Why Do Instruments Sound Different? (w/ Visual Demonstrations!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Why do instruments sound different? The same note played on a piano, guitar, and ukulele will sound radically different. In this video, you'll see why.
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I can't believe, in all my years with music, that a harmonic was so easy to understand. What is even harder to believe is I've had many music teachers, including music theory teachers, and none of them explained harmonics in a physical way that everyone could easily understand. For me this was one of those a-ha moments. Thank you.
Quality, as always. One of if not the best channels on YT regarding audio
Wow! Thanks, PatchWork Productions!
This is the best visualization of harmonics I've ever seen! Thanks for doing this
Glad you enjoyed it, Anthony! Thanks!
Well, thank you for actually explaining it in a way I can understand! My mind is blown!
Always excited to see a new video as it becomes school time for me every time... awesome work man..🤘😜🎸💪
Thanks, Eric! Glad you’re finding the videos valuable.
@@AudioUniversity literally every single one of them is a learning experience for me...I always keep an eye out for your notification..I appreciate that you answer your subscribers... many unfortunately do not.. respect for that my man..be safe and best of luck man!🤘😜🎸❤️☮️🌎
I already know the answers postulated by these videos sometimes, but I love your videos so much I will watch them anyway.
Thanks, Freg! I appreciate that.
I was contemplating taking some audio classes at my university as a side thing while i do my masters, but this seems even better. Day 1. Lets GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I been making sick beats and my creativity is god like, but my audio fundamentals are garbo.
I've become hooked on your videos. I always learn something and it's always very interesting. Thank you.
I’m glad to hear this, Rocky! Thanks for watching!
Great video. I look forward to all of these. Thanks
Thanks, Ernie!
Missed a golden opportunity to mention subharmonics (undertone), seen very clearly with the 110Hz on the guitar @3:10
Excellent presentation. I learn a lot from your videos. Thanks
Glad to help, pappafrito! Thanks for watching.
This video made me see a little more how beautiful our world is. Thank you 🙏
Thank you very much for your demonstration and explanation!
Great video! Thanks ! 🙏
Wow! ... Such simple but very easily understandable explanation!
Thanks a lot! 🌿☀️✨🙌🏻👌🏻👍🏻
Overtones!! This is so cool!
Thanks, nedomedo!
Awesome Info Sir
Glad you enjoyed it, Jeyant! Thanks for watching.
My mind is blown! I love it. You give great information. Thank you so much!!!!
Thanks for watching!
Keep this great content coming!
Glad you’re enjoying it, Cl0ud!
Love your channel , Im learning cool stuff every video . Awesome thanks
Thanks, Mika! Glad to hear that!
Excellent! ❤
Thank you!
yeaah, as always, so scientific at all. BIG Thanks, Kyle!
Thanks, Dewa!
Thanks, Dewa!
@@AudioUniversity my pleasure
wow what a visual! thanks you
Thanks for watching, Nestor Lim!
Very interesting and useful as always on your channel. Nice job!
Thanks, JVK!
Subscribed
Thanks, Bryan! Welcome to Audio University.
@@AudioUniversity Yes sir!
1:25 that sounds like windfall island from Zelda wind waker
Hey Kyle!
ótimo video!
Most of the information the brain uses to identify an instrument is in the attack of the note. Swell in the beginning of a guitar note, like with a volume pedal or slow gear effect, and it can sound like a violin or cello. Exaggerate the attack, such as with a compressor, and you will hear something more like a banjo
Great point, Jacob. The envelope of the sound is just as important as the harmonic character.
Great video, but I'm intrigued to learn how and why the acoustic guitar produces undertones. How can a string of length x generate frequencies representing wavelengths greater than x?
This is a great question, Stuart. I’m not finding any clear explanations online that I can send to you. Although, my theory is that it is similar to room modes or standing waves in that only half wavelength is required.
@@AudioUniversity That suggests it's the sound box doing the pitch adjustment. Makes sense ..... sort of ..... I think.
@@AudioUniversity Boy! Not going to watch over breakfast again* - surefire way to induce a headache before the coffee has a chance!
The Wikipedia page on undertones/subharmonics is here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undertone_series, and it's quite interesting. It doesn't mention beat notes, but it does touch on room acoustics (obliquely and in passing), there's also an interesting throwaway comment that says that, in natural musical instruments, _undertones aren't produced at the same time the fundamental is created_ .
As long as we're talking about natural instruments, undertones seem to be caused by the acoustic, and/or weirdness in the instrument body, and/or forcing the vibration to be half the frequency of the natural resonance (or whatever value you're aiming for). This make sense if they aren't caused directly by the fundamental, but by a sympathetic resonance, either in the instrument itself or the acoustic.
Then there are beat notes to consider, and undertones might be seen as a special case of these. Say you're playing A220, and you add in something else at 330 Hz (a sharp E above middle C) - that gives you the A one octave below (110 Hz) as the beat note (but it will probably sound horrible!). You can try this with a pair of audio oscillators, or simply generate tones in your favourite audio editor...
In the 1940s, my late father (who was a designer of synthesizers amongst many other things), nearly got expelled from school with his brother, for sneaking into the school chapel to generate beat notes on the rather fine pipe organ, which had a 16ft rank (of pipes). They found some really low resonances of the building that way, and nearly succeeded in removing the stained glass from the windows! Obviously this is a dumb prank, as you cannot avoid getting caught, but hey.
There's another interesting side issue: "wolf notes" in orchestral stringed (bowed) instruments. C.A. Taylor in "The Physics of Musical Sounds" says this is be cause of differences in resonance between string and instrument body. It's interesting because the bowed string is a forced vibration (not like the natural ones of a guitar), so you can force frequencies (notes) with the bow that the instrument wouldn't 'want' to make normally. The implication is that the instrument's body resonance works against the bowed string, rather than with it, leading to a reluctance to make the fundamental, instead settling into another resonance such as 2nd or 3rd harmonic. The 'fix' is usually a damping mass added to the string beyond the bridge (or get a better cello!).
I'd suggest that, without some sort of external resonator (e.g. a room acoustic of some sort), you'd probably struggle to get undertones to occur naturally with a guitar (open air/sunny day experiment?), unless you intentionally off-tune a second string. Of course you can digitally process stuff and play all sorts of games with subharmonics, but that's a different matter.
*of course I am really!
Good Stuff :)
Thanks, AAAX!
Thank you, that's a perfect explanation! But I have a question :) What causes the different count of overtones in different instruments? :)
Where did you get that transducer and plate?
I bought it online from a company called Arbor Scientific. www.arborsci.com
Where can I buy this transducer ?
So on the guitar, would the harmonics equate to octaves?
When you create a node in the center, yes. But creating a harmonic at different divisions will create various harmonies.
Which instrument would be the “best”/truest representation of the original tone? Which would have the fewest harmonics? Is that even a good thing?
Hi is there any free lesson for audio production
That’s what this channel is all about! Check out some of the most popular videos here: th-cam.com/users/AudioUniversity
Hi, in your opinion what is the ideal reverb value (on a headphone) for gaming? Non-competitive gaming (no fortnite or warzone) but like the last of us, God of war, fallout, therefore a sound with immersion, and spatiality.
If you were to play multiple sine waves at equal heights to the fundamental and overtones that are made by a guitar, would it sound identical to a guitar
There are other elements at play, such as the envelope (when the note begins, how long it sustains, and how long it takes to decay). Not only will the instrument have a unique envelope, but I suspect each component frequency has its own envelope as well. Great question though! I've wondered the same thing...
@@AudioUniversity that makes sense, thank you for the reply!
I'm wondering if synthesized instruments can sound fake because of a lack of these harmonics.
You’re right! A tone with such little harmonic content as a sine wave is very rare in the physical world.
In fact, harmonics will be created anytime you listen to a sine wave through headphones or speakers because the speakers are also physical objects (just like the Chladni plate demonstration).
Great point, Cary. Thanks for watching.
I googled to know what kind of frequency a Synth generates? What a cutoff frequency knob modifies the generated frequency? Why I see all (20 hz to 20khz) the frequencies dancing on EQ graph while I only play a single note.. i.e. eq should only be showing a single frequency, the note I played?
I don't know if somebody got my point.. couse Google didn't get me..
I'm still scratching my head to exactly put my doubt into words..
This video is something like the doubt I'm having..
I would love to see it ; where oh where is it . . . Send it to me ; please ; thank you ! 🍀👍
I prefer natural music devices over those that require electricity.
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Very good job sir, thank you !
timbre
Tum tutum tutum tum tum. Tum tutum tutum tum tum. Tum tutum, tutum tutum, tutum tutum, tutum tutum!
🤯
Thanks for watching!
A fascinating subject, In radiation only resonance transfers energy think the wine glass shattering at its resonant frequency, or the CO2 molecule heating in the first 20ppm reducing on a log base thereafter. This principle breaks the argument for net zero as CO2 heat is insignificant at todays concentrations.. Reducing CO2 has no effect.
wa!
......because it's NOT the same note!
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If you want more interesting indian classical string instruments are the best example of this
wtf 🤯