Acoustics & Sound For Musicians - Online Book

The Theory Of Sound Which Constitutes The Physical Basis Of The Art Of Music.

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	86            SERIES OF CONSTITUENT TONES. [IV. § 44. The asterisk denotes that the pitch of the 7th tone is not precisely that of the note by which it is here represented but slightly less acute. The reader must not suppose that, because the tones into which a note of a musical instrument may usually be decomposed are members of a fixed series, all those which we have written down are neces­sarily present in every such note. No more is meant to be asserted than that those which are present, be they few or many, must occupy positions determined by the law connecting each tone with its funda­mental. The sound may contain, say, (1), (3) and (5) only, or (l), (4) and (8) only, and so on, the rest being entirely absent, but in no case can a tone intermediate in pitch between any two consecutive members of the series make its appearance. 44. Experimental evidence shall now be pro­duced in support of the extremely important pro­position just enunciated. We will beerin with the sounds of the pianoforte.