[CAUT] fundamental vs partials, was. Re: lowest note on Imp. Bosey

[Ed Sutton]

That ratcheting sound on C0 is the fundamental wave whacking the bridge.
How far would the bridge pin need to wobble to make a false beat, and what would  it sound like?
Ed S.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fred Sturm 
  To: caut at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 2:49 PM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] fundamental vs partials,was. Re: lowest note on Imp. Bosey


  On Dec 14, 2009, at 6:34 PM, wimblees at aol.com wrote:


    It's interesting that you mention the fundamental not being "heard". A man in the chorus in which I sing told me that humans cannot hear a pitch that low, but that we only hear the partials. When I tuned one once, I remember hearing the actual vibrations of the strings, which to me sounds like a B19 Bomber, but I can't remember if I was actually hearing the fundamental, or just the overtones.


  The thing is, a vibration of that frequency is really no different to the ear than beats of that frequency. The brain doesn't process it as pitch. So we may perceive it through our ears, but as sound without pitch. Unless we are elephants <G> .
  BTW, it is interesting to note that C0 at 16 hertz is 11.5 Hz away from A0, a sixth away. Half steps are getting down to 1 Hz apart. 100 cents = about 1Hz there. And if you play a semitone, it should beat at about 1 bps. If you could distinguish the fundamental beat from the partials, that is. Nothing practical has been said here, just idle speculation.

  Regards,
  Fred Sturm
  University of New Mexico
  fssturm at unm.edu









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