![]() One of the most interesting quirks with harmonics, though, is our ear’s ability to ‘fill in the gaps’ of the lower end of the sound spectrum and hear fundamental frequencies even though a speaker might not be able to replicate them. Likewise, when we boost bass around 100Hz, we’re directly lifting its fundamental frequency rather than modifying its overtones. Even an instrument as high as a flute, for example, produces its highest fundamental around 2kHz (a very high D), so any boost above 2kHz or so is largely to do with the overtones of an instrument. When it comes to using EQ, it’s interesting to note how we make a distinction between boosts applied to the fundamental frequencies of a given instrument –often contained in the low to middle portion of the audio spectrum – and its ‘colour’, higher up the spectrum. Arguably the most important tool for ‘harmonic modification’ is the humble equalizer – a signal processor that enables us to modify the respective balance of frequencies (and, therefore, the harmonic balance) within a given audio signal. Having established the rudimentary principles of harmonics, let’s look at how harmonics directly impact on the process of recording. Noise, of course, has no pitch, but is still musically useful as a means of defining rhythm. Drums, on the other hand, have both a pitched element but also a collection of random harmonics known as noise. Bell sounds, for example, have a degree of inharmonicity caused by some of the overtones not being multiples of the fundamental frequency. Sounds are considered ‘non-musical’ when they contain harmonics that aren’t musically related to the fundamental frequency, although this doesn’t mean they aren’t useful in music per se! In actuality, non-musicality is a sliding scale. A trumpet, on the other hand, has a rich collection of odd and even harmonics, making it appear brighter and raspier than the clarinet. A clarinet, for example, has strong odd-ordered harmonics and very few high-ordered harmonics, yielding a slightly hollow sound but one that has a pleasing purity to it. What’s interesting, though, is that the rate of attenuation as you move up the harmonic series, and the relationships between odd and even harmonics, is what forms the principal timbre (tone colour) of an instrument. Thankfully, though, each step above the fundamental is also met with a fall in amplitude – in short, the volume decreases the further you move up the harmonic series. From a musical perspective, it’s interesting to note how these initial harmonics (particularly the second, third and fifth) form the notes of a major chord, which explains the particular ‘mathematical sonority’ of a major voicing.Īs you move to the top of the harmonic series, the overtones become dense clusters of notes. The third harmonic, however, is seven semitones up from the second (a D, in other words), while the fourth is only five semitones (G, two octaves above the fundamental, in this case). The second harmonic, for example, is always an octave higher than the fundamental, forming the widest difference in pitch. Looked at on a keyboard, this rise through the harmonic series creates overtones that are increasingly bunched together. ![]() Like a number of Bass-enhancement tools, Waves’ MaxxBass achieves its bass-lift through modifications to the second and third harmonics
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