Why is the Sound of Musical Sand So Fascinating?
The delicate "squeak, squeak" sound you hear when walking on a musical sand beach. For some reason, it captivates the heart and makes you want to hear it just one more time. What is the secret behind this mysterious charm?
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The secret was hidden in the "pitch" of the sound. Scientific analysis has shown that the sound produced by musical sand has a frequency of about 400 Hz. This pitch of "400 Hertz" is actually very close to a frequency that we humans find extremely pleasant. |
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Mr. Yuichi Yokouchi, the president of a world-renowned guitar manufacturer, speaks about the standard note in music in his book "Humans and Dreams - My Perspective" (Tanisake Co., Ltd., 1995).
"440 Hz is the most comfortable sound for humans. Moreover, it's the same for instruments all over the world, transcending time, ethnicity, and culture. The basis for tuning the note 'A' in the musical scale is a 440 Hz tuning fork, which all participating instruments use to match their pitch."The standard in the world of music is 440 Hz, and the sound produced by musical sand is 400 Hz. They are very close, aren't they? It's as if musical sand is an instrument created by nature, innately possessing a pitch that people find pleasant. |
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Furthermore, there is one more secret. The sound of musical sand is not just a single tone. It is a beautiful harmony of a "fundamental frequency" around 400 Hz and its integer multiples, known as **"harmonics"** or **"overtones"**.
A sound composed of a fundamental frequency and its harmonics is precisely what constitutes a musical tone. That is why musical sand is called "singing sand" or **"musical sand"** in English. |
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