Lesson 02
Drumhead Vibration and the Science of Sound!
Frequency, Hertz, and the single acoustics theory that underpins all aspects of drum tuning.
Drums generate sound through vibration, but what actually is vibration, how does that relate to the sound we hear when a drum is hit, and what does that have to do with drum tuning?
Let's start at the beginning… vibration is quantified by the number of times something moves backwards and forwards in a single second, i.e. its frequency. The measurement unit for vibration frequency is known as Hertz or Hz. So, if a drum is tuned to 100 Hz, its drumhead will vibrate up and down 100 times in a single second – this is obviously too fast for us to see, but the vibration happens with a very small movement. So, when it is hit, the drumhead vibrates,...[lesson locked]
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Course content by Professor Rob Toulson – Professor of Musical Acoustics, Inventor of iDrumTune and author of the book Drum Sound and Drum Tuning: Bridging Science and Creativity.