PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SPEECH AND MUSIC 371 



The measurement of the peak power from typical musical instru- 

 ments used in an orchestra gave the following results.* 



TABLE IV 



Peak Power of Musical Instruments (Fortissimo Playing) 



Instrument Peak Power in Watts 



Heavy Orchestra 70 



Large Bass Drum 25 



Pipe Organ 13 



Snare Drum 12 



Cymbals 10 



Trombone 6 



Piano 0-4 



Trumpet ^••' 



Bass Saxophone 0-^ 



Bass Tuba 0-2 



Bass Viol O-lo 



Piccolo 0-08 



Flute 006 



Clarinet 0.05 



French Horn 0.05 



Triangle 0.05 



The most powerful single instrument is the bass drum which gives 

 powers which exceed 25 watts in successive l/8th second intervals 

 about 6 per cent of the time it is being played. A 75-piece orchestra 



PITCH -OCTAVES 



Fig. 20— Maximum and most probable peak levels for a 75-piece orchestra. 



« These results and those in Fig. 19 were taken from a paper by Sivian Dunn and 

 White entitled "Absolute Amplitudes and Spectra of Certam Musical Instruments 

 and Orchestras," Jour. Acous. Soc. of America, Jan., 1931. 



