Acoustic facts for kids

An acoustic guitar

The word acoustic is all about sound! It describes things related to how sound works, how we hear it, or how it's made. When you hear "acoustic," it often means something that doesn't need electricity to make noise. Think of a guitar that you just play with your hands, without plugging it in. That's an acoustic guitar!

Understanding Acoustic

Acoustic in Science

• Acoustics is a part of physics. It's the science that studies sound. This includes how sound is made, how it travels, and how we hear it.
  • Musical acoustics looks at the physics of music. It studies how musical sounds are created and how they affect us.
• The acoustic meatus is another name for your ear canal. This is the tube that carries sound from the outside of your ear to your eardrum.

Acoustic in Music

When we talk about music, "acoustic" usually means instruments or music that don't need electric power to make a sound. They make sound naturally.

• Acoustic music uses instruments that don't need amplification to make a sound. This means they are not plugged into speakers or amps.
• An instrument used in acoustic music might be:
  • An Acoustic guitar, which is different from an electric guitar. You just play it with your hands.
  • An Acoustic bass guitar, which is also played without needing to be plugged in.
• Sometimes, "Acoustic" is part of an album title:
  • Acoustic (Deine Lakaien album), released in 1995.
  • Acoustic (John Lennon album), released in 2004.
• It can also be part of a record label name, which is a company that produces music:
  • Acoustic Americana
  • Acoustic Disc
• Piano acoustics studies how sound is made and travels within a piano.
• An Acoustic fingerprint is like a unique sound signature for a piece of music. It helps identify songs, even if they are played differently.

Acoustic in Other Areas

• Acoustic Control Corporation was a company that made amplifiers for musical instruments. They used "Acoustic" as their brand name.
• Acoustic thermometry is a way to study the ocean's climate. Scientists use long-range sound waves to measure ocean temperatures over large areas.
• An Acoustic torpedo is a type of torpedo that uses sound to find and track its target underwater.
• An Acoustic signature is the unique sound pattern made by a vehicle, like a submarine or a ship. This sound can be used to identify it.