stackyFACTS
Culture & entertainment

Harps feature colored strings to map out distinct octaves

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

When you have 47 identical-looking strings staring back at you, a color-coding system is the only thing standing between you and auditory chaos. All C strings are dyed red, and all F strings are dyed black or blue. Without these visual anchors, playing a giant harp would be like trying to type an essay on a keyboard completely devoid of letters.

Harps feature colored strings to map out distinct octaves
STACKY / Culture & entertainment
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Culture & entertainment →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Gongs feature a raised central boss to alter vibrations
Culture & entertainment

Gongs feature a raised central boss to alter vibrations

A flat disc of bronze will just crash aggressively like a cymbal. By hammering a protruding dome, or 'boss,' directly into the center of the gong, the…

Discover more
Oboe players must use a double reed to produce their sound
Culture & entertainment

Oboe players must use a double reed to produce their sound

Because relying on a single piece of vibrating wood was simply far too reliable, oboists choose to awkwardly squish two tiny reeds together. The amount of…

Discover more
Drummers use wooden sticks to strike their percussive kits
Culture & entertainment

Drummers use wooden sticks to strike their percussive kits

Because apparently, hitting things violently with your bare hands was causing too many injuries. The sheer act of repeatedly smashing expensive, tightly tuned…

Discover more
Modern grand pianos feature 88 individual keys
Culture & entertainment

Modern grand pianos feature 88 individual keys

Because apparently, 88 is the exact threshold before human hearing gives up. Modern pianos stopped adding keys here because anything lower than the bottom A…

Discover more
Marimbas hide resonating tubes underneath each wooden bar
Culture & entertainment

Marimbas hide resonating tubes underneath each wooden bar

Whacking a piece of rosewood with a mallet actually yields a pretty pathetic, muted clonk on its own. The real magic happens inside the hollow metal tubes…

Discover more
Tuning forks vibrate at exactly one isolated pure frequency
Culture & entertainment

Tuning forks vibrate at exactly one isolated pure frequency

Practically every instrument produces a messy cocktail of secondary overtones that gives it a unique character. The tuning fork is specifically designed with…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store