harmonic

adj.

1. 1. Of or relating to harmony.
   2. Pleasing to the ear: harmonic orchestral effects.
   3. Characterized by harmony: a harmonic liturgical chant.
2. Of or relating to harmonics.
3. Integrated in nature.

n.

1. 1. Any of a series of musical tones whose frequencies are integral multiples of the frequency of a fundamental tone.
   2. A tone produced on a stringed instrument by lightly touching an open or stopped vibrating string at a given fraction of its length so that both segments vibrate. Also called overtone, partial; Also called partial tone.
2. harmonics (used with a sing. verb) The theory or study of the physical properties and characteristics of musical sound.
3. Physics. A wave whose frequency is a whole-number multiple of that of another.

[Latin harmonicus, from Greek harmonikos, from harmoniā, harmony. See harmony.]

harmonically har·mon'i·cal·ly adv.

A sinusoidal quantity having a frequency that is an integral multiple of the frequency of a periodic quantity to which it is related. See also Mode of vibration.

A harmonic series of sounds is one in which the basic frequency of each sound is an integralmultiple of some fundamental frequency. The name exists for historical reasons, even though according to the usual mathematical definition such frequencies form an arithmetic series. An ideal string (or air column) can vibrate as a whole or in a number of equal parts, and the respective periods of vibration are proportional to the lengths. These increasingly shorter lengths or periods form a harmonic series. The name came from the harmonious relation of such sounds, and the science of musical acoustics was once called harmonics. Nowadays, it is customary to deal with ratios of frequency rather than ratios of length and, because frequency is the reciprocal of period, the definition of harmonic in acoustics becomes that given here. See also Musical acoustics.

---

A multiple of a fundamental frequency occurring at the same time. For example, if the fundamental frequency is 1 kHz, the first harmonic is 1 kHz, the second harmonic is 2 kHz, and so on. Musical instruments oscillate at several frequencies, which are called "overtones." The first overtone is actually the second harmonic, and so on. See harmonic distortion.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

adjective

Characterized by harmony of sound: consonant, harmonious, musical, symphonic, symphonious. See beautiful/ugly, sounds/pleasant sounds/unpleasant sounds/neutral sounds or silence.

The individual pure sounds normally present as part of an ordinary musical tone. They are present because a string or an air column can vibrate not only as a whole but also as two halves, three thirds etc simultaneously. The relative strength of each harmonic gives the tone quality to the note as heard. The first 16 harmonics of the note C are shown in ex.1. The richer the upper harmonics, the brighter the tone of an instrument; the oboe and the violin are instruments with many higher harmonics, whereas the flute and the recorder have a stronger fundamental and fewer and weaker harmonics. The ‘hollow’ sound of the clarinet is created by the predominance of odd-numbered harmonics. In some vibrating bodies, particularly bells, their irregular form will cause sounds that are not harmonic partials; this may give a confused or dubious perception of pitch.

Ex.1 (black notes are imperfectly tuned)

Harmonics are used in a variety of ways in musical instruments. Woodwind players can ‘overblow’ their instruments in the octave (oboe) or 12th (clarinet) and thus extend their compass; this may be done by lip pressure and/or by opening a nodal hole in the tube. On brass instruments, which have longer and narrower tubes, the player can choose the harmonic to be sounded by means of lip pressure; before valves were invented (c1815), only notes of the harmonic series (and in some circumstances their near neighbours) could be played. On string instruments, players can cause a string to vibrate only in sections by touching it lightly at the appropriate point; this can produce a note of a cool, silvery quality (sometimes called ‘flageolet notes’). These are ‘natural harmonics’, based on the open string; ‘artificial harmonics’ can be produced by fingering a note and touching lightly a 4th higher, thereby producing a note two octaves higher (these can be used to produce an effect of great virtuosity, for example in the finale of Sibelius's Violin Concerto). ex.2 shows how harmonics may be notated. On the harp, the use of the second harmonic (ex.3) can produce an effect of particular delicacy.

Ex. 2

Ex. 3

‘Harmonic’, applied to an organ stop, means one where the sounding note is a harmonic of the pipe's natural sounding length.

---

A component of a sound containing more than one frequency which is an integral multiple of the lowest frequency.

---

---

Sine wave that is smaller in amplitude and some multiple of a fundamental frequency. Example: 880 Hz. is the second harmonic of 440 Hz., 880 Hz. is the third harmonic of 220 Hz.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - harmonisk
n. - overtone

Nederlands (Dutch)
boventoon, deeltonen, elektrische voltage, harmonisch, passend

Français (French)
adj. - (Math, Mus) harmonique
n. - (Phys, Mus) harmonique

Deutsch (German)
n. - (mus.) Oberton
adj. - harmonisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αρμονικός (ήχος)
adj. - αρμονικός

Italiano (Italian)
armonia, armonioso

Português (Portuguese)
n. - som (m) harmônico
adj. - harmônico, musical

Русский (Russian)
гармоничный, мелодичный, обертон

Español (Spanish)
adj. - armónico
n. - armonía

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - (harmonisk) överton
adj. - harmonisk

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
调和的, 和声的, 音乐般的, 谐波, 谐函数, 和声

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 調和的, 和聲的, 音樂般的
n. - 諧波, 諧函數, 和聲

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 조화적인, 화성의, 조화의
n. - 배음, 고조파, 조화

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 調和的, 和声の
n. - 倍音, 調波

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) النغمه التوافقيه موسيقى (صفه) موسيقي, إيقاعي, تناغمي, تآلفي, متآلف, متناسق, مطرب, توافقي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮הרמוני‬
n. - ‮צליל הרמוני‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.

harmonic balancer	active harmonic filter
Harmonic Minor Harmonica	1986 86 harmonic balancer