Abstract:

The sound made by a musical instrument is not a pure tone but a composition of various frequencies. The primary frequency is the fundamental one and there exist other frequencies, which are multiple of the fundamental one, which are called harmonics. The timbre of sound is a subjective feature that makes possible to distinguish two different sounds, both with the same fundamental frequency and both with the same intensity, and both sounds emitted by sources of different nature. The meaning of the sound timbre could be explained by the set of frequencies or harmonics accompanying the fundamental frequency.

Students of the Master´s Degree in Acoustic Engineering should become familiar with the use of the available tools ready for the analysis of acoustic phenomena, both by mathematical calculation and experimentally. Thus, the experimental performing of a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), involves two main tasks: on one hand, the measurements should be carried out under controlled conditions and on the other hand, these measures should be adapted for treatment and further analysis to draw conclusions.

This paper presents in a didactic way, the different stages of the analysis process. It assure measuring process is reliable in order to get a FFT and make a detailed analysis. In addition, some real examples of the process with different musical instruments are displayed.

Keywords:

Musical acoustics, timbre quality, learning and teaching methodologies.