A stopped flue pipe sounds its fifth harmonic before its fundamental on attack

Evidence

The organ stops for which waveforms and spectra are illustrated in Figure 5.2 are three reed stops: hautbois and trompette (LTAS in Figure 4.22) and a regal, and gedackt (LTAS in Figure 4.17), which is an example of a stopped flue pipe. The stopped flue supports only the odd modes (see Chapter 4), and, during the onset phase of this particular example, the fifth harmonic sounds first, which is the second overblown mode sounding two octaves and a major third above the fundamental (see Figure 3.3), followed by the fundamental and then the third harmonic, giving a characteristic chiff to the stop. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1448

Categorization

• DEFINE: ‘Chiff’ is named and explained here as the characteristic organ attack consonant produced by staggered harmonic entry.
• SEED: Angle: ‘the sound that arrives before the note’ — how attack transients, not steady-state spectra, define our sense of an instrument’s identity.
• XREF: connects to: Stopped flue pipes sound their harmonics in a characteristic staggered order producing a chiff — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1448; A stopped flue pipe’s odd-mode support creates its characteristic chiff at onset — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1474; Organ pipes begin notes one brief harmonic above their sustained pitch — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1446

Broader Connections

• Stopped flue pipes sound their harmonics in a characteristic staggered order producing a chiff #corroborates (1.00) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1448
• A stopped flue pipe’s odd-mode support creates its characteristic chiff at onset #corroborates (0.90) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1474
• Organ pipes begin notes one brief harmonic above their sustained pitch #complicates (0.90) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1446