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Are
you tone deaf? Do you have perfect pitch? This exhibit
demonstrates the surprising difficulty of remembering
and matching a musical note. The visitor is provided
with a reference tone as well as a second tone which
can be adjusted with the use of a knob. The challenge
is to hear the reference tone and then match the frequencies
of the two tones based on the memory of that first tone.
When listening to the tones together, one can hear fluctuations
in loudness called beats. The greater the number of
beats per second the farther apart the two tones are
in frequency. These beats help musicians tune their
instruments by enabling them to detect tiny differences
in pitch by ear and make the appropriate adjustments.
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