Explain why some musical instruments sound different even if they are played at the same pitch?

Answer 1

yes, they have a different timbre - sound, if they are made of different materials.

Even violins made of the same wood sound different depending on craftsmanship, the quality of wood, and the age of the wood

Answer 2

there are several variables, among them.

1. ATTACK some sounds, like an organ begin softly and become louder. Others, like a piano are very loud at the beginning.

2. pitch, in addition to the particular note being played, there are changes during the note (vibrato)

3. most importantly, is the HARMONIC CONTENT.

do this: hold the a single note with your voice, then change the shape of your mouth to make the vowel sounds, just as the shape of your mouth makes the same note sound differently, the shape of a musical instrument, and the exact way it is played each create a varying tapistry of overtones which adds the richness to music.

Answer 3

When you play an instrument you don't get just one frequency of sound. You get multiples of the primary note; for an example, a guitar will give you all the odd harmonics. That means, the first note and then 3, 5, 7, etc. times the first note. Different guitars give a different sound because the strength of each one of these harmonics varies from guitar to guitar. So even though all instruments play the same note, the sound depends on the mixture of all the tones coming out of it.

Answer 4

Musical instruments may be built to resemble each other but like people they are each unique. An instrument will change tune if it is not tuned correctly and will also depend on the person playing it.

Each one will have a different pitch that can be changed with lip pressure, amount of air blown thru the instrument, pressure applied to the strings when drawn, all of which is controlled by the person playing it.

Are you referring to string instruments (violins, etc)? Brass (trumpets, etc)? Wind (flute, clarinet, etc)? Percussion (timphoni, etc)? Bass (tube, etc)?

These websites seem to be research done on the different reasons why tone and pitch change with instruments. Hope it helps some!

Answer 5

Musical instruments do not produce a single pure frequency, but a combination of different frequencies, largely harmonics of the fundamental frequency that the instrument is tuned to, but depending on the instrument there may be other frequencies as well. Each instrument will have it's own combination of these different frequencies and therefore will sound unique, even though tuned to the same fundamental.

Answer 6

Well, for string instruments, it all depends on the quality of the strings. They all are manufactured differently, and because of that, can produce slightly different sounds. Sometimes these sounds are not noticeable by many, but might be noticeable by some.

We all hear at slightly different pitches. It's quite rare to have someone who can hear with perfect pitch, but supposedly Las Vegas Metro Police employ a forensics technician who can.

I am not 100% sure about percussion instruments, but an educated guess on my part would be that it depends on who manufacturers it, the quality of the materials, and the environment in which it is manufactured.

Answer 7

One word: Harmonics.

By their construction, and materials -- different instruments produce harmonics on top of the "same pitch". That's what makes them sound different. Otherwise they would all sound like a bunch of sine-wave oscillators running the same frequency.

Different instruments produce different harmonics. Some have lots of even harmonics (2nd overtone, 4th overtone, 6th, 8th) to the fundamental pitch, others produce odd harmonics (3rd overtone, 5th, 7th, etc.). Some instruments produce every harmonic.

Synthesizers can very accurately add harmonics to a fundamental tone to recreate instrument sounds, or make completely new sounds.

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Answer 8

Ummm, a song played in C minor will sound more "evil" persay, compared to a song played in C major. I would go to a music store and ask a clerk about a book or website. Or even a teacher or professor aroumd you...

Answer 9

It's all to do with tuning. An instrument needs to be tuned before being played

Answer 10

one person might play it harder and the other might play it softer