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The shape of the sound wave alters the "timbre" of the sound. The best way to explain this is that a Clarinet and a Trumpet playing the same note have the same pitch, but the harmonics characteristic of each instrument are different, and so it's easy to tell the difference between the two.

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Q: How does the shape of the sound wave alter the sound?
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What difference in a note does the amplitude of a sound wave make?

Changing the amplitude of a note will alter its volume.


How is the quality of the sound influenced by the shape of the sound wave?

Sound is the shape of the sound wave. Not influenced by, is. Another way of saying that is "The shape of a sound wave affects how rough or smooth that sound sounds". For example: a pure sine wave (which looks similar to a capital letter "S" lying on its side) sounds smooth whilst a pure square wave ( |--|--|--|--|--|-- ) sounds rough. A jagged, sawtooth-shaped sound wave ( \/\/\/ ) sounds "harsh", somewhere between smooth and rough. People speak of the "harshness" of a sound. Another way of describing the quality of a sound is its "timbre". If you really want to be able to explain and understand how the shape of a sound wave affects its quality or timbre you'll find there is a lot of electronics and musical instrument technology to be studied. To start, why not see if you can borrow some books such as "How a music keyboard works" and "How to design a music synthesiser" from the library?


How does vibration cause sound wave?

Vibrations alter the density of the air (or other medium) around them. They do this as a wave. When the wave reaches a person's eardrum it makes it vibrate to the rhythm of the vibration. This is conducted to the brain via an electrical impulse and we hear it as sound.


A sound that's produced by a single wave at a constant frequency and wiht no overtones is called?

The shape of this sound is a sine wave, and that is what physicists call it. Musicians tend to call it the fundamental.


How does vibration cause sound?

Vibrations alter the density of the air (or other medium) around them. They do this as a wave. When the wave reaches a person's eardrum it makes it vibrate to the rhythm of the vibration. This is conducted to the brain via an electrical impulse and we hear it as sound.


Is a sound wave a transverse wave?

No, a sound wave is a compressional wave.


Why low pass RC circuit can not alter the shape of the sinusoidal signal?

because it is an alternating wave and it has no dc value on it.In RC circuit the capacitor blocks only dc values and it allows all ac values so the wave shape is preserved


Is a sound wave a electromaginic wave?

No. A sound wave is a pressure wave.


Is a EM wave a sound wave?

electromagnetic wave is not a sound wave


What part of the electromagnetic spectrum does the ultrasonic wave falls into?

An ultrasonic wave is not an electromagnetic wave; it is a sound wave.An ultrasonic wave is not an electromagnetic wave; it is a sound wave.An ultrasonic wave is not an electromagnetic wave; it is a sound wave.An ultrasonic wave is not an electromagnetic wave; it is a sound wave.


Is a compression wave a sound wave?

yes a sound wave is a Compressional wave


What type of wave is sound wave?

A sound wave is considered a sinusoidal wave.