How do instruments make music?
1/6 Why do different musical instruments sound unique? From saxophones to pianos, Rutherford and Fry investigate the science behind musical sounds.
1/6 "We play many musical instruments in our family. Lots of them produce the same pitch of notes, but the instruments all sound different. Why is this?" asks Natasha Cook aged 11, and her Dad Jeremy from Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
In this new series of The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry, Hannah and Adam are joined by the Curious Cases band - Matt Chandler and Wayne Urquhart - to play with today's question.
Bringing the science we have acoustic engineer and saxophone player Trevor Cox. Plus materials expert Zoe Laughlin demonstrates a selection of her unusual musical creations, including a lead bugle, a glass bell and a spruce tuning fork.
Presenters: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
Producer: Michelle Martin
Main image: 1-25 Wind instruments, 26-34 percussion instruments, Egypt, engraving by Duhamel from Description of Egypt, or the collection of observations and researches which were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French Army), Etat moderne, Planches, Volume II, Plate PlCC, Imprimerie Imperiale, 1817, Paris. Credit: De Agostini Editorial / Getty Images
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How different woods can affect the sound of music
Duration: 01:45
Broadcasts
- Mon 13 May 2019 19:32GMT大象传媒 World Service except South Asia
- Tue 14 May 2019 04:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
- Tue 14 May 2019 05:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean & South Asia only
- Tue 14 May 2019 06:32GMT大象传媒 World Service East and Southern Africa & East Asia only
- Tue 14 May 2019 10:32GMT大象传媒 World Service West and Central Africa
- Tue 14 May 2019 13:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia
- Tue 14 May 2019 17:32GMT大象传媒 World Service South Asia
- Sun 19 May 2019 23:32GMT大象传媒 World Service
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