Mystery #1Tier 3sound and music

Why does the very same note sound so different on a piano and a violin?

Play a middle C on a piano, then play the very same note on a violin. Your ear knows in a flash which is which, even with your eyes shut. The pitch is exactly the same, yet the two sounds feel worlds apart. What is each instrument slipping into that note to give it such a different voice?

A close-up of a violin's body showing the strings crossing the bridge and the two curved f-holes cut into the wood — Photo: Jorge Royan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Your guess

What's your hunch? Two instruments, the same note, yet they sound so different. What is each one adding?

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