How does sound have “texture”? How does a piano sound different from a clarinet when they play the same tone?
In: Physics
A waveform (musical or otherwise) can be analyzed as a sum of sine waves. The sound of a tuning fork is approximately a simple sine wave. Most sounds are far more complex than that.
In an idealized musical instrument, all of the sonic energy is in waves whose frequencies are multiples (‘harmonics’) of some fundamental. The relative strengths of these component waves give a large part of the color of the sound: if the higher components are strong, the sound is ‘brilliant’, like a trumpet; if they’re weak, the sound may be called ’fat’. In a clarinet, the even multiples of the fundamental are missing.
Real physical instruments have harmonics that are *not* perfect multiples of the fundamental. This is most conspicuous in a cymbal or gong, but hints of such imperfection also give a bit of spice to many other instruments.
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