Harmonics Explained: See Them, Hear Them, and Build Musical Sounds
Harmonics are discussed constantly in music and audio—but what are they actually doing? Using an oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, and a Hammond-style organ, we’ll see and hear individual harmonics, combine them into more complex waveforms, and explore how musicians can change their relative levels to shape a sound.
We’ll start with simple sine waves and whole-number harmonic relationships, then move from the test bench to a musical example using organ drawbars to control harmonic balance. Along the way, we’ll see how changes in harmonic content appear in both the frequency and time domains—and hear how those changes affect the sound.