page_title: Overtone
section_title: Musical usage term
hierarchical_section_title: Overtone / Musical usage term
caption_attribution_description: English: Most properly numbered version of Overtones_closed_pipe.png
context_page_description: An overtone is any frequency greater than the fundamental frequency of a sound. Using the model of Fourier analysis, the fundamental and the overtones together are called partials. Harmonics, or more precisely, harmonic partials, are partials whose frequencies are numerical integer multiples of the fundamental. These overlapping terms are variously used when discussing the acoustic behavior of musical instruments. The model of Fourier analysis provides for the inclusion of inharmonic partials, which are partials whose frequencies are not whole-number ratios of the fundamental.
  When a resonant system such as a blown pipe or plucked string is excited, a number of overtones may be produced along with the fundamental tone. In simple cases, such as for most musical instruments, the frequencies of these tones are the same as the harmonics. Examples of exceptions include the circular drum, – a timpani whose first overtone is about 1.6 times its fundamental resonance frequency, gongs and cymbals, and brass instruments. The human vocal tract is able to produce highly variable amplitudes of the overtones, called formants, which define different vowels.
context_section_description: An overtone is a partial (a "partial wave" or "constituent frequency") that can be either a harmonic partial (a harmonic) other than the fundamental, or an inharmonic partial.  A harmonic frequency is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency. An inharmonic frequency is a non-integer multiple of a fundamental frequency.
  An example of harmonic overtones: (absolute harmony)
  Some musical instruments produce overtones that are slightly sharper or flatter than true harmonics. The sharpness or flatness of their overtones is one of the elements that contributes to their unique sound. Due to phase inconsistencies between the fundamental and the partial harmonic, this also has the effect of making their waveforms not perfectly periodic.
  Musical instruments that can create notes of any desired duration and definite pitch have harmonic partials.
  A tuning fork, provided it is sounded with a mallet (or equivalent) that is reasonably soft, has a tone that consists very nearly of the fundamental, alone; it has a sinusoidal waveform. Nevertheless, music consisting of pure sinusoids was found to be unsatisfactory in the early 20th century.
caption: Physical representation of third[3] (O3) and fifth (O5) overtones of a cylindrical pipe closed at one end. F is the fundamental frequency; the third overtone is the third harmonic, 3F, and the fifth overtone is the fifth harmonic, 5F for such a pipe, which is a good model for a panflute.
exif: {}