Stretched Tuning - Fundamentals and Harmonics

Fundamentals and Harmonics

In most musical instruments, the tone-generating component (a string or resonant column of air) vibrates at many frequencies simultaneously: a fundamental frequency that is usually perceived as the pitch of the note, and harmonics or overtones that are multiples of the fundamental frequency and whose wavelengths therefore divide the tone-generating region into simple fractional segments (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc.). (See harmonic series.) The fundamental note and its harmonics sound together, and the amplitude relationships among them strongly affect the perceived tone or timbre of the instrument.

In the acoustic piano, harpsichord, and clavichord, the vibrating element is a metal wire or string; in many non-digital electric pianos, it is a tapered metal tine (Rhodes piano) or reed (Wurlitzer electric piano) with one end clamped and the other free to vibrate. Each note on the keyboard has its own separate vibrating element whose tension and/or length and weight determines its fundamental frequency or pitch. In electric pianos, the motion of the vibrating element is sensed by an electromagnetic pickup and amplified electronically.