Sarah Brenay - McKinney - Ch. 2

What are the four elements essential to the existence of sound?A vibrating object, a power source to make the object vibrate, a medium through which the vibrations are transferred, an apparatus to receive the vibrations.

How fast does sound travel? 750 miles per hour

Explain elasticity (as applied to air molecules). If air molecules are forced close together, they fly back apart. If molecules are forced apart, they fly back together again.

Explain compression/rarefaction waves.  Molecules bunch closely together and then spring apart, causing a chain reaction of compression and rarefaction as the molecules bunch together and spring apart in waves.

Does the air actually move at 750 mph?No. Compression and rarefaction waves create a chain reaction in neighboring molecules - those waves travel 750 miles per hour.

Describe the two basic categories into which sounds are divided. Noises and musical tones.

List and describe the five characteristic properties or essential elements of musical tone. duration, pitch, intensity, sonance, timbre.

What are the three essential parts of a musical instrument? What is the function of each? An actuator (furnishes the energy that sets the vibrator in motion, a vibrator (generates a series of sound waves), and a resonator (influences the intensity and/or timbre of the sound waves).

What are the four physical processes required for producing vocal sound? Respiration, phonation, resonation, and articulation.

Define vowel. A vowel is a resonance of the vocal tract.

Define consonant. A sound made with more or less obstruction of the breath stream in its passage outward.

What are the three main reasons that describing vocal sound is problematic? The instrument is internal. The singer only receives information of what is going on through sensations.