Rustle noise is

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

consisting of

aperiodic A periodic function is a function that repeats its values at regular intervals. For example, the trigonometric functions, which repeat at intervals of 2\pi radians, are periodic functions. Periodic functions are used throughout science to desc ...

pulses characterized by the average time between those

pulses In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the ...

(such as the mean time interval between clicks of a

Geiger counter A Geiger counter (also known as a Geiger–Müller counter) is an electronic instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. It is widely used in applications such as radiation dosimetry, radiological protection, experimental ...

), known as rustle time (Schouten ?). Rustle time is determined by the fineness of sand, seeds, or shot in

rattle Rattle may refer to: Instruments * Crotalus (liturgy), a liturgical percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion instrument), a type of percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion beater), a part of some percussion instruments * Ratchet (instrume ...

s, contributes heavily to the sound of sizzle cymbals, drum snares,

drum roll A drum roll (or roll for short) is a technique used by percussionists to produce a sustained sound for the duration of a written note.Cirone, Anthony J. (1991). Simple Steps to Snare Drum', p.30-31. Alfred. . "The purpose of the roll is ...

s, and string drums, and makes subtle differences in string instrument sounds. Rustle time in strings is affected by different weights and widths of bows and by types of hair and rosin in strings. The concept is also applicable to flutter-tonguing, brass and woodwind growls, resonated vocal fry in woodwinds, and eructation sounds in some woodwinds.

Robert Erickson Robert Erickson (March 7, 1917 – April 24, 1997) was an American composer. Education Erickson was born in Marquette, Michigan. He studied with Ernst Krenek from 1936 to 1947: "I had already studied—and abandoned—the twelve tone ...

suggests the exploration of accelerando- ritardando scales producible on some

acoustic instrument Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the ad ...

s and further variations in rustle noise "because this apparently minor aspect of musical sounds has a disproportionately large importance for higher levels-- textures, ensemble

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and music ...

s, ndcontrasts between music events." (Erickson 1975, p. 71-72)

Sources

*Erickson, Robert (1975). ''Sound Structure in Music''. University of California Press. . Timbre Noise (electronics) {{music stub