Information AboutOvertone |
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USAGE OF TERM Use of the term ''overtone'' is generally confined to Acoustic Wave s, especially in applications related to Music . Despite confused usage, an overtone is either a harmonic or a partial. A Harmonic is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency. A partial or Inharmonic overtone is a non-integer multiple of a fundamental frequency. An example of harmonic overtones: Not all overtones are necessarily harmonics, or exact multiples of the fundamental frequency. Some musical instruments produce overtones that are sharper or flatter than harmonics. The sharpness or flatness of their overtones is one of the elements that contributes to their sound; this also has the effect of making their waveforms not perfectly periodic. Since the Harmonic Series is an Arithmetic Sequence (1''f'', 2''f'', 3''f'', 4''f''...), and the Octave , or octave series, is a Geometric Sequence (''f'', 2×''f'', 2×2×''f'', 2×2×2×''f'', ...), this causes the overtone series to divide the octave into increasingly smaller parts as it ascends. The overtones of a sound determine its sound quality or Timbre and its Frequency Spectra . ''Contrast with'' Fundamental . In Barbershop Music , the word ''overtone'' is often used in a different (though related) way. It refers to a psychoacoustic effect in which a listener hears an audible pitch that is higher than, and different from, the four pitches being sung by the quartet. This is ''not'' a standard dictionary usage of the word "overtone." The barbershopper's "overtone" is created by the interactions of the overtones in each singer's note (and by sum and difference frequencies created by nonlinear interactions within the ear). SEE ALSO Source: originally from Federal Standard 1037C , but edited. |
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