Re: Harmonics in bird song

["Ed Anson" ed_anson]

On Nov 13, 2006, at 12:48 PM, 1GDW wrote:
>
> When viewing bird song in Audition I see some songs display more
> harmonics than others, are these elements actually part of the song
> giving it timber or are some harmonics created with the program as it
> renders the sound?

Harmonics are probably the most important part of the sound produced by
any vocal tract, whether it is human or avian.

The vocal cords produce a raw sound that fairly closely approximates a
square wave. Accordingly it has many harmonics. Various parts of the
vocal tract act as resonators, increasing the intensity of the
harmonics in selected ranges that change as the resonators change size
(e.g., due to motions of the tongue). The frequencies and changes of
the resonances essentially determine the character of the sound we
hear.

>
> Gerald White  Muscatine , IA