Editing C. V. Raman (section)

=== Musical sound ===

One of Raman's interests was on the scientific basis of musical sounds. He was inspired by [[Hermann von Helmholtz]]'s ''The Sensations of Tone'', the book he came across when he joined IACS.<ref name="Banerjee-2014" /> He published his findings prolifically between 1916 and 1921. He worked out the theory of [[:wikt:transverse|transverse]] vibration of [[bowed string instrument]]s based on [[Superposition principle|superposition]] of velocities. One of his earliest studies was on the [[wolf tone]] in violins and cellos.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raman|first=C.V.|date=1916|title=XLIII. On the "wolf-note" in bowed stringed instruments |journal=The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science|language=en|volume=32|issue=190|pages=391–395|doi=10.1080/14786441608635584}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raman|first=C. V.|date=1916|title=On the "Wolf-note" of the Violin and 'Cello|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=97|issue=2435|pages=362–363|doi=10.1038/097362a0|bibcode=1916Natur..97..362R|s2cid=3966106|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1950214|access-date=30 April 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031081442/https://zenodo.org/record/1950214|url-status=live}}</ref> He studied the [[acoustics]] of various violin and related instruments, including Indian stringed instruments,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raman|first=C.V.|date=1918|title=On the mechanical theory of the vibrations of bowed strings and of musical instruments of the violin family, with experimental verification of the results-Part I|url=http://repository.ias.ac.in/69871/1/69871.pdf|journal=Bulletin of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science|volume=15|pages=1–158|access-date=10 March 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023090928/http://repository.ias.ac.in/69871/1/69871.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raman|first=C.V.|date=1921|title=On some Indian stringed instruments|url=http://repository.ias.ac.in/69870/1/69870.pdf|journal=Proceedings of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science|volume=7|pages=29–33|access-date=10 March 2020|archive-date=2 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102200140/http://repository.ias.ac.in/69870/1/69870.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and water splashes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Raman|first1=C.V.|last2=Dey|first2=Ashutosh|date=1920|title=X. On the sounds of splashes|journal=The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science|language=en|volume=39|issue=229|pages=145–147|doi=10.1080/14786440108636021}}</ref> He even performed what he called "Experiments with mechanically-played violins."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raman|first=C.V.|date=1920|title=Experiments with mechanically-played violins|url=http://repository.ias.ac.in/69866/1/69866.pdf|journal=Proceedings of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science|volume=6|pages=19–36|access-date=10 March 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023092236/http://repository.ias.ac.in/69866/1/69866.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Raman also studied the uniqueness of Indian drums.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Raman|first1=C. V.|last2=Kumar|first2=Sivakali|date=1920|title=Musical Drums with Harmonic Overtones|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=104|issue=2620|pages=500|doi=10.1038/104500a0|bibcode=1920Natur.104..500R|s2cid=4159476|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1429634|doi-access=free|access-date=24 August 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031083805/https://zenodo.org/record/1429634|url-status=live}}</ref> His analyses of the [[harmonic]] nature of the sounds of [[tabla]] and [[mridangam]] were the first scientific studies on Indian percussions.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Raman, C.V.|author2=Sivakali Kumar|year=1920|title=Musical drums with harmonic overtones|journal=Nature|volume=104|issue=2620|page=500|bibcode=1920Natur.104..500R|doi=10.1038/104500a0|s2cid=4159476|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1429634|doi-access=free|access-date=24 August 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031083805/https://zenodo.org/record/1429634|url-status=live}}</ref> He wrote a critical research on vibrations of the [[pianoforte]] string that was known as Kaufmann's theory.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Raman|first1=C.V.|last2=Banerji|first2=B.|date=1920|title=On Kaufmann's theory of the impact of the pianoforte hammer|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character|language=en|volume=97|issue=682|pages=99–110|doi=10.1098/rspa.1920.0016|bibcode=1920RSPSA..97...99R|doi-access=free}}</ref> During his brief visit of England in 1921, he managed to study how sound travels in the [[Whispering Gallery|Whispring Gallery]] of the dome of [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in London that produces unusual sound effects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Raman|first1=C. V.|last2=Sutherland|first2=G. A.|date=1921|title=Whispering-Gallery Phenomena at St. Paul's Cathedral|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=108|issue=2706|pages=42|doi=10.1038/108042a0|bibcode=1921Natur.108...42R|s2cid=4126913|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Raman, C.V.|year=1922|title=On whispering galleries|url=http://repository.ias.ac.in/69841/1/69841.pdf|journal=Bulletin of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science|volume=7|pages=159–172|access-date=7 January 2015|archive-date=12 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212004223/http://repository.ias.ac.in/69841/1/69841.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> His work on acoustics was an important prelude, both experimentally and conceptually, to his later works on optics and [[quantum mechanics]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Banerjee, Somaditya|year=2014|title=C. V. Raman and Colonial Physics: Acoustics and the Quantum|journal=Physics in Perspective|volume=16|issue=2|pages=146–178|bibcode=2014PhP....16..146B|doi=10.1007/s00016-014-0134-8|s2cid=121952683}}</ref>