When I teach harmonics and formants in introductory phonetics classes, I try to give the students an intuition about what a Fourier transform is by showing them the reverse: how you can get a complex waveform from summing sine waves (e.g. averaging together a 440 and a 660 sine). This is easy to do in Praat. Great post btw - I've shared it with my current class.
"Apparently, higher harmonics are easier to isolate on brass instruments." Not quite. It's actually what makes the French Horn difficult — in order to play it well, you have to get good at isolating those harmonics, but it ain't easy. Imagine if the only way you could get different pitches on the guitar were through playing harmonics — no frets, no fingerboard, just seven open strings and a resonator — and you have something of an idea of what it's like to play horn. Other brass instruments primarily play in the lower part of the harmonic series, but the horn's "power range" is in the upper part, where all the notes are close together.
Cool to see Miles Okazaki appear here! A few years back a student of mine introduced me to Fundamentals of the Guitar and I found it to be a fascinating approach to thinking about the guitar.
This helped me significantly on guitar playing and basic physics thanks
When I teach harmonics and formants in introductory phonetics classes, I try to give the students an intuition about what a Fourier transform is by showing them the reverse: how you can get a complex waveform from summing sine waves (e.g. averaging together a 440 and a 660 sine). This is easy to do in Praat. Great post btw - I've shared it with my current class.
"Apparently, higher harmonics are easier to isolate on brass instruments." Not quite. It's actually what makes the French Horn difficult — in order to play it well, you have to get good at isolating those harmonics, but it ain't easy. Imagine if the only way you could get different pitches on the guitar were through playing harmonics — no frets, no fingerboard, just seven open strings and a resonator — and you have something of an idea of what it's like to play horn. Other brass instruments primarily play in the lower part of the harmonic series, but the horn's "power range" is in the upper part, where all the notes are close together.
I guess instead of "easier", I should say "more physically possible."
They're definitely louder! Also of note, the fundamental is suppressed in brass instruments and only comes out as a floppy fart sound.
Cool to see Miles Okazaki appear here! A few years back a student of mine introduced me to Fundamentals of the Guitar and I found it to be a fascinating approach to thinking about the guitar.
Aside from its musical content, it's one of the most beautifully designed books I have ever seen, on any subject.