28
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Why do I hear higher harmonics, when the strings aren't free to vibrate?
Tim's answer is of course correct, but I'd like to offer a more quantitative way of saying the same thing. As others have noted, digital pianos emulate the sympathetic vibrations of acoustic pianos (...
- 19.3k
26
votes
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Trumpet Peculiar Frequency spectrum
Excellent find! Trumpet, as well as the acoustically similar trombone, are very peculiar instruments when it comes to physics. They are cylindrical tubes closed at one end, so they should have a ...
- 22.2k
24
votes
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Playing complex chords on a 6-string guitar
It depends on the setting (what other instruments?), but generally speaking, you'd consider, in order,
Sacrificing the pure fifth. As soon as any instrument plays the root, the fifth will be very ...
- 35.2k
22
votes
Does the difference in harmonic series between instruments have a significant effect on the consonance of the sound?
Is it an important thing to consider in Orchestration?
You have in fact stumbled onto the very foundation (and art) of orchestration. Orchestration is about not only knowing how each instrument ...
- 25.5k
22
votes
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Cello pressed at half length higher than harmonic?
This happens on all stringed instruments. There are two reasons for that.
As you already noticed yourself, pressing down the string does require bending it a little, i.e. stretching, which increases ...
- 35.2k
21
votes
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How do harmonic tones get "out of tune" on a brass instrument?
While the total length of a brass instrument is basically fixed, the ratio of conical to cylindrical piping is not set in stone for a trombone. It is true that the 6th partial is generally quite sharp,...
- 1,409
20
votes
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Where do the natural harmonics fall on the bass guitar?
It's the same as on a guitar. Harmonics occur at equal divisions of the string length. Half the string is the location of the 12th fret. This produces a harmonic at twice the frequency of the open ...
- 4,798
18
votes
Accepted
What is the name of this scale based on the harmonic series?
There are two different questions that could be read here, which it is not obvious (yet extremely significant) that they are different. One question is "what is the name of the scale consisting ...
- 803
17
votes
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How can you distinguish instruments by their timbre characteristics?
A simple list of what overtones are present wouldn't tell you much. What you really want is the relative levels/intensity of each overtone. A list of the overtones with relative intensities for an ...
- 55.7k
17
votes
Accepted
Bass guitar: Fret distance formula
In a 12-tone, equal tempered scale, we want our frequency to double (become an octave higher) every 12 semitones, and we want our semitones to be evenly-spaced.
As each fret represents a semitone, ...
- 45.8k
16
votes
Sounds of harmonics
Your first sentence holds the key - it is actually not correct.
Interestingly, the reason it sounds so different is because the opposite is true - touching at any of the node points removes harmonics.
...
- 36.8k
16
votes
Why do I hear higher harmonics, when the strings aren't free to vibrate?
Any piano string (or other, for that matter) will produce harmonics from that root note. The first few harmonics produced from a C string are the octave (C), the 5th above that (G) and the next octave ...
- 188k
15
votes
Does the difference in harmonic series between instruments have a significant effect on the consonance of the sound?
Other answers so far make good points -- matching timbres (and sound spectra) is actually essential to orchestration, and composers have been noticing these patterns (and using them in orchestration) ...
- 12.4k
14
votes
Accepted
In a musical note (A for an example) are all the other frequencies harmonic?
are there any inharmonic frequencies in A?
Simplistically speaking, 'A' tells us the fundamental pitch of the note (or at least it would if we knew which A - e.g. A4 is often, though not always, ...
- 45.8k
14
votes
Can the harmonic series explain the origin of the major scale?
Can the harmonic series explain the origin of the major scale?
Emphatically yes, but that doesn't mean the major scale is literally contained in the harmonic series. We seem to be dealing basically ...
- 35.2k
13
votes
Accepted
How should I interpret decimals in guitar tabs?
I believe that this is referring to where you would place your finger to get the desired harmonics. The harmonic that generates the major third is right before the 4th fret, which would be 3.85. 3.2 ...
- 7,419
13
votes
Accepted
How is this dissonant harp sound achieved?
I'm not a harp player, but it appears that this is done with the harp equivalent of prepared piano on a few strings. About four or five strings of the harp appear to have some kind of putty attached ...
- 2,960
12
votes
Accepted
Do all periodic sound waves have harmonics?
I 've read that all periodic sound waves have a fundamental frequency
That's true - if a wave is periodic, it has a fundamental frequency.
(Oddly, just because a wave has a fundamental frequency, ...
- 45.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Why do these two guitar notes create a warble sound?
The "warble" is a beat frequency. Any two notes that are only a half step apart will produce a similar beat frequency. This particular one might be more noticeable on your guitar because of intonation ...
- 55.7k
11
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between artificial and natural harmonics?
Natural harmonics, on guitar in particular, are those found using open strings. The most used ones are those on 12th fret, 7th fret and 5th fret - or the same places nearer the pups - as in 1/2 the ...
- 188k
11
votes
Accepted
Do interval ratios take overtones into account or solely the fundamental frequency?
When we say that the pitch ratio between notes is 2:3, that ratio only expresses the ratio of the fundamental frequencies. However, there will of course be lots of other ratios between the harmonics ...
- 45.8k
11
votes
Does the difference in harmonic series between instruments have a significant effect on the consonance of the sound?
Does the difference in harmonic series between instruments have a significant effect on the consonance of the sound?
Absolutely - and not only between instruments. Different ranges of the same ...
- 45.8k
11
votes
What is the name of this scale based on the harmonic series?
The Musical Scale Search Tool offers four scales whose notes correspond to the OP, with only one -- C Minor Lydian -- containing the pitches in the order specified. The others would be permutations/...
- 80k
11
votes
Can overtones be heard if the fundamental is below hearing range?
If the infrasound has overtones in the audible range, then yes you can hear them. The overtones could be completely separate waves independent from the fundamental - the ear can't tell, even though it ...
- 26.4k
11
votes
Sounds of harmonics
The idea that touching a ringing open string exactly halfway will create harmonics that sound identical to a fretted note one octave higher, relies on three assumptions:
Touching the string halfway ...
- 111
11
votes
Accepted
High B-flat on cello
You get higher notes in cello pieces. Not often perhaps but they are there. Elgar's cello concerto and the William Tell overture would be two examples.
Any professional cellist would not have a ...
- 5,001
10
votes
Pitch perception: What allows us to uniquely identify a musical note?
If I start on a musical note on the piano and play out the folllowing harmonics/overtones I can find all the notes in the chromatic scale via the harmonic series eventually.
That's true in one sense ...
- 45.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible