While listening to my physics teacher in high school, I realized that he was talking about waves and that meant music! I was already playing guitar and wanting to know EVERYTHING, so I started asking lots of questions and easily got an A. I think this is a great video for those who haven't "found their way into this room yet". This is crucial to recording/mixing/editing, playing live and getting the sound you want and getting rid of the sound you DON'T want! LOL This info is particularly useful when studying the drawbars of an organ.
I never realised the harmonics sounded pretty much the same for different instruments. That's helped me to understand why sometimes things will sound great in a full mix but awful in solo
Hello Mike! Being a Portuguese subscriber to your RUclips channel for quite a long time now, you can't imagine how helpful and educational this little video of yours is. Being a part-time musician (civil engineer at full-time) I’ve recently started to get deeper into sound, and all of the sound universe details. A thousand thank you’s are not enough. Well done indeed, Mr. Enjo. Keep it up. Best regards. Rui.
6:05!!!! You would have blown my mind earlier but I've been studying this stuff now for a few months. But the information at 6:05 took my mind to another level. Bravo!
I've heard the term, Harmonic Series, but I've never heard and seen it demonstrated. My mind was blown at 6:15 in the video. Great video and hope to see more like it.
Thanks for touching on just intonation vs. equal tempered tuning. Blew my mind when I learned why I never liked major third intervals in equal tempered tuning, they always sounded a bit out. They’re about 14 cents off compared with just intonation.
They've done it with Dolly the sheep, so let's get Mike cloned and put in every school there is. What a huge difference to education it would be to have a teacher like him for all kids growing up.
6:07. As someone who is just starting out, I'm really struggling with the concept of EQ. What it is, how to use it, etc. As a newbie, EQ and compression seem like the most intimidating aspects of recording. Mainly because of how utilized they are, which makes me panic about their importance and my need to understand them asap. This really helped me to start understanding a bit about different frequencies. Still have a long way to go, but this was a great video. Thank you for doing it.
Very well done, as always. Also to note, odd harmonics added to the fundamental will create a more square shaped wave, which resembles the sound of a clipped, or distorted guitar, or brass. (Bright, harsh) Even order harmonics added cause the wave to become more triangular.
When I was studying theory and harmony in college my teacher had us lay under the piano and listen to the overtones and sympathetic resonances. It completely changed how I look at composition and harmonic structure.
Nice! My mind wasn’t blown, since I was already familiar with the harmonic series. However, what WOULD have blown it was if you could take the guitar series and make it sound like a bassoon by matching its frequency distribution curve to that of the bassoon’s!!
Yup! Mike strikes again! I knew a bit about harmonics, but from the guitarist's point. However, it's the first time in my more than 50 years of music, that I see a demonstration of harmonics this way, especially around 9:35. I was surprised when we hear kinda "diminished" harmonic, and other ones, generated from the fundamental. Now, I think I understand a little better how some harmonics may interfere together between different instruments, and how we can "clean" some disturbing harmonics in a mix. Am I thinking in the right direction, Mike? Thank you very, very much for this explanation.
This is really fascinating, thank you very much. I remember this from talking about longitudinal waves in physics class in high school (long, long ago), but for some reason I never really thought about it while playing guitar. I've recently picked up an interest in building my own guitars, and this is related to what I read about how the distance between frets are calculated. I very much enjoyed this video.
Fundamental frequencies contain harmonics where as harmonics are pure sin wave and have no harmonics themselves - bet you didn't know that is the meaning of Fundamental vs Harmonic is because of this unique property
Great stuff Mike. Mind blowing stuff. I also learnt I have hearing loss at 110Hz as no way could I hear that fundamental. Will have to bear that in mind when I am mixing.
Hey Arthur, I had similar feeling - no sound heard at 110Hz when listening on laptop speakers. When switched to normal speakers, the fundamental sound appeared clearly
I knew the basics of harmonics but had not known about the first six harmonics forming a "major chord." Reading about this is instructive, but seeing/hearing it demonstrated (about 9:05) is much more so. Thanks.
2:32...I had no idea that the harmonics of A would be notes other than A. But I found it interesting that those harmonics (with the exception of G) are the notes that form the chord of A. Oh... I just noticed at the bottom of the list a B...also not in the key of A. I can't make out the last one though.
Hi Mike. Brilliant video but I'm afraid to disappoint you. I studied physics since a very early age so nothing new for me here. However, if you dig deeper into the physics of music and into the psychoacoustics realm, I'm pretty sure you will find something that will blow my mind. It's an area I haven't yet explored much but would be interested in.
Nice video Mike! I already new about the harmonic series, what i didn't realize was that the sound of the harmonics was virtually the same for different instruments. It was nice seeing timbre shown this way, when you got to the synth i expected you to make the sounds of the various instruments by adjusting the balance of the harmonics! Possible?
It's definitely an approach I'd experiment with! By analysing the behaviour of harmonics you could try to replicate them. But you'd also need to replicate they way they decay in a non-uniform way, as well as the inharmonic aspects etc. But goodness, it's gotta be fun to experiment with - as I'm sure many have.
It's theoretically possible but as we have seen so far, it's an almost impossible task in practice. Perhaps AI will change that. For now, we will still need to rely on samples to get close to the real thing. Also bear in mind that any instrument that is in direct and permanent contact with the human body (think stringed instrument except for piano similar instruments) is nearly impossible to mimic with synth or even samples. Why? Nuance. It's nuance that makes timbre change. Take a guitar for example: we can extract substantially different timbres from the exact same guitar only by changing the grip, the attack, the relative placement of the plectrum (when using one)... millions and millions of different combinations are available. Other instruments are not so nuanced. The same key on the same piano will sound very much the same whether it's me or a world class classical pianist hitting it. Less nuances to account for.
@@CreativeSauce Thanks for clarifying. A very deep subject, but even a cursory understanding will really help with sound design. Thanks for explaining so clearly as you always do.
Timestamp... mid 1970's. "In another five minutes, I'd have laid that building down in the street. Taken further, you could crack Earth itself wide open."
While listening to my physics teacher in high school, I realized that he was talking about waves and that meant music! I was already playing guitar and wanting to know EVERYTHING, so I started asking lots of questions and easily got an A. I think this is a great video for those who haven't "found their way into this room yet". This is crucial to recording/mixing/editing, playing live and getting the sound you want and getting rid of the sound you DON'T want! LOL This info is particularly useful when studying the drawbars of an organ.
So true about the draw bars Michael!
6.45 Never imagined that the same harmonic from different instruments would sound so similar! Every day's a school day!!
Right! It's kinda freaky :)
Mind blown when you showed the isolated harmonic sounded the same across several instruments!
Glad i stopped by again.
Door opened at 6 minutes in.
I've a lot to learn and i luv it.
😎
I never realised the harmonics sounded pretty much the same for different instruments. That's helped me to understand why sometimes things will sound great in a full mix but awful in solo
7:19 those low notes carrying high harmonics the same as high notes blew my mind.
At 6:30 mark - I am blown away with the discovery, Mike
Awesome man! Your passion is our fuel. Thanks so much mate!
Hello Mike! Being a Portuguese subscriber to your RUclips channel for quite a long time now, you can't imagine how helpful and educational this little video of yours is. Being a part-time musician (civil engineer at full-time) I’ve recently started to get deeper into sound, and all of the sound universe details. A thousand thank you’s are not enough. Well done indeed, Mr. Enjo. Keep it up. Best regards. Rui.
Okay you really blew my mind at 9:54 with the synthesizer
6:05!!!! You would have blown my mind earlier but I've been studying this stuff now for a few months. But the information at 6:05 took my mind to another level. Bravo!
I've heard the term, Harmonic Series, but I've never heard and seen it demonstrated. My mind was blown at 6:15 in the video. Great video and hope to see more like it.
Mike, ur a great teacher, Thx for learning us 👍
The heart chakra frequency is 639Hz. Always follow it Mike 💚🏆Being solo allowed me to find mine.
Thanks for touching on just intonation vs. equal tempered tuning.
Blew my mind when I learned why I never liked major third intervals in equal tempered tuning, they always sounded a bit out. They’re about 14 cents off compared with just intonation.
Mind blown at 9:33🤯
Great job explaining harmonics. I use harmonics to help me tune my Bass.
They've done it with Dolly the sheep, so let's get Mike cloned and put in every school there is. What a huge difference to education it would be to have a teacher like him for all kids growing up.
yup
6:07. As someone who is just starting out, I'm really struggling with the concept of EQ. What it is, how to use it, etc. As a newbie, EQ and compression seem like the most intimidating aspects of recording. Mainly because of how utilized they are, which makes me panic about their importance and my need to understand them asap. This really helped me to start understanding a bit about different frequencies. Still have a long way to go, but this was a great video. Thank you for doing it.
Thats the aproach to unifying spectrum theory! This is a nice demonstration of John Redfield concepts ("Music Cience & Art") Great job!!!
Thank you :)
Very well done, as always.
Also to note, odd harmonics added to the fundamental will create a more square shaped wave, which resembles the sound of a clipped, or distorted guitar, or brass. (Bright, harsh)
Even order harmonics added cause the wave to become more triangular.
I faff around with additive stuff with my Eurorack system... works a treat
Absolutely fascinating. Thanks Mike
Fascinating! Great video as always. Thanks Mike!
06:27 mind blown
When I was studying theory and harmony in college my teacher had us lay under the piano and listen to the overtones and sympathetic resonances. It completely changed how I look at composition and harmonic structure.
8:46, though I suspected as such when you showed all those harmonics earlier.
Nice! My mind wasn’t blown, since I was already familiar with the harmonic series. However, what WOULD have blown it was if you could take the guitar series and make it sound like a bassoon by matching its frequency distribution curve to that of the bassoon’s!!
Great teaching style!!!!
Yup! Mike strikes again! I knew a bit about harmonics, but from the guitarist's point. However, it's the first time in my more than 50 years of music, that I see a demonstration of harmonics this way, especially around 9:35. I was surprised when we hear kinda "diminished" harmonic, and other ones, generated from the fundamental. Now, I think I understand a little better how some harmonics may interfere together between different instruments, and how we can "clean" some disturbing harmonics in a mix. Am I thinking in the right direction, Mike? Thank you very, very much for this explanation.
Absolutely Pierre.
Thanks, Mike. This was both informative and eye opening. Love your videos.
Great video, Mike!😆😄
Thanks, this was really usefull😊
What an amazing video! Thanks for this and yes, we need more like this one!
Thank you!
VERY VERY interesting video! Really sheds light on the sounds that we hear everyday. Very well executed video!
8:24 in and I'm feeling my mind trying to wrap around all the implications and wondering where this will go .
Great video...again. The entire universe, and everything a part of it, has a sound. Amazing stuff.
Glad you enjoyed it
This is really fascinating, thank you very much. I remember this from talking about longitudinal waves in physics class in high school (long, long ago), but for some reason I never really thought about it while playing guitar. I've recently picked up an interest in building my own guitars, and this is related to what I read about how the distance between frets are calculated. I very much enjoyed this video.
Fundamental frequencies contain harmonics where as harmonics are pure sin wave and have no harmonics themselves - bet you didn't know that is the meaning of Fundamental vs Harmonic is because of this unique property
Your content is SOOO top classs❤️❤️
Really interesting Mike - I wasn't aware that the harmonics of all instruments sounded the same when you isolate them!
Great stuff Mike. Mind blowing stuff. I also learnt I have hearing loss at 110Hz as no way could I hear that fundamental. Will have to bear that in mind when I am mixing.
Hey Arthur, I had similar feeling - no sound heard at 110Hz when listening on laptop speakers. When switched to normal speakers, the fundamental sound appeared clearly
6.26 I didn't know the harmonics sound identical regardless of the instrument!
I knew the basics of harmonics but had not known about the first six harmonics forming a "major chord." Reading about this is instructive, but seeing/hearing it demonstrated (about 9:05) is much more so. Thanks.
I'm glad you enjoyed it Keith. Thank you :)
7.05 for me!
2:32...I had no idea that the harmonics of A would be notes other than A. But I found it interesting that those harmonics (with the exception of G) are the notes that form the chord of A. Oh... I just noticed at the bottom of the list a B...also not in the key of A. I can't make out the last one though.
I've always been a fan of ear training simply because I learned sax by ear (didn't learn to read music until college 🙂).
Hi Mike. Brilliant video but I'm afraid to disappoint you. I studied physics since a very early age so nothing new for me here. However, if you dig deeper into the physics of music and into the psychoacoustics realm, I'm pretty sure you will find something that will blow my mind. It's an area I haven't yet explored much but would be interested in.
Lol, I had a feeling!
Nice video Mike! I already new about the harmonic series, what i didn't realize was that the sound of the harmonics was virtually the same for different instruments. It was nice seeing timbre shown this way, when you got to the synth i expected you to make the sounds of the various instruments by adjusting the balance of the harmonics! Possible?
It's definitely an approach I'd experiment with! By analysing the behaviour of harmonics you could try to replicate them. But you'd also need to replicate they way they decay in a non-uniform way, as well as the inharmonic aspects etc. But goodness, it's gotta be fun to experiment with - as I'm sure many have.
It's theoretically possible but as we have seen so far, it's an almost impossible task in practice. Perhaps AI will change that. For now, we will still need to rely on samples to get close to the real thing.
Also bear in mind that any instrument that is in direct and permanent contact with the human body (think stringed instrument except for piano similar instruments) is nearly impossible to mimic with synth or even samples. Why? Nuance. It's nuance that makes timbre change. Take a guitar for example: we can extract substantially different timbres from the exact same guitar only by changing the grip, the attack, the relative placement of the plectrum (when using one)... millions and millions of different combinations are available. Other instruments are not so nuanced. The same key on the same piano will sound very much the same whether it's me or a world class classical pianist hitting it. Less nuances to account for.
nice basic facts. Hasn't the Studio version of Melodyne a sound design module, too? IMHO it's called "Sound Editor".
Fascinating stuff, thank you! I wonder, do harmonics produce their own harmonics, i.e are they fundamentals in their own right?
Hi Malcolm. Great question :) No they don't.
@@CreativeSauce Thanks for clarifying. A very deep subject, but even a cursory understanding will really help with sound design. Thanks for explaining so clearly as you always do.
6:25!!
2:41 Never realized an open A is actually a chord.
:)
... 👍👍 !!
4:00, 7:57
3:62
Timestamp... mid 1970's.
"In another five minutes, I'd have laid that building down in the street. Taken further, you could crack Earth itself wide open."
6:17
12:04
6min 6sec
Apparently, my phone has a highpass filter. I don't
hear the fundamental at all.
Or maybe my ears are doing it.
That's right! Phone speakers are pretty poor at producing low frequencies :)
@CreativeSauce Thus demonstrating that the fundamental isn't strictly necessary all the time. It still sounded like a guitar to me. 😊
I always save his videos so I can use headphones when I'm watching.
On the butt of what happens when you have a band in close prox
If you know how to intonate your guitar properly, you gotta know.