Maybe I am totally crazy, but I swear I hear a sort of octave below the note effect resonating in my ears/head on higher keyed harps. I don't have any hard evidence of this being audible to others, although I swear that sound showed up on a solo I was trying to record on an E harp in the studio.
Anybody else experience anything like this when playing? I think I hear it/feel it on the middle and upper octave of E harps all the time and for sure on some of the higher blow bends on a D harp.
I am familiar with making an extra note sound by cupping really tight, and this is different. It is literally like my body is creating an octave down sorta reverby thing. I can hear and feel it all the time now that I am aware of it.
I get that sound with golden melodies in the higher keys. I dig that sound with one of my microphones that punches up that tone. It is not quite as in your face as an octave pedal.
I think I want to get the harp octave pedal to play with it.
Last Edited by on Dec 09, 2011 8:19 AM
During my first voice lesson, I was taught about the mask. The bones of your face and jaw resonate and the sound passes through this "mask". Different areas of the mask predominate depending on the pitch.
By wincing while singing some notes, I can make them come out cleaner than if I don't wince. This does not apply to all notes, only a handful - apparently, the ones which resonate in the cheek and nose area of my face.
Since the sound from the harp comes from the other side of your mouth (not your vocal cords) who knows how the bones in your face resonate at different pitches. This would be an interesting topic of study...
But maybe that's an explanation for you? ----------
I Think what you're hearing is the "difference tone". If you play 2 notes at the same time, not only do you hear those 2 frequencies (and their harmonic over tones) but you also get a frequency that is the difference b/t the two notes. For example if you play an A at 880hz and a C# slightly flat at 1100hz, then you will hear a tone that is 220hz. This tone is also A two octaves below the A being played. This is why temperament is so important. If you were to play the C# in tune at 1108hz, your difference tone would be 228hz which is a Bb that is 38cent flat. Needless to say that will sound awful. ---------- C. Adam Hamil Free Reed Instrument Technician
Last Edited by on Dec 09, 2011 12:13 PM
It could be the cumulative effects of brass dust and crystalline silica beginning to display symptoms....if you start having convulsions, see a doctor. You should always wear a mask when tuning Mike. ---------- Spiers Harmonicas
I have no idea if that's what you're hearing, but if it's below the fundamental frequency and there's only one note (ruling out difference tones) it sounds like it could be.
I'm not sure if a free reed could produce natural undertones, but amplifiers might add them (???). I saw a couple of abstracts from psycho-acoustics journals suggesting undertones might be an artefact introduced by the ear too.
If you go to my site and look for the music player on the bottom...scroll to the song North Wind. About 3:30min in I start a solo and I can hear the exact noise at the begining. It is harder to hear as I continue to play as there is a pitch shifted delay and I start playing faster.
That's a very good explanation of difference tones. But in the piece he suggested we listen to, Mike is playing mostly single notes. How do you get a difference tone from a single note?
