Worcester daily spy., 1872-06-10

Very few people ever heard pure sound.
They would not like it if they did. piano
with pure tones would be the most tresOme thing
IN The world. really pure tone is sweet, cloy-
ing and qninteresting. Certain writers belong
ing to the musically sentimental school talk
beautifully about their herone's "pure LIQUID
voice." and tumble into ignorant raptures over
her pure sou-inspiriDg tones" Had they for
ten seconds heard an absolutely pure tone they
would never talk such nonsense again. A really
beautiful and pleasing voice is impure. and up
TO certain point the less purity it has the better
we like it.
Every sound in nature is compex-mixed.
The quality, or timbre, results from the amount
OF this mixture By sound let it be understood,
we mean musical sounds, not noise We are
talking about music, not racket, or uproar.
which are musical tones so mixed and mingled
so complex, that they Oyerstep the limits of
pleasure, and timbre becomes lost in discord.
We are discussing tones; and it is of no con-
sequence whether they are high or low, loud or
soft.
We strike piano string and it vibrates rap
idly. The air is set in motion, the waves pass
through the air, and the sensation is conveyed
to the brain. We recognize the sensation, and
call it sound. In each ear is a harp containing
over three thousand strings. Each one CORE
spends 10 certain pitch in tn vast range of
notes which lie between the top and the bottom
of piano or organ. Each of these three thou
sand strings vIbrates in sympathy with cer-
tain note whenever it sounds within hearing.
All of them are capable of moving at once or
one may move alone. When we hear pure
tone, one of the strings in our ears replies.
This does not satisfy us. We like to feel several
vibrating together. Mixture brings heightened
pleasure. Should too many answer to multi
tude of sounds, it becomes unpleasant, and we
label the sensation the brain receives, diScord,
confusion, and noise. Some people have less
than the full three thousand vibrating strings
or hairs in their ears; and we say they are
sound blind. They fail to hear either the upper
or some OF the lower tones of an organ. Of
those whose ears are deficient in these answer
ing hairs, we say, "They are deaf"
When we hear the piano sounding one note
we say, and think we speak the truth, that only
one note is made; whereas, each note is accom-
panied by number of others. We hear them,
although we do not know it. The lowest one is
the loudest, and we call the note after its name.
violin sounds that lowest note, and the COM
pany OF little notes that go with it is changed.
Perhaps with the piano tone there will be seven
accompanying tones, and with the violin tone
eighteen or twenty. We apprehepd this differ
enoe OF grouping, and call 10 timDre. To this
simple thing is the mysterious and curious mat
ter reduced. We may not be able to compre-
hend how it is possible to hear these clouds of
little notes, when by the greatest attention we
cannot recognize them. We feel sure we cannot
make them out-cannot hear these soft, high
notes mingling with the loud, deep ones. The
note which stands at the foot of the group so
absorbs our attention that we do not notice the
rest. All the notes of a piano sound alike.
The airy groups that surround each note are
alike. Nlolins, VolaS, ViOloncelQs and contra
basses sound very much alike. The groups that
cling to each String-tone have family resem-
blance, and we call that part of the orchestra
the strings. Every voice has, accompanying
each note, peculiar group of tones that gives
it its individual character,
These heard and not noticed upper notes are
called "oYertones." 1t was not until the year
100 that they were discovered; and only in
more recent times have we been able to bring
them out, that we may hear them and become
aware OF their existence. Wehear them though
we do not know it. Once in while trained
car can recognize one or perhaps two of them.
No one has been able to distinguish more than
three. 1t is only by the use of certain machine
ry that the Others can be brought out and
counted.
How the lower note may be suppressed. so
that the Others can be heard, would require
more time to explain than we could spare This
matter of overtone is one that has commanded
the attention of some of the first minds in the
world.
We once heard Tyndal lecture upon this
matter IN London, and saw some of his wonder
tul experiments to illustrate with an illuminated
wire how these super.imposed oyertoneS come
| from string. We saw the wire, in the form
| of brilliant line of light, thrown into yibra-
| bohoJ uhu hCalu IT'S uOIe. III an instant the
| loupshaped vibrations broke up into grouns.
| The wire yibrated on ITSELF vibrated Throughout
its length, and half its length, and for each
quarter of its length. The professor put his
finger exactly on the center of the wire. The
| low note ceased and we heard the first over
| tone-a faint note, one octave higher. He
touched the quarter section and another over
tone sprung into hearing-soft, and very much
higher. To see that experiment was well worth
the Atlantic voyage.
Here is bit of smoked glass, with some
curious lines upon it. 1t was prepared by n
pupil of the Massachusetts archaeological i1sti-
tute, and is picture of some sounds. pen
was fastened to the point of tuning fork and
while 1t was sounding the glass was drawn
quickly under it. The pen scratched wayy
line in the smoke, and left a picture of a pure
tone. 1t is a waved line simple and exactly
alike everywhere, Next to it is another waved
line of only half its size. This is the trace of
the first overtone of this note. Next are the
two combined. We see the little line mingled
with the larger ones, and a most singular and
beautiful figure is produced. Pictures of sound
| are easily made, and the more the timbre the
more rich, intricate, and beautiful are the tig.
/ ures drawn.-Chdries Barnard, IN IndeDend-
eR.