Inharmonic

Inharmonic form Additive synthesis can also produce inharmonic sounds (which are aperiodic waveforms) in which the individual overtones need not have frequencies that are integer multiples of some common fundamental frequency.

A harmonic partial is any real partial component of a complex tone that matches (or nearly matches) an ideal harmonic. citation An inharmonic partial is any partial that does not match an ideal harmonic.

An inharmonic frequency is a non-integer multiple of a fundamental frequency.

Inharmonic additive synthesis can be described as : where is the constant frequency of th partial.

Rather than perceiving the individual partials–harmonic and inharmonic, of a musical tone, humans perceive them together as a tone color or timbre, and the overall pitch is heard as the fundamental of the harmonic series being experienced.

The inharmonic ringing of the instrument's metal resonator is even more prominent in the sounds of brass instruments.

The original sound wave is suppressed and replaced by a "ring" of inharmonic higher and lower pitches or " sidebands ".

Unpitched, or indefinite-pitched instruments, such as cymbals, gongs, or tam-tams make sounds (produce spectra) that are rich in inharmonic partials (make "noise") and give no impression of implying any particular pitch.