The conventional wisdom surrounding Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums has been that these timeless instruments provided the backdrop to battle because their sounds were uniquely detectable to the human ear.
The piercing fife, the thundering drum: both could be heard over the din of battle, making them a crucial means of communication for commands like parley, cease fire, and retreat.
But is is true? We talk with William and Mary Physics Professor Keith Griffioen to learn about the physics of sound, then stage our own experiment to put what we’ve learned to the test.
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