Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-01-08 03:42
Robin,
I've used a lot of tuners over the years, too, and I think the newer ones are greatly superior to their predecessors. Things are getting better, and some even allow alternate tunings be selected and display accordingly in various tuning systems.
You raise an interesting sub-topic re: the overtone series and its natural tendencies.
Definitely the higher partials, especially above the 10th partial (counting fundamental as 1) start to go haywire compared to anything related to equal temperament or even useful just tunings of useful intervals.
I refer to partials 11 and 13 in particular, and further up 14, 15, 16, 17, each a smaller and smaller minor 2nd.
I was taught what we perceive as pitch relates to the lower partials where most of the acoustical energy is concentrated. The others contribute to timbre for sure. I am pretty sure most modern tuners, even my 10 year old Seiko have octave settings to help them focus in on the desired range of playing.
On the lower partials, we get octave (2) , fifth (3), another octave (4), followed by a triad. The P5ths are high, the M3rd in the triad is low, relative to equal temperament but the octaves 1,2 ,4...8 contain most of the energy, and help us perceive the pitch.
Then walking that natural arrangement of overtones around a path (melody) of notes in equal temperament, it still gives an impression of intonation in that method, which is designed to forgive or ignore the sonic mess built into it.
Intonation is kind of funny stuff. It reminds me of the bumble bee which in theory cannot fly. Fortunately, oboes are usually playing a fundamental or 1st or 2nd overtone.
On flute, I was taught to do overtone exercise based on military trumpet calls and those frequently go up several more partials, but never so high into them to encounter the 11th or above.
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