What is Pitch: Definition and 116 Discussions

Pitch is a perceptual property of sounds that allows their ordering on a frequency-related scale,
or more commonly, pitch is the quality that makes it possible to judge sounds as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies.
Pitch can be determined only in sounds that have a frequency that is clear and stable enough to distinguish from noise.
Pitch is a major auditory attribute of musical tones, along with duration, loudness, and timbre.Pitch may be quantified as a frequency, but pitch is not a purely objective physical property; it is a subjective psychoacoustical attribute of sound. Historically, the study of pitch and pitch perception has been a central problem in psychoacoustics, and has been instrumental in forming and testing theories of sound representation, processing, and perception in the auditory system.

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  1. B

    How Does Temperature Affect the Pitch of a Violin Played Outdoors?

    Homework Statement Question 1: A violin is tuned indoors to play the proper frequencies. A musician then uses the violin to play outdoors where the temperature is considerably colder. Wil the violin play too sharp (high) or too flat (low)? Ignore temperature effects on length and densityThe...
  2. W

    Pitch calculation is always doubled

    Homework Statement A 945N resistance force is overcome with a 13.5N effort using a screwdriver whose handle is 24mm in diameter. What is the pitch of the screw? Homework Equations Given: r = 24mm FE = 13.5N FR = 945N Pitch = ? r is radius FE is force effort FR is resistance...
  3. B

    Angle of attack from pitch angle acceleration

    I am analyzing the landing of an aircraft with the following assumptions: - I consider the main and the nose landing gear wheels as skids, in order to ignore the tyre deflection; - I have a 3 DOF aircraft model, with X and Y-axis indicating the forces acting respectively horizontally and...
  4. T

    Why does the Split-finger baseball pitch break?

    Supposedly the Split-finger is suppose to 'tumble' or drop as you can find in most references to the pitch. But it's almost impossible to find the answer to "why?" (perhaps because baseball pitchers aren't physicists?) But I have a theory. It involves knowledge on the way the curveball (12-6...
  5. V

    Program that accelerates video play speed and keeps audio at normal pitch

    I've been interested in this function Youtube offers on videos ever since I first used it a few months ago. It's amazing. Some videos are just way too long. The speakers will have something very informative to say, but they'll just ramble and/or speak very slowly. For some reason, Youtube only...
  6. R

    Alternator Pitch Difference for DG Sets Synchronizing

    hi all, please provide me the info that what is the maximum allowable pitch difference for synchronizing of DG Sets having different pitch?
  7. M

    Easy Trig question involving pitch of roof

    Homework Statement The roof of a ski cabin has a steep pitch to help snow slide off. What angle does the roof make with the horizontal? Homework Equations SOH CAH TOA The Attempt at a Solution I don't really know where to start considering I have no numbers to play around with so...
  8. M

    Calculate pitch rate from altitude

    Hi, Is anyone able to explain to me how i take a required altitude and calculate the required pitch rate from it ? Or a very simple tutorial on the process ? Thanks in advance Regards Mike
  9. C

    A research on perseption of pitch

    A research on perception of pitch Homework Statement I've been working on a project. It's regarding the human perception of sound. I basically tested around 100 human subjects and made a report of it. The data of 60 individuals is in "google_science_fair..zip" attached with the post...
  10. C

    What are the Uses of Pitch and Asphalt?

    Homework Statement Here is question in objective form. I have tried answering it but am confused with the answer I got. Instruction: shade A if only IV is correct. Shade B if only I and III are correct. Shade C if only III and IV are correct. Shade D if I, II, III are correct. Shade E if...
  11. S

    What is the speed of the pitch?

    Homework Statement A baseball player friend of yours wants to determine his pitching speed. You have him stand on a ledge and throw horizontally from an elevation 4.0 m above the ground. The ball lands 25 m away. What is his pitching speed?Homework Equations Kinematics Equations...
  12. X

    Baseball Slugger's Pitch: Will it be a Home Run?

    Homework Statement A baseball slugger connects with a pitch 4 ft above the ground. The ball heads toward the 10-ft-high center-field fence, 455 ft away. The ball leaves the bat with a velocity of 125 ft/s and a slope of 3 vertical to 4 horizontal. Neglecting air resistance, determine whether...
  13. C

    SOPA and PIPA - how can non US citizens pitch in?

    What can us non US citizens do to prevent freedom of information being taken away from the world? I thought this kind of thing was only imagined by conspiracy theorists. I actually did hear conspiracy theorists claiming this would happen years ago. This seems to be one of those situations where...
  14. N

    Designing & Engineering Variable Pitch Turbochargers

    I want to design build and overall engineer a variable pitch turbocharger. This will go a long way in regulating both the hot and compressor sides flow rates, a larger turbo can essentially be used in smaller applications, and vice-versa. I want to use the VNT or VGT type turbos for my testbed.
  15. J

    Positron Helix magnetic field, find pitch and radius

    Homework Statement A uniform magnetic field of magnitude 0.137 T is directed along the positive x axis. A positron moving at a speed of 5.40 106 m/s enters the field along a direction that makes an angle of θ = 85.0° with the x-axis (see figure below). The motion of the particle is expected...
  16. D

    Pixel pitch, Airy disk diameter and maximum aperture

    Hi, How to determine a threshold aperture, at which the diffraction begins to limit resolution of the sensor ? Which situation reflects that point: 1) Airy disk diameter / 2 = 2 x pixel pitch http://www.outbackphoto.com/dp_essentials/dp_essentials_02/essay.html" (third pixel detects the...
  17. B

    Interpreting magnetic compass pitch and roll

    Hello all, I have a PNI TCM2 electronic compass module, which has a 3-axis magnetometer and a 2-axis tiltmeter (manual: http://www.mil.ufl.edu/projects/gnuman/spec_sheets/tcm2_man.pdf" ), and provides heading with tilt compensation. The module also provides "pitch" and "roll" measurements...
  18. S

    Autocorrelation and pitch detection

    I have heard that autocorrelation is used in pitch detection, but no proper or convincing explanation of how it is used. I had previously worked on echo removal using autocorrelation. But what puzzles me is that autocorrelation is done in time domain but how can this be used to detect...
  19. T

    Pitch for a 3d hyperbolic spiral

    Hi, have worked out the formula for a hyperbolic spiral space curve to be r(t)=1/t X cos(alpha)+1/t X sine(alpha) + t and obtained the tangent vector T, normal vector N, and curvature (kappa) with the z axis being the central axis of the spiral. Am having trouble finding the formula for the...
  20. W

    Same note (pitch), male and female voices - what's different?

    Say someone plays a note on the piano (an A, 440 Hz), and asks a man and a woman to both sing the same note, at the same pitch. The man will probably have to sing an octave higher (or the woman an octave lower) for them to sound like they're playing exactly the same note (and not just an...
  21. U

    Troubleshooting Gear Pitch and Belt Compatibility for a Stepper Motor

    Hello all! I am usually lurking and posting around the EE side of physics forums, but I have a project that deals with a little bit of mechanical stuff (please move this thread if I'm in the wrong place), and the mechanical aspect of engineering certainly isn't my forte. To be as superficial...
  22. J

    Is a Vibrating Structure Gyroscope the Key to Measuring Vehicle Pitch and Roll?

    Hello everyone, i'm new to this forum and this is my first post. My question is: how to get pitch and roll of a moving vehicle using an 3-axis accelerometer? accelerometer values are the same when vehicle is stopped? Thanks in advance.
  23. T

    Extracting yaw, pitch, roll from transformation matrix

    There are two references frames, A and B. Let A's reference frame be denoted by the columns of the identity matrix, and let A's origin be (0,0,0). Let B's reference frame and origin be denoted by a transformation matrix T, where T = R11 R12 R13 x R21 R22 R23 y R31 R32 R33 z 0 0 0 1...
  24. B

    Does temperature affect pitch?

    This may seem like a fairly simple question, but I want to know if the temperature of the air affects the pitch of a note produced by say an instrument or by someones voice? I play guitar and I know that if I leave my guitar in the cold for too long (or the heat) the tuning gets all messed up. I...
  25. J

    Finding Pitch Circle & Teeth for Amplitude Movement

    How would I work out the pitch circle and number of teeth required to move the mechanism a certain amplitude? Looked over 4-5 sources for pitch circle, but cannot make sense of it..
  26. F

    Pitch of Fused Tones: 440Hz & 448Hz | Frequency of Beats: 8Hz

    Pure tones with frequencies 440Hz and 448Hz are sounded together. What is heard? (Describe pitch of the fused tone and frequency of beats.) I'm very confused with the way my book explains this, it says that we will hear audible beats at the difference frequency, which in this case would be 8 Hz...
  27. K

    Accelerometer to roll and pitch

    hi how can i convert accelerometer vector to quaternion and then convert it to pitch and roll? i want full 360 degrees of roll and pitch
  28. mugaliens

    What Factors Affect the Record for Fastest Pitch Ever Thrown?

    Yes, ladies and gents, it's in the record books: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-redspadres092410". But what a conflagration! I still can't discern who actually won the game!
  29. R

    Robotics Yaw Pitch Roll Euler Angles

    I have multiple robot cells that i would like to move fixtures from robot to robot with the out come of the part to be perfect. in order to do that i need to make sure my work object is in the same spot each time. so i need to find the yaw pitch and roll and convert them into Euler angles. On...
  30. F

    How can I calculate the pitch of a hovercraft propeller

    How can I calculate the pitch of a hovercraft propeller, what variables do I need? How do I know how many blades must I use to get the ultimate end result?
  31. A

    Pitch of sound: Elasticity vs Tension of string

    Hi there, I saw this question in a book. Basically, we are asked to comment on the effects of Tension of a guitar chord and the Elasticity of the chord itself on the frequency of the sound the guitar produces. I understand Elasticity will have a positive effect on the speed of sound, and...
  32. turbo

    News Moving Forward - a sales pitch.

    So many times we heard Bush Senior use "moving forward" to characterize policies that may or may not have been productive as "progressive". By 2010, when some politician says we are "moving forward" with some policy or another, my Bull$**** Radar goes into high gear and I relegate the rest of...
  33. S

    Pitch of net slip and plunge and trend of net slip of a fault using stereonets

    ive been given a problem in my school work. it involves 2 veins that have been cut by a fault and displaced along the fault plane. the question gives the orientation of the cut veins on either side of the wall and the orientation of the fault. it asks for the following: net slip, plunge and...
  34. S

    Calculation of vehicle pitch rate and roll rate from acceleration

    I have to estimate the pitch rate and the roll rate of a vehicle, from measured accelerations. I have many three axial accelerometers. How can i accomplish it?
  35. D

    Variable Pitch Propeller mechanism?

    I need to study about the variable pitch propeller and its mechanism of adjusting the angel of the blades. And also about the materials used to make propellers and their benefits.. can someone please help me to find sources such as images/videos about the variable pitch propeller? or...
  36. W

    Helix - Variable Diameter with constant Pitch

    Im trying to find an equation for a helix that gets wider and thinner yet the angle of all the coils remains constant. Is this possible? Any ideas? Thank you! PS - I am not a math expert, but throughly enjoy the process! walt
  37. T

    Limits of pitch and time resolution in signal analysis (FFT/SFTF)

    With DFT/FFT/SFTF or similar Fourier transforms, there's always a trade off between frequency and time resolution. It's like the 'uncertainty principle' for signal analysis. I have a few questions regarding this: 1: With a theoretical infinitely fast processor, is it possible to obtain...
  38. A

    Pitch side bib what on Earth is that?

    Pitch side bib! what on Earth is that?? Pitch side bib! what on Earth is that?? Hey guys, I'm translating some stuff and I've recently stumbled upon something I can overgo and I've puzzling over for hours... The thing is "pitch side bib". Does anybody have a clue what it means? Or where I...
  39. E

    Linear momentum baseball pitch

    Homework Statement A 150-g baseball pitched at a speed of 40 m/s is hit straight back to the pitches at a speed of 60 m/s. If the bat is in contact with the baseball for 5 ms calculate the magnitude of the average force exerted by the bat on the baseball. Homework Equations Favg = delta...
  40. K

    How to find roll, pitch yaw

    how to find roll, pitch yaw... given an x,y,z position for the end of an robot arm(end effector), is there any way to find the roll, pitch and yaw for it...Given access to entire history of x-y-z positions. I'll be using IK then to evaluate whether these values are possible or not. All I need...
  41. B

    Pitch of Organ Pipes: Room Temp Effects

    how will the air temperature in a room affect the pitch of organ pipes?
  42. E

    Why does sound pitch change when flowing water temp does in pipe?

    I have always wondered why there is a noticeable change in the sound of water flowing from a pipe when the water temperature changes. When I first turn on the hot water faucet after a long period of being off, there is a steady pitch of sound I hear. I am referring not to the sound of the water...
  43. Saladsamurai

    Plane banking: Pitch and roll axes

    Alrighty-then:smile:Homework Statement This is from a book called "Engineering by Design." It sucks. Really. It asks problems and doesn't provide sufficient information to answer them. Now that I have complained, here is the question: Explain with sketches why a combination of rotations...
  44. P

    Calculate a thermal expansion pitch change

    Can anyone please help me figure out how to calculate the change in pitch [in cents] for a piano wire with a given change in temperature? I am not really sure where to start. I assume that I will need to first figure out the thermal expansion of the wire, but how do I then take that...
  45. J

    Calculate the pitch of eletron cyclotron in b field.

    Homework Statement The uniform 26.0 mT magnetic field in the figure points in the positive z-direction. An electron enters the region of magnetic field with a speed of 5.50E6 and at an angle of 30 deg. above the xy-plane. The problem defines the pitch to be the distance between the...
  46. P

    How Do Cube Root Numbers Relate to the Fraction 1/8 in Determining Pitch?

    Dose anyone know the relationship of cube root numbers and the fraction of 1/8 "Assuming a body of a size represented by X has a pitch of 1024 per second, then a pitch of 2048 (double 1024) per second will be produced by a body having a volume of some mean between 1/8 of X and the cube root of...
  47. D

    Sound and pitch of brass instruments

    The physics of sound have been explained by many people but the relationship of practical applications are a blur. I am a brass instrument player and designer of bras instruments the relationship between bore size, taper and length are very crucial and way over most peoples head. so here is...
  48. N

    Pitch vs Noise: Understanding the Difference and Its Scientific Explanation

    Hello everyone. I'm not a Physics major: I'm a Music major. And I have a question. I've read various books on acoustics, but I still haven't found the answer. Ok. The way I see it, there are 2 basic types of sounds (I didn't get this out of a book, it's my own conclusion from everyday...
  49. Q

    Diametral Pitch: Pinion & Gear Compatibility?

    if the diametral pitch of the pinion is x, would the diametral pitch of the gear also be x?
  50. S

    Role of pitch in swing and seam movement of cricket ball

    Recently I attended a lecture related to the physics behind swing of cricket ball. But the speaker dealt with the swing before pitching(and dealt loosely with late swing). He took only the effects of air in consideration. I am interested to know how the pitch effects the swing(or seam movement)...
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