I really like fmcorps' description -- like asking a math guy to define "three."

I just recently tried to find a good explanation of what an octave is. I had some rudimentary concept from the days of piano and band, but not a good technical explanation. Here's a quote that I found at Physics Classroom :

Quote:

For example, any two sounds whose frequencies make a 2:1 ratio are said to be separated by an octave and result in a particularly pleasing sensation when heard; that is, two sound waves sound good when played together if one sound has twice the frequency of the other.


So one octave up from a specific frequency is simply double that frequency (and one octave down is half that frequency). Those octave "jumps" are to frequencies that are the same musical note, basically (if that helps any). Why does it work that way? Dunno...

EDIT: Example -- you have a frequency of 42Hz (call it the lower limit for a speaker, for the moment). One octave up from 42Hz is 84Hz. One octave down is 21Hz. All three frequencies would represent complementary tones (or notes, from a music standpoint).

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[This message has been edited by gonk (edited October 04, 2002).]
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