In my previous post, I described how sound has two elementary building blocks. I must correct this and explain that the speed of sound is the third fundamental property that, together with the two mentioned above, explains the proportions of sound. By the speed of sound, we mean how fast a sound wave propagates in a medium – this doesn’t only include air but can also be measured in metal, water, syrup, etc. The speed of sound in air is usually considered a constant at approximately 343.1 m/s. However, this is only a simplification of reality, as the speed also depends on factors such as air pressure and temperature. 343 m/s is the speed of sound at room temperature 20°C and air pressure 1 Bar.
This can be read, among other places, in the first chapter of “Master Handbook of Acoustics” (Everest & Pohlmann, 2009).
This link also explains the speed of sound in other media: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/speed-sound-d_82.html
My name is Jacob Westberg and I am a game composer, software developer, and educator of game audio. You can find topics here surrounding creative work in game music that I find insightful and interesting to research.
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