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Logarithmic plot of frequency in hertz versus pitch of a chromatic scale starting on middle C. Each subsequent note has a pitch equal to the frequency of the prior note's pitch multiplied by 12 √ 2. The base-2 logarithm of the above frequency–pitch relation conveniently results in a linear relationship with or :
The frequency of a pitch is derived by multiplying (ascending) or dividing (descending) the frequency of the previous pitch by the twelfth root of two (approximately 1.059463). [ 1 ] [ 2 ] For example, to get the frequency one semitone up from A 4 (A ♯ 4 ), multiply 440 Hz by the twelfth root of two.
Pitch is the lowness or highness of a tone, for example the difference between middle C and a higher C. The frequency of the sound waves producing a pitch can be measured precisely, but the perception of pitch is more complex because single notes from natural sources are usually a complex mix of many frequencies.
A "complex tone" (the sound of a note with a timbre particular to the instrument playing the note) "can be described as a combination of many simple periodic waves (i.e., sine waves) or partials, each with its own frequency of vibration, amplitude, and phase". [1] (See also, Fourier analysis.)
A typical five-line staff. In Western musical notation, the staff [1] [2] (UK also stave; [3] plural: staffs or staves), [1] also occasionally referred to as a pentagram, [4] [5] [6] is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch or in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments.
In musical notation, the different vertical positions of notes indicate different pitches. Play top: Play bottom: Pitch is a perceptual property that allows sounds to be ordered on a frequency-related scale, [1] or more commonly, pitch is the quality that makes it possible to judge sounds as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies. [2]
A pure tone's pressure waveform versus time looks like this; its frequency determines the x axis scale; its amplitude determines the y axis scale; and its phase determines the x origin. In psychoacoustics , a pure tone is a sound with a sinusoidal waveform ; that is, a sine wave of constant frequency , phase-shift , and amplitude . [ 1 ]
Building on of Sethares (2004), [5] dynamic tonality introduces the notion of pseudo-harmonic partials, in which the frequency of each partial is aligned to match the pitch of a corresponding note in a pseudo-just tuning, thereby maximizing the consonance of that pseudo-harmonic timbre with notes of that pseudo-just tuning.