3 ms·
> By far the loudest of these overtones is the 2nd harmonic... Not true in general. There is no reason to expect the 2nd harmonic to be louder than the others.
by klodolph 6y ago
> By far the loudest of these overtones is the 2nd harmonic...
Not true in general. There is no reason to expect the 2nd harmonic to be louder than the others. Some instruments produce mostly odd-numbered harmonics, such as the clarinet.
> This is not some artificial construct but a fundamental part of how things vibrate.
That's only true in a one-dimensional world. Instruments in the three-dimensional world are either mode-locked (not freely vibrating) or have some amount of inharmonicity. This is why the octaves on a piano are not tuned to 2:1 ratios, as I mentioned.
- dr_dshiv 6y agoBut pianos are tuned with 2:1 ratios. That is preserved in equal temperment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_key_frequencies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_key_frequencies
- klodolph 6y agoNo, pianos are not tuned in 2:1 ratios. From the article you cited: > This list of frequencies is for a theoretically ideal piano. On an actual piano the ratio between semitones is slightly larger... For more details, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stretched_tuning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stretched_tuning Or, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_acoustics#The_Railsback_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_acoustics#The_Railsback_...