Klarinet Archive - Posting 000163.txt from 2002/11

From: b5w@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Tuners (and acoustics books)
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 14:35:49 -0500

Here's a statement from Deutsch which relates to Karl's comment about
the importance of high partials vs. low partials:

=============

The behavior of tones with odd harmonics only is peculiar. [snip of
verbiage that I just don't have the patience to re-type, it's difficult
to even find your place on the page if you lift your eyes for a moment
to type] For tones with odd harmonics only, toward the top and even
the middle part of the piano keyboard, the component of fundamental
frequency is essential to a musical pitch associated with the frequency
of the fundamental. Toward the bottom of the keyboard, the sensation
of pitch is peculiar. D1 with odd partials sounds much like C2 with
successive partials. For these two tones, the top three frequency
components nearly coincide.

The text goes on to define "residue pitch", which is the perception of
"a musical pitch corresponding to the frequency of the fundamental in
absence of a component of the fundamental frequency", and the text says
that, at the bottom of the keyboard, "the presence of odd harmonics does
not result in a residue pitch corresponding to the frequency of the
missing fundamental".

In other words, at the bottom of the keyboard, the higher odd harmonics
don't suggest the missing fundamental.

================

I remember someone (Ed Lacy? Karl Krelove?) once suggesting that triads
with missing roots have a related problem --- namely, with the root
gone, the listener assumes a root in order to fill the void, and the
higher notes may not have suggested what the composer intended.

Sort of like metaphors.....

Cheers,
Bill

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