This is actually question my daughter posed and I’m pretty stumped. She asked how, if two people with (let’s say) perfect pitch sing a song, how is it possible that we can still tell who is singing when the notes would be identical?
Note: I know absolutely nothing about music, but figured this was the best place to ask for her.
Edit: Wow, many of these answers are incredible! I had no idea this would receive such in depth and thoughtful feedback. I have learned a huge amount. I was not exaggerating above when I said I know nothing about music (I don’t even know what pitch is – just quoted my daughter on that) and I’m grateful to those of you who took the time to help me learn.
In: Biology
Every response I’ve seen is correct, but I’m a music teacher and here’s a great way to visualize it.
Sound comes in the form of waves, and waves are fundamentally the same whether they’re waves on the water or in the air. If you took two waves of water and compared them for visually-identifiable differences, after enough thought you might realize that there’s a few things that can be measured:
1. Height
2. Width
3. “Texture”
Height simply means measuring from a trough to the peak of the wave. Width is measuring from trough to trough (or from peak to peak). The third one is SLIGHTLY more complicated but it would be, for example, the difference between a glassy smooth wave, or a choppy one. It’s disturbances on the surface of the wave and there are millions of slight variations that are possible there. You can have two choppy waves, but their choppiness can be varied.
If you can see those three characteristics in water waves, you can also HEAR them with sound waves! It’s just harder to imagine because we find it easier to think through our eyes.
When you hear a taller sound wave, you perceive that as volume. Taller waves are louder, shorter waves are quieter.
When you hear the width of the waves, you perceive that as pitch. Narrower waves, bunched up closer together are higher in pitch. Broad waves are lower.
That leaves the texture. If you can see it, you can hear it… but it’s an easy one to forget about. If you have two sounds that are at the same pitch and volume, and yet sound distinct… that’s the texture! In music we call it the timbre but it’s the same thing. A choppy wave sounds much different than a smooth one, even if they’re the same height and width.
Examples of textures you can observe:
1. Someone with a really nasal voice, or a deep booming voice.
2. On a piano, the thick gravelly sound of the bottom notes, compared to the clear bell-like sound of the high notes.
3. The pluck of a guitar vs. the pluck of a harp.
4. Every vowel is technically a different timbre too! If you sing every vowel on one pitch, the fact that you can discern the difference between an “a” and an “e” means that they have different timbres!
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