They can all shred,

他們可以是少數，

but how exactly do the iconic contraptions in their hands

但是偶像新作品是如何出自他們的手

produce notes, rhythm, melody and music.

製作單音，節拍，旋律和音樂。

When you pluck a guitar string, you create a vibration called a standing wave.

當你彈吉他弦，你產生出震動稱為驻波。

Some points on the string, called nodes, don't move at all,

一些在弦的的點，稱為節點，沒完全移動，

while other points, anti-nodes, oscillate back and forth.

而其他點，波腹，前後移動。

The vibration translates through the neck and bridge to the guitar's body,

震動通過琴頸和琴橋到吉他的身體部分，

where the thin and flexible wood vibrates,

往細薄和柔韌的木材震動，

jostling the surrounding air molecules together and apart.

把周圍空氣擠在一起。

These sequential compressions create sound waves,

這連續的壓縮產生出聲波，

and the ones inside the guitar mostly escape through the hole.

在吉他裡面的人多數逃出洞口。

They eventually propagate to your ear,

他們最終會傳到您的耳朵，

which translates them into electrical impulses

并轉換成電波

that your brain interprets as sound.

在腦中詮釋為聲音。

The pitch of that sound depends on the frequency of the compressions.

聲音的高音將取決於壓縮的頻率。

A quickly vibrating string will cause a lot of compressions close together,

迅速的震動弦將會導致大量的壓縮更密切，

making a high-pitched sound,

製造出高音，

and a slow vibration produces a low-pitched sound.

而緩慢的震動會產生低音。

Four things affect the frequency of a vibrating string:

四種導致震動弦的頻率：

the length, the tension, the density and the thickness.

長度，拉力，密度和厚度。

Typical guitar strings are all the same length,

典型的吉他弦都是同樣長度，

and have similar tension, but vary in thickness and density.

和擁有相似的拉力，但不同厚度和密度。

Thicker strings vibrate more slowly, producing lower notes.

較厚的弦震動更慢，產生更低的單音。

Each time you pluck a string,

每次您彈弦時，

you actually create several standing waves.

事實上會產生出不同的驻波。

There's the first fundamental wave, which determines the pitch of the note,

在那是第一基本音波，決定單音的高音，

but there are also waves called overtones,

但是那也有音波稱為泛音，

whose frequencies are multiples of the first one.

頻率是第一個的倍數。

All these standing waves combine to form a complex wave with a rich sound.

這些驻波結合成合成充足的音波

Changing the way you pluck the string affects which overtones you get.

不同的彈弦方法會等到不同的泛音。

If you pluck it near the middle,

如果你彈接近中間，

you get mainly the fundamental and the odd multiple overtones,

你得到主要的基音和單個的複雜泛音，

which have anti-nodes in the middle of the string.

有波腹在中間的弦。

If you pluck it near the bridge, you get mainly even multiple overtones

如果你彈接近琴橋，你會得到主要的雙個複雜泛音

and a twangier sound.

和砰然的弦音。

The familiar Western scale is based on the overtone series of a vibrating string.

熟悉的西方音階是根據泛音系列的震動弦。

When we hear one note played with another that has exactly twice its frequency,

當我們聽到單音和其他一起播放時確實有雙倍的頻率，

its first overtone,

它是第一泛音，

they sound so harmonious that we assign them the same letter,

他们的聲音很和諧以致我们分配他们為同樣字母，

and define the difference between them as an octave.

和規定他們的差別為音階

The rest of the scale is squeezed into that octave

其餘的音階是擠壓進那音階

divided into twelve half steps

分解成十二半音

whose frequency is each 2^(1/12) higher than the one before.

那頻率是每一個2^(1/12)高過之前的。

That factor determines the fret spacing.

那因素決定銅條之間的空隙。

Each fret divides the string's remaining length by 2^(1/12),

每條銅條分配弦的長度為2^(1/12)，

making the frequencies increase by half steps.

頻率的形成被半音增加。

Fretless instruments, like violins,

銅條的裝置，想小提琴，

make it easier to produce the infinite frequencies between each note,

讓它更容易產生無限頻率和每個單音之間，

but add to the challenge of playing in tune.

但增加演奏曲調的難度。

The number of strings and their tuning

弦的數量和它的調音

are custom tailored to the chords we like to play

是根據演奏和弦和

and the physiology of our hands.

我們的手的生理而量身定做的。

Guitar shapes and materials can also vary,

吉他形狀和材料也可以改變，

and both change the nature and sound of the vibrations.

和兩者改變震動的聲音和性質。

Playing two or more strings at the same time

同時彈兩或更多的弦

allows you to create new wave patterns like chords and other sound effects.

讓你創造出新的波動就像弦音個其他的聲音效果。

For example, when you play two notes whose frequencies are close together,

例如，當你彈兩個頻率相近的單音，

they add together to create a sound wave whose amplitude rises and falls,

他們加在一起創造出寬闊升起和下降的音波，

producing a throbbing effect, which guitarists call the beats.

產生抽動的效果，吉他彈奏者稱它為拍子。

And electric guitars give you even more to play with.

電子吉他讓你更想彈。

The vibrations still start in the strings,

震動仍然在弦開始，

but then they're translated into electrical signals by pickups

接著他們翻譯成電訊通過拾音器

and transmitted to speakers that create the sound waves.

並且傳送至產生音波的揚聲器。

Between the pickups and speakers,

在拾音器與揚聲器之間，

it's possible to process the wave in various ways,

它可能處理音波的各種方法，

to create effects like distortion, overdrive, wah-wah, delay and flanger.

產生效果例如失真，超速傳動，哇哇，延遲效果器和flager.

And lest you think that the physics of music is only useful for entertainment,

以免你認為音樂物理是只用在娛樂，

consider this.

有鑑於此。

Some physicists think that everything in the universe

一些物理學家認為宇宙的所有

is created by the harmonic series of very tiny, very tense strings.

是被和諧系列的非常細小和非常緊的弦所創造的。

So might our entire reality

這樣我們整個現實世界可能

be the extended solo of some cosmic Jimi Hendrix?

是吉米·亨德里克斯的加長版的獨奏

Clearly, there's a lot more to strings than meets the ear.

顯然，聲音在入耳之前在弦上早就花費一番工夫了