Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-12-11

I are louQuees DURATION hlAcu
IatNlNN and tone color. the latter being
- sometimes called quality or tim
bre AS / have shown in my recent book
The Science OF Poetry and the Philosophy
Of Language" loudness and duration are
cumulative properties. and pitch and tone
color are qualitative properties.
! have carefully considered the compare
tive value OF the automobile warning sig
mails, and / think the sharp warning sound
made by the Klaxon incomparatively bet
ter that the musical, groaning. wailing. or
siren sounds made by others. The reason
is that the Klsxon has genuine warning
note while musical sounds possess no
warning properties. Neither do mournful
or waillng sounds warn. Thus they natur-
ally produce the opposite effect.
We all know that It must naturally take
more energy 20 make a loud sound than a
low one, and a more energy to make
sound for longer period than for a shorter
one CONSEQUENTLY. loudneEs and duration,
being representative OF the energy con-
sumed in producing a sound. have come
to indicate the Importance Of the sound.
Pitch always varies with the tenseness
OF the feelings, in accordance with mus
cular tension Hence. pitch has come to
indicate the degree OF tenseness Of the
feelings. OF men and lower animals.
The Tone-Color, OF timbre, indicates the
quality Of the sound In other words Il in
dicates the wave mixture, or how the
waves Of sound are commingled. Differ
ent instruments always produce sounds Of
different tone-eolors, and tho tone-color al
ways varies with variations in the char
acter OF the same instrument producing a
sound. II a fiddle string be pulled strongly
to one side and released, II sets up waves
of compression and rarefaction I'm the at
mosphere The longer the distance which
the string travels in its vibration, the
larger are the sound waves, and the louder
the sound, other things being equal The
more rapidly the string vibrates from
/ side to side, the higher will be the pitch.
But the string not only vibrates as a
whole, for It vibrates in segments upon
itself. In other words, Il trembles. and this
/ trembling sets up smaller sound waves,
which travelling upon and mngling with
/ the large and fundamental waves produced
| by the string as a whole, give the funda-
1 mental waves or fundamental tones their
/ tone coiors. The tone-colors produced by
steel string, catgut string and a silk
string are all necessarily different from
one another.
| Now, as the oral instrument Of men and
OF lower animals constantly varies in
shape with the character OF the emotions
inducing utterance, each different emotion
| produces sounds Of a corresponding tone
/ color. and we have come to associate the
different tone-colors in oral sounds with
the emotions prompting the utterance II
is by means Of the tone-colors in oral
sounds, and by them alone. that we ars
enabled to tell whether the emotions of
7 81 a
also whether or not the speaker is utter
ing warning cry, or making a coaxing or
wooing call
Though warning sounds may differ widely
in certain respects. there is one common
Characteristic possessed by them: they are
harsh and untuneful. they are not pleasant
to the ear The warning growi of the dog.
the cry OF the fowl that voices danger. tho
warning smart OF pair OF tigers fighting
over a piece OF meat. are not pleasant, or
musical. or wooing sounds.
A wooing or musical sound Is as inap-
propriate to the uses of the automobiles
as would b. a feather instead of a club
TO drive away an angry dog. II is the tone
| OF the voice, far more than what Is said,
that calls a dog to US or drives him away
from Ne. All animals are repelled by repel-
liant sounds and attracted by attractive
sounds. A musical sound made by an
automobile horn tells n falsehood to the
pedestrian, whom It is expected to warn.
II indicates that there ia no danger, when
danger Is most imminent.
I have tried many kinds Of horns and
made serious study OF this question, and
have found that to clear the way, there
lie nothing like the Klaxon with its harsh,
untunsful warning.
Try Il on the dog: try TO call a dog by
telling him in a loud, harsh. warning voice
to come to you; and also try to send him
from you by employing sweet. musical.
Woolng sounds. HUDSON MAXIM.