Word: helmboltz
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Dates: during 1890-1899
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...single sound having distinct pitch. It has long been known that in some notes such as those of the voice and stringed instruments, what we call the pitch of the note is accompanied by a number of higher and fainter pitches. These are called overtones. The researches of Helmboltz have proved that this is not the exceptional but the common case and that comparatively few instruments (the tuning fork being one) give notes in which the pitch we principally notice is the only one apparent to closer scrutiny. According to his theory timbre, or the characteristic quality which differentiates notes...
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