1865.] Squire on the Quality of Musical Sounds. 597 



these bodies produce a peculiar sharp, clear sound, which is aptly 

 termed metallic. The quality of sound from glass is fuller and freer 

 from the shrillness of the high upper tones, partly on account of its 

 smaller mass and partly because it will not stand so hard a blow. 

 Wood is still lighter, and is in its internal structure full of countless 

 hollow spaces, and therefore of less elasticity, so that the secondary 

 tones soon cease, and the sound is pleasanter to the musical ear. In 

 all these cases hammers of cork or wood covered with leather are 

 employed, for by these means the higher upper tones are rendered 

 weaker than they would be with a metal hammer : but of this we shall 

 speak more fully when considering the pianoforte. The vibrations of 

 bars or metal discs and stretched membranes are capable of very exact 

 mathematical calculation, but a consideration of these would lead us 

 too far. 



Metal discs are only used in the form of cymbals, which produce 

 inharmonic upper tones of a very varied character, and bells may be 

 considered also as belonging to this class, but the upper tones though 

 inharmonious lie closer together. It is the great art of the bell-founder 

 to render the lower upper tones as nearly as possible harmonic to the 

 fundamental, which has been done by means of a peculiar form em- 

 pirically discovered. By these means the tone of the bell is softened, 

 but the precise theory of the form has yet to be worked out. 



Of instruments with inharmonic upper tones we may say generally, 

 that if these lie near in the musical scale to the fundamental the effect 

 is to a high degree unmusical, bad, and kettle-like, as in cymbals. If, 

 on the contrary, they lie tolerably wide, as in the tuning-fork, glass 

 harmonicon, and bells (in which latter those which lie near to the 

 fundamental are made harmonic), they may be used for marches, &c, 

 but are rightly banished from classical music. Even if the harmonic 

 upper tones disappear quickly they disturb the harmony exceedingly, 

 so that the bell-playing of the Yorkshire ringers, who have attained to 

 great proficiency, may be a curious but is by no means an agreeable 

 performance. 



Sounds with harmonic upper tones are produced in four ways : 

 (1) By striking a string in a state of tension, or (2) by drawing a bow 

 across it ; (3) by setting a column of air in vibration by blowing 

 against a sharp edge, or (4) by blowing against an elastic tongue 

 (reeds). The instruments which belong to the first class are piano- 

 fortes, harps, and guitars, and we must also add the pizzicato of 

 violins. The upper tones in the sound of an instrument of percussion 

 depend upon — 



1st. The kind of blow, 



2nd. The place where the blow is delivered, 



3rd. The thickness, rigidity, and elasticity of the string. 



As far as the kind of blow is concerned, the string can either be 

 drawn aside and then released, as in the harp or guitar ; or by means 

 of a plectrum, as in the ancient lyre and the modern Hungarian 

 zitter ; or the string may be struck with a hammer, as in the piano. 

 It is easy at once to see that the effects will be very different. When 



