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Date: Tue Apr 13, 2010 4:36 pm ((PDT))
Hi Aliza,
(I'll reply from my position as a classical singer and voice pedagogue; whi=
le not a physicist or acoustician, we are required to have a strong fundame=
ntal knowledge of acoustics).
Pitch and harmonics are two different properties of sound--actually, pitch =
is a property of a sound wave, which is a compression wave. Pitch is the (r=
elative) speed of a sound wave's cycles, for example, common concert A is i=
n modern orchestral pitch established at 440 Hz, or cycles per second.
Harmonics are the waveforms which are individual components of a sound and =
which, combined, allow the ear to recognize the color or timbre of a sound =
(attack, decay, vibrato, loudness, and pitch all combine to this overall pi=
cture, of course). Basically, what lets you distinguish an /a/ (as in "fath=
er")from an /u/ (as in "food") from an /E/ (as in "met") is the harmonic co=
ntent. Harmonics themselves are whole-number multiples of the fundamental f=
requency of a vibrating body.
You can think of harmonics a bit like your EQ meter--what gives you the cha=
racteristic of a given sound is how much of each harmonic is present, sort =
of how you select certain bands of frequency on the EQ to boost bass, mids,=
and trebles--except the comparison isn't quite that precise.
So to answer your specific question: (almost entirely) independent of _pitc=
h_, more sonorous vowels can be described as those richer in harmonics.
In the human voice, what carries classical singers' voices across orchestra=
s and allows human singing to be powerful and audible through other sounds,=
is the presence of an unusually intense formant band (cluster of high-ener=
gy harmonics) present ca. 2200-2400Hz. This is often referred to as the sin=
ger's formant, or more colloquially, the singer's 'ring.'
There is a good brief explanation with helpful images at the following site=
:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/timbre.html
with a note about distinguishing harmonics and overtones at:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/music/otone.html#c1
hope this helps!
Vlad
Wolodymyr Smishkewych
wolodymyrsmishkewych.com
On 13 Apr 2010, at 19:05, alizaleroux wrote:
> As person who's been studying animal vocalizations far more than human vo=
calizations, I am a little unclear about some aspects of human sounds.
>
> I was wondering if more sonorous vowels can also be described as more har=
monic and higher pitched? Or is this too simplistic a description?
>
> Thank you for your help!
> Aliza
>
>
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