lastknight Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Although that is partly true, there is more to it than that. Yes, volume capacity of instruments change due to changes in temperature. However, and most importantly, the sound waves produced by an instrument are affected more greatly by the medium through which the waves pass. So, if it is 98 degrees outside, the air molecules are not as dense as let's say, room temperature. As a result, the sound waves move through that less dense medium much faster. The result? The faster moving waves help our ears to hear that the frequency an instrument is playing has raised. The instruments that are most susceptible to this change in warm weather are those treble voiced instruments (trumpets, but flutes and violins go sharp the fastest). If we give an opposite situation, where the temperature is 20 degrees and acoustic instruments have to produce sound through a more dense medium ("cold" air), then tubas and low brass seem to go "flat" more quickly than the other wind instruments. Although people say "tubas go flat when it is cold because they are made of brass and the metal expands when it gets colder," and this is partly true, fiberglass sousaphones and p-bones go just as flat in cold weather--and plastic doesn't quite expand without breaking like brass. Despite popular belief, the dense medium/less dense medium of air has a greater impact on the change in intonation of an instrument that its material composition. All due respect, sound waves move faster (and more efficiently) in denser media because the molecules are closer together. Think air vs. water vs. solids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Then you learn it the old fashioned way: you turn to your neighbor in the stands and ask what the sign means. And if it's me, the product of a poor little public school system, I would tell you it's from a book by Dante called The Divine Comedy which involved his visiting hell and coming back. We got the one day synopsis in 12th grade haha. Inferno isn't a book, it's an epic poem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutchtow Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 (edited) All due respect, sound waves move faster (and more efficiently) in denser media because the molecules are closer together. Think air vs. water vs. solids.The density of the air is irrelevant, I just didn't feel like correcting them since they ended up coming to the right final conclusion of warmer temperature yields higher pitch. The real reason is that warmer air has more kinetic energy, so the molecules are moving faster and bump into each other faster, so sound travels faster in warm air. The equation if you are interested, is V= 331.4 +.6*T Where V is the velocity of sound in dry air (m/s), and T is the temperature of the air in Celsius. Edited July 19, 2015 by Clutchtow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkvillain Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 No San Antonio goodies. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3boys1gurl Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Good lord... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutchtow Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Thanks to you, General Tso Chicken, and Elmo Blatch for the explanations.It wouldn't be DCP without at least 3 people correcting someone :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutchtow Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 No San Antonio goodies. :(Sad about this too... But thank you NN for all the goodies you've given us so far! I've really appreciated them!! You are a god send! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkvillain Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Sad about this too... But thank you NN for all the goodies you've given us so far! I've really appreciated them!! You are a god send! Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVG_DC Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Inferno isn't a book, it's an epic poem. Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Look at the San Antonio crowd! DCI is alive and kicking. Where are the judges? Are they in the pressbox,which is middle height, right in the center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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