Re: [Phys-l] Harmonics vs Overtones

[Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com>]

Another possible factor is inaudibles can mix in the nonlinear system  
producing audibles.

Earlier someone posted the existence of missing fundamentals.  This  
is purposely done in organs that don't have, e.g.  a 16' version of  
an 8' rank.  When the quint stop is pulled an additional pipe speaks  
a fifth (hence the term quint) above.  The ear hears the difference.

bc wired one in the diapason at the santa Barbara Unitarian church  
back in the fifties at the direction of the organist;  he's still there!


On 2009, Apr 02, , at 08:35, John Denker wrote:

> On 04/02/2009 07:29 AM, Quist, Oren wrote:
> > .... I have been told by people in music that although the ear
> > cannot hear above, say 20,000 Hz, the sound will be different if
> > those higher frequencies are there or not.  Or, put another way, the
> > trained ear can sense the higher inaudible frequencies being present
> > or not.  Anyone have experience, or knowledge in this area?
>
> I can tell you that the auditory system is very complex and
> tricky.
>
> Frequency is not the whole story.
>
> I guarantee you that things that are "inaudible" in one context
> are audible in other contexts.  Almost any question that is framed
> in terms of frequencies being "present or not" is ill-posed,
> because the auditory system is not a frequency analyzer.  For
> starters, parts of the system are sensitive to phase (not just
> to frequency).