Different instruments include string instruments like the piano, guitar, violin, reed instruments such as the clarinet and saxophone and more. Ultimately, they all musical instruments vibrate, typically hundreds or even thousands of times per second. As an instrument vibrates, it compresses and expands the air around it, creating what appear to be sound waves. These waves are like ripples in a pond that spread out around a dropped rock. When the sound waves reach our ears, make their way to our eardrums where they make the eardrum vibrate, and various internal structures that convert that vibration into nerve signals in our brains.
Our brains recognize various characteristics of sound, such as loudness and pitch. loudness is related to energy, and as the sound moves off in all directions around the instrument, the energy is dispersed over an ever increasing area.
Our brains recognize various characteristics of sound, such as loudness and pitch. loudness is related to energy, and as the sound moves off in all directions around the instrument, the energy is dispersed over an ever increasing area.