HELP using Audacity for science project

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phyllish21
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HELP using Audacity for science project

Post by phyllish21 » Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:02 pm

CAN someone please help me? My son is doing a science fair project on measuring the sound produced from different types of drumsticks. I downloaded Audacity and have got it working with respect to recording the sounds....now, I don't know enough about sound measurement to figure out what to measure! If I click the analyze and get a plot spectrum there is information in dB from -80 db to 0 db so how do I read that? What other information would be useful in determining which sticks make the most sound?

kozikowski
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Re: HELP using Audacity for science project

Post by kozikowski » Sun Feb 01, 2009 5:49 am

<<<which sticks make the most sound?>>>

Are you guessing that's the point of the exercise, or did he formally say that's what he was doing? That's important because the goal determines the research map.

I'll wear my engineering hat for a second and ask how he's controlling for human muscles. I can hit any drumstick with the appropriate force and make them all sound equally loud.

Then there's the idea that books have been written about how to properly record percussion. Anybody can record a guitar--any a great many people do with great success, but we do get people wondering why their drum performances sound "funny."

So, I could guess about the project direction as could the other helpers, but it would be good to know the opening sentence when he stands in front of the class and introduces his project.

Koz

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