I think a lot of musicians have an
intuitive understanding of how their instrument works . . .
but not from the physics of it.
They don't really understand the harmonics of it . . .
but they know that if they do something else with their instrument, it will change the character of their instrument . . .
and that's basically change in the harmonics.
So, they're doing the physics without
necessarily understanding the physics.
And when I walk down here on the end . . .
what I'm doing is I'm progressively
exciting these higher frequencies of higher harmonics.
And, I just touch halfway up with my finger. I'm not going to press down, just touch it.
[Guitar Strumming]
Okay. Here's the string. And, just touch it.
Okay. And, now it gets higher.
What I've done is . . . by touching it right here, I've killed that; I've stopped this wave.
I've put a node there.
That leaves me with this one. It's an octave higher.
I've also killed that one . . . and that one and that one and that one.
Everyone that had a ante note at the center and I've left behind only the ones that have a node at the center.
So, I've changed the distribution, of harmonics,, as well.
Not only does it sound an octave higher, but it sounds a little purer . . . a little darker, perhaps.
You know. A little less bright.
[Music]
So, a comparison of a woodwind instrument, we have the clarinet, which was a closed cylindrical tube and we had first and third oboe harmonics.
We have the conical closed tube, like the oboe and the bassoon.
We get every harmonic, but their so? to a funny shape.
And, we have the open tube on both ends; the flute, you get every harmonic and it looks quite simple.
[Music}
I never really thought about it in relation to the woodwind instruments.
Since, I'm a teacher in public school, I talk about the brass instruments, and that's how they work.
There was actually a lot of the stuff in the lecture tonight that I didn't know.
It was new information to me. I never took physics in high school. because I didn't have to.
So. It was really great. I don't think about it usually.
[Music}
Like, I don't think I ever would have thought, oh, I think I'll go listen to a lecture on the science of sound . . .
but, I think people that are interested in science coming to hear that and then having music as a part of it.
I guess I look at ways to integrate music into other categories, instead of other categories into music . . .
'cause I feel like I need to disperse music  . . .
[Music]
So, for me, so many people have had some experience in music . . .
whether they are playing the piano or singing, or playing a musical instrument  . . .
So, if you can show them that the science is actually part of what they've already done and what they already sort of feel like they know . . .
they get some relevance to the science. It makes them interested in knowing how things work . . .
And, in this case, if you know how a musical instrument works, you actually know something about how the inside of the earth works and how seismic waves propagate.
[Music]
