Sounds produced by drops falling on water

Abstract

I had long been interested in the various musical sounds which falling drops produce when they strike the surface of water, and in 1915 I made some experiments on the subject which are perhaps worth recording. The sounds, of course, last for a very short time, and to hear them well other noises should be absent. Drops after a shower falling from leaves overhanging a sheltered pond, or the dripping from a tap in a cistern, are some of the commonest examples in which the musical character of the sound can be well distinguished. On listening attentively it will be noticed that pitch of the note is high at first, then falls and afterwards again rises. The duration of the sound is so short that it is difficult to estimate the actual pitch, but the lowest part of the sound was the most characteristic.