Overtones & Harmonics

The hidden notes inside every note.

Every musical note is secretly a chord stacked on top of itself.

+40 XP

// WHAT IT DOES

When you pluck a guitar string at, say, 110 Hz, you don't just get 110 Hz. You also get quieter versions at 220, 330, 440, 550 Hz and so on — whole-number multiples of the original. Those are harmonics.

We mostly perceive the lowest one (the ) as 'the note'. The pattern of all the harmonics above it gives the instrument its character.

This stack is called the harmonic series, and it's why a perfect fifth (3:2) and an (2:1) sound consonant — they're already 'inside' every note.

Think of it like → A single note is like a chef's special — one named dish, but with five quiet side dishes you barely notice colouring the flavour.

▸ WHY YOU CARE

• works by adding harmonics — turning a thin source into a rich one.
• EQ surgery is usually about taming a single problematic harmonic, not a whole region.
• Why two notes 'clash': overlapping harmonics that aren't whole-number related.

// SEE & HEAR IT

EAR TRAINING

SoundGym-style musical drills. Train the ear producers actually need.

▸ HOW IT WORKS

▸ Signal flow — watch the dot

▸ SIGNAL FLOW

Glowing dot = your signal travelling through Live.

▸ LISTEN FOR

• The 'brightness' as a count of how many harmonics are active.
• A single offending harmonic causing a piercing note.
• Inharmonic shimmer in bells and cymbals.

▸ WALKTHROUGH (5 steps)

1. DO: Play A2 on a saw synth, then EQ-cut everything above 200 Hz.
▸ LISTEN: All you hear is the fundamental — bland and dull.
2. DO: Open the cut.
▸ LISTEN: Harmonics return; the note becomes 'an instrument' again.
3. DO: Compare an electric piano and a tuning fork at the same note.
▸ LISTEN: Tuning fork is nearly all fundamental; piano is rich with partials.
4. DO: Play a single low piano note and listen for ~3 seconds.
▸ LISTEN: Upper harmonics ring above the fundamental as it decays.
5. DO: Run a clean bass through tape saturation.
▸ LISTEN: New harmonics appear — same note, richer spectrum.

▸ COMMON MISTAKES

✗ Treating as 'EQ shape' instead of 'harmonic ratios'.
✗ Boosting brightness with a shelf instead of targeting the right harmonic.
✗ Forgetting that distortion adds harmonics — and energy — to your mix.

// QUIZ (QUICK)

Question 1 / 40 correct

If a sound fundamental is 200 Hz, its 3rd harmonic is at

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