Emily F. McKinney Ch. 2

Emily F. McKinney Ch. 2: 

What are the four elements essential to the existence of sound? (20) 1-A vibrating object, 2-A power source to make object vibrate, 3-A medium to transmit vibrations, 4-An apparatus to receive vibrations

How fast does sound travel? (20) Sound travels at 750 mph.

Explain elasticity (as applied to air molecules). (20) Air molecules move independently but stay the same distance apart. Vibration causes adjacent molecules to compress, then fly apart, causing a chain reaction in other air molecules. 

Explain compression/rarefaction waves. (20) Compression and rarefaction waves is the alternate action of molecules moving together and springing apart. These waves move outward from the power source in spheres. 

Does the air actually move at 750 mph? (20) Air doesn't actually move at 750 mph. The elasticity of the air keeps the molecules from flying away, the action is what passes the sound along. 

Describe the two basic categories into which sounds are divided. Sounds are divided into: noises, which don't have a recognizable pattern, and are irregular; and musical tones, which have a sound wave pattern that is repeated regularly.

List and describe the five characteristic properties or essential elements of musical tone. (21-25) 1-Duration is how long the musical tone lasts, 2-Intensity can be called loudness or volume, but really means the amount of energy in a sound, measured by dB, 3-Pitch is the frequency of the musical tone, or the vibrations per second, measured in Hz, 4-Sonance is a pattern of change in timbre, pitch, intensity or admixture of noise (vibrato is a good example of this), 5-Timbre is tone quality or tone color.

What are the three essential parts of a musical instrument? What is the function of each?(25) 1-An actuator gives power to set the vibrator in motion, 2-The vibrator generates a series of sound waves, 3-The resonator influences intensity or timbre of the sound waves. 

What are the four physical processes required for producing vocal sound? (27) The physical processes required for producing vocal sound are: 1-respiration, 2-phonation, 3-resonation, and 4-articulation.

Define vowel. (29) A vowel is a speech sound which may constitute a syllable or a nucleus of a syllable. 

Define consonant. (30) A consonant is a speech sound which is used marginally with a vowel or diphthong to constitute a syllable. 

What are the three main reasons that describing vocal sound is problematic? 1-The voice is a self-contained, sensation-based instrument with too many variables to address and describe. 2-Vocal vocabulary uses intangible terms which make effective communication difficult. 3-Singing is both mechanical and psychological, so describing just a mechanical issue or just a psychological perspective can be ineffective.