AV Geeks Lunch 5-12-2023

[Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] ER and welcome to the AV Geeks lunchtime streaming show we are honored to be in the studio of this person Irene Moon who you might remember we did a show together uh in January where she came to Raleigh and now we are in her space in California and she is playing this magical he said it's Italian it's Italian uh Oregon I have something to show you skip all right let's see surprises of my collection all right [Music] reach onto the Shelf [Laughter] oh wow two copies of wonderful wonderful autobiographies by Lawrence Welk [Music] a and it's signed including one that's signed that's amazing that is amazing [Music] anything else you wanted to show us oh in this amazing space no maybe that's it okay that's fine um wait I have to show you one more thing oh yeah hey anytime go for it I like that you're showing me non-musical equipment this is a portrait of a bullfighter made out of leather leather by Louis Moody nice and that's someone you're related to yes wow okay so uh today it's Friday so I figured it'd be a special special day uh today's theme is sound or music or Hobby so we're gonna watch films about uh music or sound or uh whether or not you're good enough to be a musician to make a career out of it so the first film we're going to watch is Melody Melody and music the next is science and sound and musical tone then music career or Hobby then Sun sound fundamentals of Acoustics and then finally wondering about sound which is a Encyclopedia Britannica film that was made in the 80s and actually has a great song in it so it's going to be a toe tapping tournament candidate for next year 2024. as a reminder we are voting uh on the current toe tapping tournament to vote the best number one uh jingle uh it's either um the ZIP code song or uh Race for Your Life um and I'm gonna have Irene here listen to it and maybe some other people that are here and they they will put in their votes but uh thanks for watching today uh we'll be back Monday we'll be back in the studio hopefully Monday uh if we make our flight um you can support us by hitting the Thumbs Up by hitting the super thanks button uh by uh going to ko.fi.com avgeeks for coffee or patreon.com all those are great ways to support us uh so you want to play us out oh yeah Irene let me turn it up [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] one day when we were practicing for a program we learned many things about melody in music each time we learn a new piece of music I ask one of the children to play the melody but Gene wanted to know why we played the melody first she felt sure she could play her part but of course the melody in any piece of music is so important that we should listen for it even when we play other parts so I asked Howard to play on the French horn The Melody of the peace we were going to practice [Music] [Music] then I asked Alice to play a Melody for us on the Chimes [Music] [Music] that was something like the melody Howard played wasn't it did you notice how many different notes there were in the melody listen [Music] [Applause] foreign just four different notes most Melodies use more than four different notes but Gene thought of another one that used only four [Music] [Music] just four different notes what else goes into a Melody besides different notes well on the marimba we can see that a Melody can go up or it can come down and it can skip around [Music] a Melody can have words [Music] a Melody can be without words [Music] foreign [Music] a Melody can sound high as on a flute [Music] or it can sound low as on a tuba a Melody can sound crisp and sharp [Music] thank you or it can sound smooth and mellow [Music] did you know the different Melodies can start off with the same notes listen [Music] there are many different Melodies that start off with those notes [Music] [Music] um did you notice that the first two notes were faster when Jim played our thought of still another tune that started with the same notes listen [Music] yes changing the Rhythm makes a Melody sound quite different listen to a simple eighth note scale foreign [Music] now with the same notes but changing the Rhythm that's quite a different sounding Melody isn't it quite a few Melodies are built on simple scales Mary knows one [Music] the first two notes of the scale are each played three times before we come down and go up again foreign now if we add a second part to that Melody we have a pretty French folk tune built on a scale [Music] foreign [Music] Melodies differ from each other in many ways some Melodies are quite short [Music] some Melodies are longer [Music] [Music] wasn't that beautiful but where do melodies come from well I asked Jim to make up a melody on his cornet [Music] um foreign [Music] it's fun to make up your own Melody and then you can make up variations change the melody to make it more interesting [Music] you can make all sorts of changes in the same Melody [Music] well there are many more things to learn about Melody but we felt Gene should understand by now why we thought Melodies were so important and she did do you remember what we've learned Melodies use different notes that go up or come down [Music] or skip around [Music] a Melody may have words [Music] but many do not a Melody can sound High or it can sound low [Music] the notes can be crisp and sharp [Music] or they can be smooth and sustained [Music] different Melodies sometimes start with the same notes in different rhythms [Music] you can make up your own melodies [Music] foreign and you can have fun changing your Melody to make it sound more interesting [Music] the melody you make up doesn't have to be long or difficult some of the very finest Melodies are simple let's listen again to The Chimes this is a Melody from the piece we're going to rehearse [Music] that's a very simple Melody isn't it but one of the world's greatest composers Johannes Brahms use that melody in his great Symphony Number One in C Minor listen as Howard plays again A Melody from this Symphony [Music] foreign [Music] now that we all know the melody we can enjoy an arrangement of part of the symphony by Brahms listen for the melody and how important it is in the music [Music] foreign [Music] laughs [Music] foreign [Music] whatever they are originate as vibrations any substance can vibrate if it has elasticity or the tendency to return to its usual shape after being distorted by some outside force Sound Vibrations are transmitted through various media sound waves reach us through the air through a solid or through a liquid sound waves spread outward like ripples on water in all directions Fanning out from their source this is the famous Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago we are here to take a look at one of the new exhibits on the science of sound and musical tone hello you know sound is a fascinating thing there's so much to learn about it and there's no better place to learn than right here at this exhibit of the science of sound and musical tone let's start with sound generation how sounds are created and to illustrate that fundamental principle let's start with our old friend the tuning fork [Music] as we know to form any sound something has to move back and forth in quivering movements or vibrate and it's these vibrations which form waves of sound and these waves of sound are transmitted through solid liquid or air the only medium sound can't travel through is a vacuum the dial indicates the amount of air in the Bell as the air is pumped out you'll notice that the sound dies let's suppose this panel is magnified air the lights represent the air particles let's suppose too that sound waves created by a giant tuning fork are passing through the air as the blade of the tuning fork vibrates it first pushes the particles of air near it outward these particles collide with neighboring particles which move outward and collide with their neighbors and so on then as the blade returns to complete its vibration the air particles rush back to fill the space left by the blade of the tuning fork in other words it's a bump and a rebound bump and a rebound of air particles vibrations create alternate compressions and partial vacuums of air particles when the vibrations or sound waves stop the air is exactly as it was yet the sound waves have traveled completely through it sound travels approximately Eleven Hundred feet per second through the air of course light travels very much faster that's why the flash of lightning is often seated before you hear the accompanying Thunder sound travels roughly four times faster in water about 4 800 feet per second knowing the speed of sound and water helps the sonar engineer in the submarine to navigate underwater now the sound must be received or heard by the ear we really have six ears three on each side the outer ear the middle ear and the inner ear the outer ear catches the sound waves and directs them along the auditory canal where they bombard the eardrum setting up vibrations that are passed on to three tiny bones in the middle here the hammer the Anvil and the stirrup with increased Force the sound waves enter the compressed fluid of the inner ear called the cochlea where sounds are received and transformed into nerve impulses racing to the brain no one knows exactly how this happens but the mechanism that transforms this sound into nerve impulses is called the basilar membrane uncoiled here to study it better this membrane which is actually very tiny supports about 23 000 hair-like nerve endings when any part of it vibrates nerve endings are thrust against the overhanging tectorial membrane and we hear of course we can't see sound waves but scientists have developed an instrument which translates sound waves into visual patterns this instrument is called an oscilloscope the lines or pattern you see here is in effect a picture of my voice the movement of these lines indicates among other things the number of vibrations per second that the sound of my voice creates every different sound or tone creates a different number of vibrations per second and it is the number of vibrations per second that determines the pitch of a tone here's another pattern created by a pure musical tone it's called a sine wave watch the oscilloscope as this tone creates more vibrations per second or a higher pitch than the one just played watch the oscilloscope again see how this tone creates fewer vibrations or a lower pitch here's another example of pitch or frequency a bicycle wheel and a playing card the card is set into vibration by the rotating spokes when the rotating wheel is speeded up the card vibrates more rapidly and your ear recognizes a higher pitch than when the wheel rotates more slowly the pitch Falls as the speed decreases intensity or loudness can also be seen on the oscilloscope by the height of the sine wave or curve at the opening of the film we heard the bark of a dog the noise of a car the music of a violin now let's discuss these different kinds of sound one is noise like you heard from the dog in the car another is musical tone watch the oscilloscope you can see how noise sends out irregular vibrations now see how musical tones produce a regular looking sound wave the instrument sends out regular vibrations whenever we hear any musical sound we're actually hearing a complex combination a fundamental or basic tone and harmonics or overtones [Music] these harmonics or overtones are highly important they affect the quality of a tone because it's the difference in the number and intensity of harmonics or overtones that makes a violin sound different from a clarinet a trumpet sound different from a noble and so forth laughs [Music] this Hammond Organ here in the museum is an ideal instrument upon which to demonstrate fundamentals and overtones because use of the draw bars or tone bars permits us to isolate the fundamental tone from harmonics or we can blend the fundamental tone with combinations of harmonics or overtones to obtain thousands of variations of musical tones there's an animated film within this exhibit which explains this very well let's go take a look at it [Music] interested in music Hammond gives the organist the whole Orchestra to work with in these tone bars [Music] foreign in fact just about everybody would like to have his own Orchestra to conduct of course they'd like to play the instruments too the orchestra is yours let's start with our string sections that's a picture of what the strings look like hold on Maestro if you were a conductor that is if you were an orchestra you could vary the harmony change the tone color according to your taste indeed you can [Music] like flutes just pucker up your white tone bars and blow like it invite a few more friends [Applause] oh call out the whole Orchestra perhaps you prefer the reads gentlemen a little light readwork please let's do it in blue [Applause] foreign [Laughter] tour professor say a little percussion allow me how about drums cellular phones so you're not only all the sections of the orchestra you're the conductor too like I said friends you are the orchestra thank you interesting story now let's see how musical tone is generated by various instruments [Music] the percussion instruments such as the drum are probably the oldest instruments of all skin is stretched tightly across either one or both ends of a hollow cylinder when the drum head is wrapped sharply it vibrates drums may sound lower or higher according to their size and tension of their skin the musical tones of a violin and other Bode string instruments are generated by pulling the bowl back and forth over the strings causing the strings to vibrate at the same time that one hand moves the bow the fingers of the other hand press the strings against the fingerboard to determine the pitch of the tone the brass slide trombone represents a still different method of tone generation the player blows into the mouthpiece and his lips act as the vibrator to generate the trombone tone different pitches are made by altering the position of the slide and changing the lifting the clarinet is a member of the woodwind family it's a reed instrument consisting of a cylindrical tube with a bell-shaped opening at one end and a mouthpiece at the other the mouthpiece has a flat cane redattached it vibrates when blown thus generating a tone the tube contains open holes and holes covered by Keys the fingers open and close the holes and manipulate the keys to change the pitch of the clarinet tone [Music] her back is 5 [Music] in the same manner as the windblown instruments the flute for example in the pipe organ wind is driven over pipes of varying lengths the length of the pipe determines the pitch the electric organ like this one we've been using here at the Museum of Science and Industry was invented by Lawrence Hammond in 1935. it introduced a completely new method of electrical tone generation known as the tone wheel generator when I pull out one of these tone bars and press a key a minute electrical current generated in the organ is carried along a wire to the amplification system this Amplified current is in turn connected to speakers whose vibrations in the air produce audible musical sounds thus the organs operation is entirely electrical in character until the final speaker is reached now let's look at the tone generator and see how it produces these minute electrical currents this cutaway section of the tone wheel generator shows how this disc or tone wheel is so placed that it rotates or spins right next to a magnet notice that the magnet has a coil of wire wrapped around it also note that the tone wheels are not true circles but have a number of high spots or notches around the edges as the discs rotate they do not touch the magnets but pass very close to them each time a high spot passes the magnet it induces or generates a minute electrical current in the coil one of the wheels rotates so that 440 high spots pass the magnet each second generating a varying current which when it activates the speaker causes it to vibrate at 440 vibrations per second which is designated a on the musical scale the generator in this organ has 86 tone Wheels all of which are permanently geared together and driven by a constant speed motor because the tone wheels are driven by a constant speed motor the pitch of the tones generated remain constant and no tuning is ever required the high spots on the tone wheels are so shaped that pure tones are generated that means tones that have no harmonic or overtones of Their Own now this Purity is essential in order to attain pleasing tonal mixtures between fundamental tone and harmonics through the use of the drawbar when a key is depressed it closes nine small electrical switch contacts there are nine such contacts under every playing key on the organ these contacts are connected to appropriate generator magnets as well as to the drawbars the settings of the drawbars determine the intensities of the small electrical currents generated by the tone Wheels when a drawbar is pulled out all the way it generates a current of Greater intensity thereby making that tone louder than if the drawbar or tone bar were pulled out only part way vary drawbar settings then actually call on up to nine different tones at one time each Tone's loudness or intensity being determined by how far the drawbar is pulled out thus thinking of nine different draw bars each with eight different positions of intensity or loudness it's mathematically possible to create literally thousands of tones or on a more practical basis an individualized variety of organ or orchestral tone effects so we've covered what musical tone is and how it's generated we've covered pitch pitch is determined by the number of vibrations created within a given length of time intensity is the loudness or the softness of the tone quality is what distinguishes one tone from another a drum from a violin an oboe from a trombone a harp from a tuning fork and that's where we started at this interesting exhibit of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry but just hearing sound and musical tone is only half the real pleasure and satisfaction of music the other half is in your creating sound Pleasant sound musical sound [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign friends and neighbors sometimes encourage us to consider careers in music but it's always wise to check their judgments Ken Anderson knew this that's why he stopped in the middle of a music lesson to ask me well Mr Zabo I've been thinking about what part of Music would play in my life should I try for it should I go after if that's a career is that what you want well sure music as well it's what I want nothing else costs as much as music I think I understand Ken there are others who feel as you do too well then should I try to become a concert artist well I really don't think I should answer that question for you Ken but perhaps I can help you find the answer for yourself let's begin with a less difficult question where can you find out more about the various careers in music there are many you know are you trying to tell me that I'm not good enough for a concert career I'm a contrary you play very well Ken few years hard work very hard work you might become a performer of professional caliber still you might be happier in some other field of music you see what I mean let's take it from the cantabulary Ken's question about a career in music Started me thinking and instead of listening I was remembering other students and their answers Mary Winters wasn't a great artist but she has set out on a concert career and she could surprise everybody and hit the top [Music] there have been many like Jimmy hallquist who have learned to play well enough for their own pleasure they regard themselves and rightly as musical amateurs [Music] and there have been many in my classes who have found musical performance just too much Howard Parnell could never really learn to play an instrument but he did learn to listen to music and the enjoyment of music became an important part of his life [Music] now Ken was facing the question you know Mrs Abel about what part music would play in my life maybe I better have a talk with Mr Wilkinson your guidance counselor it's a good idea you'll be able to tell you more about music as a vocation and more about yourself too well I'll see him after school today and I'll let you know how it goes Ken along with other students took a series of musical aptitude tests given by the guidance counselor this part of the test is concerned with pitch discrimination you'll hear a series of three notes you have to write down which of the notes is the lowest in Pitch all right here we go problem number one foreign [Music] number two [Music] number three [Music] of course such tests need careful interpretation by someone skilled in testing and guidance Mr Wilkinson told Ken that his test clearly indicated musical ability that he might well consider music as a vocation Mr Wilkinson suggested that Ken go to the library to find out more about opportunities and requirements in various careers in music as he read Ken began to learn something about himself about how well suited he was to the career he had in mind looking beyond the printed page he could picture himself [Music] would he like the long hours of practice to prepare himself for a career not just at first but indefinitely as long as he continued performing in public [Music] could he perform for the critics could he stand the pressure of having to play for their demanding ears [Music] and if the critics approved would he then enjoy the endless touring living in Pullmans and hotels traveling from City to City between concerts [Music] as he read Ken learned that most musical careers are difficult and competitive he learned more when he interviewed professional musicians sure I started like anybody else you got to know music in this business both popular and classical and then there's this job in life of small combos knocking around one night stand pretty tough son I'll make it someday though start my own band develop a new style and I'll be in Maybe big Symphonies usually have training orchestras you can get into already a music school one and I had a union card that you have to have in most orchestras well whenever there was a vacancy in the symphony they would send you out to audition so we would go and audition very good very good they would say and then they would hire somebody else well finally they hired me down here it isn't a major Orchestra this one I have to take pupils mornings to help out but then they are still the big Symphonies I can still go audition well as you know I've been dead set on composing for a long time I had composed as far as that goes but will anybody perform my works [Music] of course I make a good living writing special arrangements for popular orchestras and scoring radio shows and TV dramas but I'm not composing I'm not doing what I really want to do you understand well I'm working my way up of course I had to get some engineering background as well as music then I signed on in a small town station after a while I moved over here's music librarian now I'm on the turntables I make up the list for a couple of shows a week music director that's me someday yes Ken learned about many careers in music and careers that combine music with other abilities with mechanical skill with sales ability Ken learned much from looking into such vocations after his reading and investigation Ken came to see me about another important career that had been very much on his mind I wonder if you tell me something about teaching you know I was worried that you wouldn't ask me about that yes music teaching has turned out to be a very satisfying career as far as I'm concerned very satisfying you see a music teacher has to have a special kind of training he needs to know how to inspire other people to enjoy music and when you have some success and inspiring others you just naturally feel inspired yourself I think I understand thanks a lot yes teaching was another career that Ken investigated further in finding how his abilities and interests measured up finding his own answer to the question what part shall music play in my life you know each of us has some aptitude for music whether it's performing or teaching or just listening and each of us can have a richer life by finding in it a definite place for music [Music] thank you a phenomenon called refraction after Sunset over calm water the air cools most rapidly at lower levels at such times distance sounds seem unusually loud this is an example of refraction since the portions of sound waves near the surface travel more slowly through the cooler air near the water their upper portions that would normally be unheard are bent down toward the surface of the water and the wave is thus focused and strengthened we have seen How Sound originates and how it is transmitted let us now see how these compressional waves produce the sensation of sound they are first collected by the outer ear and directed by it to the eardrum the eardrum like any other diaphragm is influenced by changes in pressure such as those produced by longitudinal waves in air or other fluid media sound waves therefore result in vibrations of this eardrum beyond the eardrum is a cavity called the middle ear here are located three small bones which transmit the vibrations of the eardrum to the inner ear the latter consists of a spiral-shaped cavity filled with a liquid in which the bones of the middle ear set up vibrations along a membrane which separates the liquid into two parts are located the auditory nerve endings due to the structure of the ear mechanism the vibrations of low pits excite the innermost nerves while those of high pitch excite the nerves nearest to the opening into the middle ear these excited nerve endings transmit the sound impulse along the auditory nerve to the brain not until the impulses arrive at the brain do we experience the sensation of hearing let us consider the sensitivity of the human ears in place of loudness which is subjective we will use alternating pressure in the sound field measured in dimes per square centimeter the audible intensity range of the normal human ear extends from the flutter of leaves to artillery gunfire the audible frequency range capable of reception and interpretation extends from about 20 cycles per second to about 20 000 Cycles arranged somewhat greater than that of the piano scale individuals differ considerably in their hearing acuteness modern electrical reproduction approaches the audible frequency limits of the original sound employed you now hear my voice under normal conditions of reproduction I will change the amplification to a lower but unnatural volume You observe a change in the quality of my voice the low frequencies appear to be less prominent now I will eliminate all frequencies that lie below 300. you'll notice the naturalness of voice particularly the vowels when reproduced under these conditions next I will eliminate the frequencies that lie above three thousand again you notice a change in the quality of my voice especially in the consonants now I will eliminate the low and high frequencies at the same time put the vowel and consonant sounds are affected note the effect of eliminating the extreme frequencies in the reproduction of music [Music] thank you [Music] another kind of attenuation occurs out of doors yeah we can identify but a few of the band instruments distinguishing only those within a limited frequency range this is because the intervening distance has reduced the intensity of some of the original sound waves to a point where the crowd noise interferes while some of it has fallen below the threshold of hearing [Music] how different is the sound of a band close at hand when our ears receive the sound waves well above the threshold of hearing and free from interference of crowd noise we can distinguish the wide range of frequency produced by the instruments when sound waves are generated nearby in the open air and no reflecting surfaces interfere the sound waves are transmitted direct and without alterations [Music] when such sound waves encounter an obstruction Echoes are often produced [Laughter] [Music] this is due to the fact that sound waves are reflected by large obstructing surfaces just as the waves on the surface of quiet water are reflected when they strike the bank a similar phenomenon occurs indoors the direct waves are supplemented by successive reflected waves this is called reverberation on striking a wall part of the energy of the wave is absorbed and changed into heat part is transmitted through the wall but a sound wave somewhat weakened is reflected these waves pass back and forth from wall to wall until their energy is dissipated you have been hearing this explanation under Optimum conditions we will line the walls with a hard non-absorbing surface and you hear my voice the reflective waves pass back and forth from wall to wall many times before they are dissipated now you hear my voice in a room where a thick porous material on the walls is absorbing nearly all the sound wave energy there is virtually no reflection and my voice loses the live quality characteristic of indoor speed curved surfaces and auditoriums are often detrimental to good room acoustics such surfaces reflect and focus the sound waves producing loud Echoes that follow the original Sound by a fraction of a second thus interfering with a clear reception of the sounds our increasing knowledge of sound is constantly contributing to our enjoyment in such ways as the Improvement of Acoustics in lecture halls and theories but it has been the help of electrical advances that has made possible the most important progress in the communication of ideas through sound electricity Faithfully transforms these fluttering air beats into Lightning Fast impulses of control amplitude thus sound communication becomes instantly available through the telephone and radio to all parts of the world and by electrical recording and reproduction [Music] foreign [Music] okay ready tape's rolling this is wondering about sound take one [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] sounds are soft sounds [Applause] [Music] [Music] near far sounds are everywhere you are is [Music] foreign [Music] vibration occurs when something is made to move back and forth real quick but the strings on a guitar when a player begins to pick [Music] thank you and when these strings are strung can you see them move around what happens the strings vibrate that's what creates the sound sound the sound that you made here is caused by vibration is that clear now we'll do a review for you so if it isn't have no fears when you hit a drum it's getting vibrates vibrate when you tap a fork like this get vibrates and makes a dull low hum vibration creates sounds the same way with guitars symbols and drums [Music] when you hear the lunge spell ring vibrations cause that too take time out listen to The Sounds vibrations create around you [Music] [Music] they're passing over a vote record so they vibrate when you talk it's the same with all the animals as they bark and growl and squash throw a pebble into water and see those ripples there just like ripples in the water sound waves move through the air but sound waves travel in all directions and your ears are used for the collection of sounds that occur all around you now listen close you'll hear sounds around you [Music] beside you is your eardrum a wall of skin that stretches and every sound that enters your ear the eardrum surely catches [Music] the eardrum starts to vibrate these bones begin to move so repeat after me repeat after me and we'll name each phone one two three they're called The Hammer Hammer the Anvil Anvil the Stirrup Stirrup one more time the hammer the hammer the Anvil Anvil the stirrup that's it now some sounds that you hear can be harmful to your ear like when you have the volume turned up real loud on your radio game sounds too can hurt your ears you know it's too too long without a break can cause your head to ache but now these are being used so his ears won't get abused by the constant loud Engine line of big airplanes moving down the line sounds are also helpful just like this smoked a lot sounds wake up and Warner [Music] throw a puzzle into water and see those ripples growing if something happens to cross their path the ripples just keep going and it's just the same with sound waves when objects get in their way they go above below around or through and here's something else that sound waves can do besides just moving through the air they can travel under water [Music] some leaves can also travel through metal wood and brick some leaves move well through solid objects it's not a magic trick metal what [Applause] [Music] sounds are high sounds are low there are many things about sound to know like when we hear of sound the time and when we hear sounds [Music] now what is the pitch of this sound now what is the pitch of this sound now what is the pitch of this sound [Music] almost everywhere you go you'll hear some sound high or low louder song near or far sounds are everywhere you are all the sounds that you may hear are called by vibration is that clear vibrations create sound waves that move light ripples on a lake once flat some leaves are collected by your ear and basically that is how you hear sounds is it loud sound is it soft it's low sound [Music] sound [Music] foreign [Music]