The Art of Sound Reproduction

Chapter 4

Sources of sound

If it is proposed to reproduce sound well, then it is a good idea to have a knowledge of how real sounds are produced in the first place. In this chapter the human voice, musical instruments and other common sound sources are considered. This chapter relies upon the principles outlined in Chapters 2 and 3.

4.1 Producing sounds

Before discussing specifics such as speech and musical instruments¹ it is useful to look at some of the mechanisms involved. Often the sound we hear is the result of two stages. First a raw sound or vibration is produced at the required pitch or frequency, then this is modified in some way to give a particular timbre or spectral content. In most cases the production of the vibration and the modification ...