more difficult to understand. A minute or two of explaining how waves are added and decomposed, would have made this so much more accessible for non math and science people

[@omridrori3286]

@@aldomaresca9994 Ya but still not get it it is not that the height is the same for each point and it should be because each is measured for the same time length

[@omridrori3286]

And why there is time there it is so confusing i dont get it

[@maxheadrom3088]

On this lesson we'll learn Fourier Analysis, the wave equation, how to use least distance optimizatio to gain knowledge about how our brain perceives different timbres and why Helmholtz almost go it right but didn't! Just a joke from an engineer who lvoes music but can't play ... Nice video!!!!

[@JEXICOL]

I am very thankful for this amazing video ! Keep up the grate work everyone! Greetings from Canada.

[@howyoushouldreact1845]

These are extremely helpful!.. thank you so much

[@crishan3930]

Excellent explanation.. Thank you!!!!!

[@Rasterbayne]

Amazing, the Female voice has more bass harmonics than the Male. Also, you see the Male has very close fundamental frequencies where the Female has a more pronounced fundamental (of course) at a higher frequency. Very interesting.

[@LinkEX]

7:29 Wait, I thought the fundamental that determines the pitch we perceive was the loudest? But regarding the trombone, it looks like the harmonic of 660 Hz is the loudest, and for the clarinet the one at 440 Hz. How come the loudest frequency isn't perceived as the dominant one in those instruments? What determines the perceived frequency in a timbre then, if not the part with the highest amplitude?

[@jimoneprism]

LinkEX This is exactly where I got confused

[@LinkEX]

jimoneprism Glad I'm not the only one :D I didn't see any other comments that had the same problem, though. Did we miss a detail here? I find the scientific details about how music is created and perceived very interesting, so I'd love to understand that.

[@user-mg7le8rp9u]

+LinkEX I had a same question and here what i found on wikipedia about it: "The lowest frequency is called the fundamental frequency, and the pitch it produces is used to name the note, but the fundamental frequency is not always the dominant frequency." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre#Harmonics So, not the loudest frequency determines the pitch, but the leftmost one. And all charts at 7:29 have the same lowest/leftmost frequency - 220 hertz.

[@LinkEX]

Тра тата Thanks for letting me know what you found out! The way Wikipedia describes it still leaves me wondering, however, what it is that determines the factor one has to choose to get the dominant frequency from the fundamental one then. (As example they liste the traverse flute having the factor 2, but not why that is.)

[@josefenrenfest1761]

If a wavefunction's frequency is f, then it can be expressed as a superposition of sinewaves with frefuency f, 2f, 3f, etc. The biggest question that bothers me is that for a period function, its fourier transform in a continuous domain is supposed to be a superposition of different dirac delta functions; but in the video and many other audio processing softwares, the fourier transform doesn't blow up to infinities at all.

[@samuelecherubin1543]

If harmonics are made by doubling frequencies where does 660hz come from?

[@quartetbuddy3896]

Integer multiples of the fundemental frequency, not just doubling. ie 660Hz = 3x220Hz

[@wilderpros.6747]

Wow so clear. So so clear

[@albertomolano]

Thanks, I finally understood the relationship between pure waves and the complex waves produced by an instrument. Not really interested in music, but in quantum mechanics. Do musicians realize the link with vibrating electrons?

[@VeronicaGorositoMusic]

Slowly, but yes, more tech channels on YT made me understand how EM field had to be with colors and sounds. I think my interest started when looking for a tube amp, and why. Some say tubes are better, but I needed to know why. Then learned about electron flow in the grid...and it all started :) I guess my dad being in the Army helped to have a friend who understood very well about waves and radiation because he was radio operator in the 40's and they used valve gear and all the nuclear fission was in people's mouths. He shared me lots of anecdotical data from those years, and the tech advancements, and I tried to link it with music but didn't get it really. It took me like 10 years to see something, and then slowly my mindset was resetting! I was still having religious ideas... SciShow, PBS Eons, are cool channels and more and more they are getting public attention and more youngsters are interested in science in general, but myself, from being totally ignorant, to start to understand why the strings of my guitars make sound, leaded me to learn about superconductivity and neuroscience and quantum mechanics, made me more aware of what music is, and how Einstein was the real deal of geniuses. Everything is linked and when you start to getting deep in the research, life becomes amazing. And weird !! Not that I understand all this, but get the basic concepts of why when you clap, your hands get warm, according to Feynman lectures :) Too much to learn still...but I wish more people not only musicians learn the physics of everyday's life.

[@albertomolano]

@@VeronicaGorositoMusic Great!

[@kennedysingh3916]

Thank you.

[@garcesdesign]

Do the harmonics of the clarinet, trombone and cello include other octaves of the same pitch, or A in this case? Initially I thought the harmonics include other pitches but then I thought my initial assumption doesnt make sense. Could anyone please confirm? Thanks

[@garcesdesign]

It is explained in the following video. But they are not all the same note, one is the dominant note in the A scale as well as the mediant and 7th harmonic.

[@PhilBusby]

At 5:20 you said (correctly) that the fundamental is the lowest and the tallest, but at 6:20 you show a trombone waveform where it is not. Nowhere do you mention the each harmonic is given a specific name 2nd harmonic (at twice the frequency of the fundamental), the 3rd harmonic (3x), the 4th harmonic (4x) and on. Some instruments can have over 30 harmonics, all descending amplitude and often not included in some synthesizers which makes the real instrument sound so much better.

[@monsterjazzlicks]

Good quality in terms of its A/V.

[@anaccountmadetoreply9205]

What does each individual little bumps on top every overtone mean?

[@AbhiBass96]

Yes.

[@haowang9515]

great video

[@dantefuego]

which software is being utilized? very interesting !

[@adriangel143]

hmm...the male individual applied a vibrato I perceived...might not be accurate...

[@THE_SANCUS]

Sounded like some tremolo.

[@All2Skitzd]

yeah, he looked like the type that would apply a vibrator and agree... it ain't right!

[@arcus23424]

5:41 5:51 6:59 7:57 8:07 8:37 9:58 10:35

[@AppleGirlxx]

Were you putting super high frequency sounds in the video here and there or are my headphones just screwed up? :p

[@shiningarmor2838]

That's just you.

[@julianaalcantara2155]

There more I see the less I know the more I like... I mean, is it not possible to eject the chair? I mean without having to spend energy mooving the body to the right direction....wen A440...

[@wxxxbattle]

next week we analyze dubstep.

[@sandcobainer]

Low pass and high pass filter varies wildly. oops, that's dubstep.

[@mrvlhs]

See in 3D?? You are not showing the waves in 3D, you are showing the frequency spectrum in 3D, which is a whole other thing and a concept you demonstrate not to grasp. I also believe that this analysis should've been made in 2D since 3D only impairs one's correct perception of distance between frequencies.

[@sethtaylor7519]

Exactly, it's basically 'prettier to look at' but less helpful. Haha!

[@jayralencantor3510]

good,! :D

[@parronist1125]

Lol! This movie has 665 likes and the part 3 has 566. XDD Nice lecture. :)

[@beatsbyguillermo8802]

thanks christian bale

[@Le_Parrikar]

Finally, someone said it.

[@das250250]

Oh but it does occur in the real world

[@uffreferencia]

Yes

[@unfa00]

Yeah, money well spent.

[@1FISH]

Didn't your mother teach you to label your axes?

[@quinxx12]

YES! It's annoying me so hard.. Their stupidity, the repeating of the same over and over again, the dull and stiff talking is driving me crazy..