Science or Movie or Music Question

[Doofus]

My wife is watching Gladiator. I've never seen it, and I'm trying hard not to see it now. There was a bit just then, where somebody was doing a procession and there were loads of drummers lining the route.

The drummers were going "Bonk. Bonk. A-bonk-a-bonk-a-bonk-bonk" Not the drummers, you understand, but their drums. Although, the drummers were instrumental of course. Ahahahaha.

Anyway. Presumably, every drummer is in time with the drummers next to him. And yet, wouldn't the drummer at the end of line be out of time with the one at the beginning?

I know it sounds a little bit Aeroplane/Conveyor, but I am in my cups, so cry "bks!" and let slip the dogs of logic.

[glazbagun]

In a live setting it wouldn't matter. If you are synching your hits with when you hear the sound, your Bang will coincide with when the other drummers bang and so won't cause any issues.

Issues would only crop up if people were pretty far away and hearing both bangs. This sometimes shows up in recordings at big stadiums where the audience is clapping- the public are obviously (one would hope anyway) clapping in time with what they hear.

But if you have them mic'd up they're clapping ever so slightly behind the band.

[Doofus]

If you have an infinite number of drummers, and an infinite number of typewriters drums, wouldn't they eventually get out of time because of the difference in the speeds of sound (when they hear their neighbour hit the drum) and light (when they see their neighbour hit the drum)?

[Noodle1982]

You wouldn't need a great deal of drummers.

Speed travels at 332 meters a second. Assuming one drummer takes up 750mm width and they are all right next to each other you would only need 443 drummers for the beat to 1 second out from one end to the other.

[glazbagun]

Incidentally this is why they have speakers at the olympics rather than relying on the starting pistol- the guy closest will always hear it first.

[Noodle1982]

Noodle1982 said:

You wouldn't need a great deal of drummers.

Speed travels at 332 meters a second. Assuming one drummer takes up 750mm width and they are all right next to each other you would only need 443 drummers for the beat to 1 second out from one end to the other.

Something that sprung to mind after posting that....

If those 443 drummers are stood in a line and you are at one end, the drummers all hit their drums continuously at the exact same time as each other with one second intervals. What type of sound (apart from a loud one!) do you hear?

[glazbagun]

443 drum beats spread over a second.

In reality they'd be unable to do it at the same time without a metronome or visual cue.

So if they were each in time with what they heard, or were 443 blind drummers, you'd hear one very textured beat if you were standing at the end.

[Noodle1982]

glazbagun said:

443 drum beats spread over a second.

In reality they'd be unable to do it at the same time without a metronome or visual cue.

So if they were each in time with what they heard, or were 443 blind drummers, you'd hear one very textured beat if you were standing at the end.

Assuming the all had a visual cue and exceptional musical timing.

The sound of a drum beat would reach you every 0.002 seconds. Would that be enough for it to sound like a constant drone or would you hear any type of beat?

[numtumfutunch]

Anyone fancy a pint??

[Bullett]

Would depend on the acoustic properties of the drum. One with a short attack and decay vs one with a long decay would sound different.

Without modern amplification technology it's not going to make a difference, you will only really hear your local drummers.

Big stadium concerts use massive amps/speaker arrays with carefully calculated delays front to back. So it's not too loud at the front and quiet at the back and so that the sound all reaches the back at the same time. Yes the band would appear out of sync with the sound and that's why audiences can't clap in time (well that, and the fact most people can't carry a steady beat in a bucket).

[glazbagun]

In WWII at the start of the Soviet offensive on Berlin they fired half a million shells of various kinds in 35 mins. The WWI barrages led to people behaving like they were drunk or lethargic.

Would be quite a thing to experience an approximation of the sound of being bombarded for a minute or two!

[mr_spock]

Noodle1982 said:

Something that sprung to mind after posting that....

If those 443 drummers are stood in a line and you are at one end, the drummers all hit their drums continuously at the exact same time as each other with one second intervals. What type of sound (apart from a loud one!) do you hear?

The sound of all the attractive women leaving with the lead singer