Mission 004
Harmonics & Overtones
Every 'rich' sound is many notes pretending to be one.
Every rich sound is a stack of pure sines pretending to be one note.
+50 XP
// WHAT IT DOES
If you play a saw wave at 110 Hz, you actually hear a stack of sine waves. The strongest one is at 110 Hz (the ) — that's the note you perceive. On top of it sit weaker sines at 220, 330, 440, 550 Hz, and so on, each at a smaller volume.
Those higher sines are the harmonics. They're what make a saw sound like a saw and not a sine. Different wave shapes give you different harmonic recipes.
A filter is basically a tool for adjusting the volume of those harmonics independently of the fundamental.
Think of it like → A wave is a band, not a soloist. The fundamental is the lead singer; the harmonics are the rest of the group, each at their own volume.
▸ WHY YOU CARE
- • Knowing which wave has which harmonics tells you instantly what you'll need to filter to get the colour you want.
- • It's why a square sounds 'hollow' (no even harmonics) and a saw sounds 'full' (every harmonic present).
- • It explains why EQ-ing high frequencies on a bass can change its character dramatically — you're trimming the high harmonics of the same fundamental.
// SEE & HEAR IT
▸ Two oscillators blend to one waveform. Detune fattens by making them slightly out of tune.
▸ HOW IT WORKS
▸ Signal flow — watch the dot
▸ SIGNAL FLOW
Glowing dot = your signal travelling through Live.
▸ LISTEN FOR
- • Saw → square: a bright wave becomes hollow as even harmonics disappear.
- • Square → triangle: hollowness softens as upper odd harmonics fall away faster.
- • Filter closing: a 'darkening' sweep as upper partials are silenced.
▸ WALKTHROUGH (4 steps)
- 1. DO: Play a sine at A2 (110 Hz). Open a spectrum analyser.▸ LISTEN: One peak at 110 Hz. Nothing else.
- 2. DO: Switch to saw at A2.▸ LISTEN: Peak at 110 Hz, then 220, 330, 440… stair-stepping down in level.
- 3. DO: Switch to square at A2.▸ LISTEN: Peak at 110, then 330, 550, 770… only odd multiples.
- 4. DO: Drop a filter and slowly close it.▸ LISTEN: Top peaks vanish first; fundamental survives last.
▸ COMMON MISTAKES
- ✗ Thinking the fundamental disappears when you close the filter (it usually doesn't — it's the safest harmonic).
- ✗ Boosting 5 kHz to 'add air' to a sound that has zero energy up there to begin with.
// QUIZ (QUICK)
Question 1 / 30 correct
The fundamental of a 220 Hz note is