>>12053068The Harmonic Series is a phenomenon that interacts with music all over the world. Every sound that could be described as a pitch has a harmonic series. Essentially, the fundamental pitch, aka the note an instrument is playing, has a series of harmonics which are multiples of that frequency.
For example, a 100hz note also has harmonics extending to 200hz, 300hz, 400hz, etc. n*x
There is an exponential property to the way our ears experience these harmonics. Every harmonic that is n*2^x (n=fundamental pitch) is heard as an octave higher, for each increment of x. Every harmonic n*3*2^x is heard as a fifth, again rising in octsves. N*2*4^x is covered by n*2^x. Therefore every odd number dictate a new interval. 5*2^x describes thirds, 7*2^x describes "harmonic sevenths." Halway between the natural 7 and flat seven. And so on. All these interval names (octave, fifth, third, seventh) are music theory intervals, has nothing to do with the matemagic terms.
The volume profile of all these harmonics is what determines a particular timbre of sound.
Also, the pentatonic scale, the most universal collection of notes (at varying intonations) is based on the harmonic series. Odd harmonics 2^x through 9*2^x
