Apple Soundtrack User Manual download pdf (Page 14)

14 Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics

The depth or intensity of a sound is called its amplitude, and is expressed in decibels

(dB). We hear amplitude as the volume or loudness of a sound. The range of audible

loudness is roughly 0–130 dB. Higher decibel levels are painful to human hearing.

Musical Sounds

Musical sounds typically have a regular frequency, which we hear as the sound’s pitch.

Pitch is expressed using musical notes, such as C, Eb, and F#. What we hear as the pitch

is only the lowest, strongest part of the sound wave, called the fundamental. Every

musical sound also has higher, softer parts called overtones or harmonics, which occur

at regular multiples of the fundamental frequency. We don’t hear the harmonics as

distinct pitches, but rather as the tone color (also called the timbre) of the sound, which

lets us distinguish one instrument or voice from another, even when both are playing

the same pitch. When you turn up the treble on your stereo, or adjust an EQ effect, you

raise the volume of some of the harmonics in the music, but don’t change the

fundamental frequencies.

Fundamental

First harmonic

Second harmonic

Time

1 2 ... 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ... 208 209

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Apple Soundtrack User Manual Page 14