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Does waveform affect sound?
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Title says it all - does the shape of a wave have any effect on how we perceive it as a sound?
sound acoustics
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
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Title says it all - does the shape of a wave have any effect on how we perceive it as a sound?
sound acoustics
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
1186
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Title says it all - does the shape of a wave have any effect on how we perceive it as a sound?
sound acoustics
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
1186
Title says it all - does the shape of a wave have any effect on how we perceive it as a sound?
sound acoustics
sound acoustics
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
1186
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
1186
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
1186
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
1186
asked 1 hour ago
14jbella
1186
1186
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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Yes, but not directly - instead, we perceive the different amounts of energy in different harmonics. :)
To illustrate the differences, here are some graphed waveforms, and here's a YouTube video which demonstrates some basic waveforms.
A square wave only has odd harmonics (the base frequency, 3x the base frequency, 5x, 7x, etc.) and that gives it a distinct character. This is similar to the triangle wave (which also only has odd harmonics, but in different amounts). They are both very tonally different to the sawtooth wave, which contains both odd and even harmonics.
However, since it's mostly determined the relative amplitude of the harmonics (we aren't very good at hearing phase, except between our two ears) it's possible for two waveforms to look different but sound basically identical, if their harmonics have the same energy.
Here is a video which demonstrates that: at 0:02 it plays a conventional sawtooth waveform, but at 0:12 it plays a different-looking waveform which has the same harmonics, so sounds the same.
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
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The wave form that reaches our ears is the sound. And we perceive it as a sound.
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
Yes, but not directly - instead, we perceive the different amounts of energy in different harmonics. :)
To illustrate the differences, here are some graphed waveforms, and here's a YouTube video which demonstrates some basic waveforms.
A square wave only has odd harmonics (the base frequency, 3x the base frequency, 5x, 7x, etc.) and that gives it a distinct character. This is similar to the triangle wave (which also only has odd harmonics, but in different amounts). They are both very tonally different to the sawtooth wave, which contains both odd and even harmonics.
However, since it's mostly determined the relative amplitude of the harmonics (we aren't very good at hearing phase, except between our two ears) it's possible for two waveforms to look different but sound basically identical, if their harmonics have the same energy.
Here is a video which demonstrates that: at 0:02 it plays a conventional sawtooth waveform, but at 0:12 it plays a different-looking waveform which has the same harmonics, so sounds the same.
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Yes, but not directly - instead, we perceive the different amounts of energy in different harmonics. :)
To illustrate the differences, here are some graphed waveforms, and here's a YouTube video which demonstrates some basic waveforms.
A square wave only has odd harmonics (the base frequency, 3x the base frequency, 5x, 7x, etc.) and that gives it a distinct character. This is similar to the triangle wave (which also only has odd harmonics, but in different amounts). They are both very tonally different to the sawtooth wave, which contains both odd and even harmonics.
However, since it's mostly determined the relative amplitude of the harmonics (we aren't very good at hearing phase, except between our two ears) it's possible for two waveforms to look different but sound basically identical, if their harmonics have the same energy.
Here is a video which demonstrates that: at 0:02 it plays a conventional sawtooth waveform, but at 0:12 it plays a different-looking waveform which has the same harmonics, so sounds the same.
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Yes, but not directly - instead, we perceive the different amounts of energy in different harmonics. :)
To illustrate the differences, here are some graphed waveforms, and here's a YouTube video which demonstrates some basic waveforms.
A square wave only has odd harmonics (the base frequency, 3x the base frequency, 5x, 7x, etc.) and that gives it a distinct character. This is similar to the triangle wave (which also only has odd harmonics, but in different amounts). They are both very tonally different to the sawtooth wave, which contains both odd and even harmonics.
However, since it's mostly determined the relative amplitude of the harmonics (we aren't very good at hearing phase, except between our two ears) it's possible for two waveforms to look different but sound basically identical, if their harmonics have the same energy.
Here is a video which demonstrates that: at 0:02 it plays a conventional sawtooth waveform, but at 0:12 it plays a different-looking waveform which has the same harmonics, so sounds the same.
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
Yes, but not directly - instead, we perceive the different amounts of energy in different harmonics. :)
To illustrate the differences, here are some graphed waveforms, and here's a YouTube video which demonstrates some basic waveforms.
A square wave only has odd harmonics (the base frequency, 3x the base frequency, 5x, 7x, etc.) and that gives it a distinct character. This is similar to the triangle wave (which also only has odd harmonics, but in different amounts). They are both very tonally different to the sawtooth wave, which contains both odd and even harmonics.
However, since it's mostly determined the relative amplitude of the harmonics (we aren't very good at hearing phase, except between our two ears) it's possible for two waveforms to look different but sound basically identical, if their harmonics have the same energy.
Here is a video which demonstrates that: at 0:02 it plays a conventional sawtooth waveform, but at 0:12 it plays a different-looking waveform which has the same harmonics, so sounds the same.
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
edited 10 mins ago
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
answered 33 mins ago
cloudfeet
33116
33116
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
The wave form that reaches our ears is the sound. And we perceive it as a sound.
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
The wave form that reaches our ears is the sound. And we perceive it as a sound.
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
The wave form that reaches our ears is the sound. And we perceive it as a sound.
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
The wave form that reaches our ears is the sound. And we perceive it as a sound.
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
answered 56 mins ago
ghellquist
88518
88518
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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