Saxophone Forum


by woolyhead
(5 posts)
8 years ago

overtones and harmonics

Could someone please point me in the direction of a table showing which overtones etc are dominant for every note that a tenor sax plays

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  1. by GFC
    (842 posts)

    8 years ago

    Re: overtones and harmonics

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_series_(music)

    All saxophone/mouthpiece/player combinations are different with respect to which overtones are strongest and how closely matched they are with the harmonic series.  That's why some sound "bright," "dark", "focused," "spread," etc. 

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    1. by woolyhead
      (5 posts)

      8 years ago

      Re: overtones and harmonics

      I see. So do you mean that every note has different overtones but for all players that group of overtones is the same? I think not. You are saying that even if we keep the same actual instrument in mind each player will generate a different sequence of overtones. Yes? I understand that if we change the mouthpiece we change the overtone sequence but I'm surprised that if we keep everything the same and only change the player we get a dufferent result. Is this result due to having different mouth and throat resonances when we change players?

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      1. by GFC
        (842 posts)

        8 years ago

        Re: overtones and harmonics

        Yep.  The oral cavity is part of the resonance.  Change the shape pf your oral cavity during some long tones and you can hear the difference.

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        1. by woolyhead
          (5 posts)

          8 years ago

          Re: overtones and harmonics

          I see. That's very interesting. I'll give it several tries to see for myself but I'm sure you are right. I'm only a beginner myself. It looks as if my quest to tabulate the harmonics and overtones versus each note may be a hopeless job, in view of what you've told me. Thanks for your input, anyway.

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