[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Fw: delanceyplace.com 4/1/11 - notes vs. noises

[Marek Boym]

Not quite jazz, but it is about music.
Cheers

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: marek
Date: 1 April 2011 16:10
Subject: Fw: delanceyplace.com 4/1/11 - notes vs. noises
To:



----- Original Message -----
*From:* delanceyplace <daily at delanceyplace.com>
**
<mnboym at 012.net.il>
*Sent:* Friday, April 01, 2011 10:34 AM
*Subject:* delanceyplace.com 4/1/11 - notes vs. noises

   Having trouble viewing this email? Click here
<http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=yo7g7qbab&v=001PSxIp8rnBcIgnCUBy5AxeMa3Ch6SMgZqOjQT67ckkUEr80DwPXIHkDmilLPczj9QqcVcIKzyzJ7v8UnnJuT6YAye_c0q8bZDuEGztxFaSOThpQ2e85JTXKC6wWAafsyi>
       <http://s.rs6.net/t?e=7_re1AfIQek&c=1&r=1>
<http://s.rs6.net/t?e=7_re1AfIQek&c=3&r=1>
<http://s.rs6.net/t?e=7_re1AfIQek&c=4&r=1>
<http://s.rs6.net/t?e=7_re1AfIQek&c=5&r=1>
<http://myemail.constantcontact.com/delanceyplace-com-4-1-11---notes-vs--noises.html?soid=1101151826392&aid=7_re1AfIQek#fblike>
       [image: delanceyplace logo | www.delanceyplace.com]

In today's excerpt - defining the difference between musical notes and
ordinary noises:

"Every day you will hear millions of sounds and only a few of them will be
musical notes. Usually, musical notes are created deliberately from a
musical instrument, but they can be produced in non-musical situations -
when you 'ping' a wineglass or ring a doorbell, for example. Whenever and
however they are produced, musical notes sound different from all other
noises.

"What's the difference between a musical note and any other sort of noise?
Everyone you know will have some sort of answer to this question, but most
of them will be based on the idea that musical notes sound ... er ...
musical and other noises are ... er ... not musical. ...

"If you throw a stone into a flat, calm pond you will disturb the surface of
the water and create ripples which travel away from the initial splash.
Similarly, if you click your fingers in a quiet room, you will disturb the
air and ripples of disturbance will move away from your hand. In the case of
the stone in the pond, the ripples involve a change in the height of the
water and our eyes can clearly see what's going on: the height of the water
goes up-down-up-down-up-down as the ripples travel away from the splash.

"When you click your fingers (or make any other sound, including a musical
note), the sound ripples traveling toward your ears involve changes in the
pressure of the air. We can't see these ripples but our ears can hear them.
When the ripples reach our ears, the air pressure goes
up-down-up-down-up-down and this makes our eardrums go in-out-in-out-in-out
at the same rate - because our eardrums are like tiny, flexible trampolines
which are easily
pushed in and out by changes in the air pressure. Your brain then analyzes
the in-out movement of your eardrums and decides what's going on - is it
time to run away or time to order dessert? ...

"If we could see the pressure ripples of these non-musical sounds, we would
notice that they were very complicated. ... The noise ripple shape [of, for
example, a door closing] which eventually arrives at the eardrum is
extremely complicated because it is made up of a chaotic group of individual
ripples which have no relationship to each other. This is true of all noises
which are not musical notes. The noise ripple shape which eventually arrives
at the eardrum is extremely complicated because it is made up of a chaotic
group of individual ripples which have no relationship to each other. This
is true of all noises which are not musical notes.

"Musical notes are different from non-musical noises because every musical
note is made up of a ripple pattern which repeats itself over and over
again. ... To be a musical note, it doesn't really matter how complicated
the individual ripples are, as long as the pattern repeats itself. Our
eardrums flex in and out as the pressure ripples push against them. However,
our eardrums can't respond properly if the ripple pattern repeats itself too
quickly or too slowly - we can only hear patterns which repeat themselves
more often than twenty times a second but less often than 2o,ooo times a
second.

"Musical notes don't need to be made by musical instruments, in fact,
anything which vibrates or disturbs the air in a regular way between twenty
and 20,000 times a second will produce a note. High-speed motorbike engines
or dentists' drills produce notes. In the song 'The Facts of Life,' the band
Talking Heads uses what sounds like a compressed air-powered drill to
produce one of the notes of the background accompaniment. This combination
of music and engineering fits well with the lyrics, which compare love to a
machine.

"Musical instruments are simply devices which have been designed to produce
notes in a controlled way. A musician uses finger movement or lung power to
start something vibrating at chosen frequencies - and notes are produced."

Author: John Powell
Title: *How Music Works
*
Publisher: Little, Brown
Date: Copyright 2010 by John Powell
Pages: 20-24

 How Music Works: The Science and Psychology of Beautiful Sounds, from
Beethoven to the Beatles and Beyond
by John Powell by Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yo7g7qbab&et=1104998726270&s=31031&e=001Drj6qIiY3OcqLnzX374m_9dsG5Qy31rKFCwk096tzf7cYw3A7N37nWRARlY7xVlork1vNYYVNJkFhOxASCGalbVlAmN0S9aCIqx34GKri3E1D4LPjY71o5uyHhsbIW5r0mtC0rK7OMsiJjtdZD77KtGSA7RXbce_S9hnDOtUYOTv4wfzmlfXsRaosedoJ5O5knjrvanh86Imt9bQHf29luYdjImf9qcHayjzbBtxKUma_-ly3Zsqp8eLYvIXT6eqUTo38i0uBBjiS8YLTahFVTHNIsXy1xHrihlcryLFqXniDyOl61FC4fTR3MWgZLyag9mLpo2Mwd9hIjOiw4VQ-ph9i4zAI3g1MdsMzK64beuFc86WPWPTQe6_rmnU6CpJg3oZlNHuxaCba8d5zJnJsA==>If
you wish to read further: Buy
Now<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yo7g7qbab&et=1104998726270&s=31031&e=001Drj6qIiY3OcqLnzX374m_9dsG5Qy31rKFCwk096tzf7cYw3A7N37nWRARlY7xVlork1vNYYVNJkFhOxASCGalbVlAmN0S9aCIqx34GKri3E1D4LPjY71o5uyHhsbIW5r0mtC0rK7OMsiJjtdZD77KtGSA7RXbce_S9hnDOtUYOTv4wfzmlfXsRaosedoJ5O5knjrvanh86Imt9bQHf29luYdjImf9qcHayjzbBtxKUma_-ly3Zsqp8eLYvIXT6eqUTo38i0uBBjiS8YLTahFVTHNIsXy1xHrihlcryLFqXniDyOl61FC4fTR3MWgZLyag9mLpo2Mwd9hIjOiw4VQ-ph9i4zAI3g1MdsMzK64beuFc86WPWPTQe6_rmnU6CpJg3oZlNHuxaCba8d5zJnJsA==>

*

*



<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yo7g7qbab&et=1104998726270&s=31031&e=001Drj6qIiY3Of6DnzqPEPFkbQNn-7pTv_dBZcGq05JC4Uvz4i4MRagOWoGdrIoHIagVuoZaCE5MIElwfnzhQn2AB4m4gNnOsFfFN-Dp1bkPqL35T7S9cJh4Mb7Kp18Q3IoPW6Ez1S5WtF2D97MsTHOqBHO_b3pzuejUbU_bUTT9EJxeuS3SHrvU2oHsgaaS-wA9v_qg8cAzQ0CVbp1PuQhV_RfHMLued3pRfWFHvw10mu3peyQzbvJ57YlcjOfjPygWrc07TpjwNcdnM3EWofyFx9_3qFkul-SGiYoqrMEjuRfs9cfMXRF-6RGHM6Mp1tnKxmKsZfSUgfoMg2UxRDbEnhkFSzA40Zy3NPYrnEZZAGFLFIgYgPZq_ADiuy5TSybNFxi2XSaucVtpsyJDqDREA==>

 *Should you use the above link to purchase a book, delanceyplace proceeds
from your purchase will benefit a children's literacy project. Delanceyplace
is a not-for-profit organization*



  *About Us
*

Delanceyplace is a brief daily email with an excerpt or quote we view as
interesting or noteworthy, offered with commentary to provide context.
There is no theme, except that most excerpts will come from a non-fiction
work, mainly works of history, are occasionally controversial, and we hope
will have a more universal relevance than simply the subject of the book
from which they came.

To visit our homepage or sign up for our daily email click here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yo7g7qbab&et=1104998726270&s=31031&e=001Drj6qIiY3OcwbULdSMQBbqfl7Yfj_Cki2hd2XhkM0yV-uqfxvbAvVVTbsJUDszkzYDEqaelr2bL2DquxpcW9ZRd3rF6jgkoJI6y6pTDAbNWWYf8jMI4vosgxVAfp8N2X>
To view previous daily emails click
here<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yo7g7qbab&et=1104998726270&s=31031&e=001Drj6qIiY3OcFLkP7YjlT88kweDJvvklK_PfmYa0MtthWZun6T416uhCjKLTPNiCwTljuJD9d21cDg0ioDyFZmNZbydO9kudNewhbBatPYsBqR1u2LPffJTWJ6XiunWplazm9kDTS7NRv4JZJ1PFWUw==>
.
To sign up for our daily email click
here<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yo7g7qbab&et=1104998726270&s=31031&e=001Drj6qIiY3OdjDscLv-hLMWPKaYcv7qD8V-todukKza5c7IbjvesFkujvYAKuXGGosXC1nQhFrVU79ehIMsQsxhk9JVOBE1LE71hNmco5wVUyikNJnNI93cT-YX0r0dbpchHwky2nq4g=>
.
    Forward email<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=yo7g7qbab&m=1101151826392&ea=mnboym%40012.net.il&a=1104998726270>

<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=0018qDIme6Va__dUUrRNqxbiw%3D%3D&se=001x4aTvjazamM%3D&t=001JbOdZpl8OZdHi3Osk8orsw%3D%3D&lang=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&reason=001IqezpQbqEsU%3D&llr=yo7g7qbab>
<http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_Card_219>
This email was sent to mnboym at 012.net.il by daily at delanceyplace.com |
Update Profile/Email
Address<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&m=0018qDIme6Va__dUUrRNqxbiw%3D%3D&se=001x4aTvjazamM%3D&t=001JbOdZpl8OZdHi3Osk8orsw%3D%3D&lang=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&reason=001IqezpQbqEsU%3D&llr=yo7g7qbab>
| Instant removal with
SafeUnsubscribe<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=0018qDIme6Va__dUUrRNqxbiw%3D%3D&se=001x4aTvjazamM%3D&t=001JbOdZpl8OZdHi3Osk8orsw%3D%3D&lang=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&reason=001IqezpQbqEsU%3D&llr=yo7g7qbab>™
| Privacy Policy <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp>.
Delanceyplace.com | daily at delanceyplace.com | Philadelphia | PA | 19103