Sound FX

Audio Waveform 1

″Catch a waveand you′re sittin′ on top of the world.″

— ″CATCH A WAVE,″ THE BEACH BOYS, SURFER GIRL (CAPITAL RECORDS, 1963)

Ask a cartoonist to draw sound and they′ll likely come up with something quite similar to Figure 1.1. These sketches of sound have technical merit.

When a guitar is strummed, a drum struck, or a trombone blown, we know sound will follow. The motion of the soundboard of the guitar, the vibration of the heads of the drum, and the resonance of the air within the plumbing of the trombone ultimately drive the air nearest our eardrums into action. We hear the air vibrate near us due to a chain of events that started perhaps some distance away at any such musical instrument or sound source. It is a separate matter, ...