Can anyone briefly explain to me the concept of overtones? I searched it on wiki and still don't quite understand it.

Do all sound have all overtones and just that some are too low/high or too soft for our ears to hear? wiki says, "the relative volumes of these overtones to each other determines the specific "flavor" or "color" of sound of that family of instruments." Does this mean that overtones can change on different instruments even if the concert pitch is the same?

It also states that overtones exists on strings and bells. Is there any pitched instrument which does not have overtones or vise-versa, can an unpitched instrument have overtones? Is it safe to say that over tones create pitches?

Lastly, if we play an overtone on the flute to achieve notes beyond its upper limits, are the low frequency tones still present?

I've been hearing more and more about overtones and I've never really fully understood what it was.They all seem so confusing!@_@

PS: I wasn't sure if this was music discussion or composition. I put it here because i am asking these for composing purposes.

I'd have a hard time explaining exactly what an overtone is, but basically it is the concept that within a specific pitch (which is made up of sound waves with a fundamental frequency, which is the lowest frequency in the harmonic series of the pitch) there are an infinite number of other partial wave frequencies represented, usually following a "harmonic series". Note that overtones can also be called "partials" for this reason. Different instruments, due to their different composition and design, emphasize different overtones because their resonating space is different. In the case of voice, different vowels and timbres are created by changing the resonating space so that different overtones (also called formants in this case) are emphasized.

Try this experiment: go to the piano (it needs to be a real one with strings) and play C3, while depressing (but not sounding) the keys for middle C, and the E and G above that. Then release C3 while still holding down the other keys. Listen carefully; what should happen is that the strings for the keys that you are holding down should be very softly vibrating. This is known as "sympathetic vibration"; basically what has happened is that the strings are vibrating because the pitch to which they are tuned has been sounded and has caused them to vibrate. This shows that somewhere within that C3 on the piano, there are also the notes you were holding down. You can experiment with this to find out what some of the overtones are for other notes on the piano.

Furthermore, it is also true that many of the overtones within a pitch are not audible. Therefore, it can be deduced that lower notes have a higher number of audible overtones. For this reason, when lower voices in a choir or orchestra are playing, the sound seems more full; there are more overtones filling up the spaces in sound. For this reason, a cappella choirs sound most in tune to the ear when they tune to the overtones of the bass note.

I have tried holding down the strings in my piano at particular over tones and noticed that by doing so, it produced harp like effects. When i did not press on overtones, the sound was short and dead. I'm assuming this is due to the fact that I must stop the sound wave at precise locations so not to interfere with their natural vibrations. Is this the underlining principles of overtones?

If i were to use this for composition, would it be only during the quiet passages as I find most instruments play overtones in a very quite form.

thx for the quick reply :lol:

You can also calculate the frequencies of the overtones. There are many ways to calculate them, depending on what is resonating (i.e. a string or open tube). This can help you... http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-harmonics.htm

I have tried holding down the strings in my piano at particular over tones and noticed that by doing so, it produced harp like effects. When i did not press on overtones, the sound was short and dead. I'm assuming this is due to the fact that I must stop the sound wave at precise locations so not to interfere with their natural vibrations. Is this the underlining principles of overtones?

If i were to use this for composition, would it be only during the quiet passages as I find most instruments play overtones in a very quite form.

thx for the quick reply :lol:

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. A )What do you mean by "underlying principles"? The overtones will be there within that note whether you let the other strings vibrate or not. That was just a way of showing you evidence that they are there. I'm pretty sure I told you everything I know... B )How would you use overtones in a composition (I'm not saying it's not possible, but I'm not sure what exactly you're thinking)?

To answer a couple of your above questions that I forgot to answer last night: the overtones present are basically the same on every instrument (although they might be a little sharp or flat, depending), but different overtones have greater amplitudes (volumes) within the pitch depending on the instrument used to create the pitch.

I'm not sure if "unpitched" percussion has "overtones" exactly, but there are many different notes that are nearly equally represented within the sound of the instrument, which is what makes it "unpitched".

I don't really know anything about what you're asking for flutes...

Hmm, I thought I remember in samuel adler's orchestration book where he talks about using overtones for strings and winds via a diamond note. Did I mistake this for something else?

Also, when I hold the string down on particular intervals for a piano, I make a harp like quality when I play that note but only on particular areas such as its dominant or octave overtone. My prof says I was producing the overtone of the string at least. I heard the flute overtone in a recent new music concert by Robert Aitken. The sound was so thin that I had thought it was an echo in the hall until i realized he was purposely doing it. From what I deduce, my understanding of overtones for composers is producing controlled pitches above the normal range of a particular instrument.

I was probably wrong to call it an underlining principle but is what I said in the previous comment basically what an overtone is: points on the end/begining of a sound wave?

I am one VERY CONFUSED person regarding this matter so what I say might be completely wrong all together, but that's why it bugs me so much lol.

It's the sound within the sound. A virtual instrument company called Spectrasonics made an entire sound library from recording sounds, and developing those hidden overtones enough to make them heard. Then they made that sound into a instrument patch! It's insane to be honest, but it is wonderful.

Some people’s ears can hear overtones easier then others. An example is; playing a F in the middle of the piano and hearing a very, very high B after a few moments of holding that F. Overtones can originate from there developed sound of the original note. That's what I know, but correct me if I'm wrong.

One of my music-major-to-be friends just told me that the clarinet is the most important orchestral instrument "because of their fantastic overtones." He said that any orchestral member will agree. Then again, he's gonna be a pro clarinetist. Anyone else think the same? What are the clarinet's overtones, anyway? Does it emphasize the proper overtones of the bass instruments or something? Wouldn't they be too high to have an impact? Please enlighten me.

EDIT: "Because a clarinet acts like a closed tube resonator, it theoretically produces only odd harmonics.
There is some much diminished even harmonic content." <- I found this excerpt on that frequency calculator site, but I still don't get it. :\

Hmm, I thought I remember in samuel adler's orchestration book where he talks about using overtones for strings and winds via a diamond note. Did I mistake this for something else?
That umm sounds like "Harmonics" ... as far as strings are concerned. Never heard that applied to wind instruments tho.