Flute notes have a characteristic breathy onset with harmonics entering gradually after the fundamental

Evidence

This particular example of C4 from the flute begins with a notably “breathy” onset just prior to and as the fundamental component starts. This can be seen in the frequency region of the spectrogram that is above 2 kHz lasting some 70 ms. The higher harmonics enter one by one approximately 80 ms after the fundamental starts. The rather long note onset phase is characteristic of a flute note played with some deliberation. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1478

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the earlier clarinet/harmonic onset discussion in this chapter and Chapter 4’s odd-harmonic analysis — the temporal structure of instrument onsets is a recurrence across the book. — connects to: Instrumental notes begin with the fundamental before higher harmonics appear — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1458; Note onsets have staggered harmonic entry times that define each instrument’s timbre — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1449; Note onsets are composed of many separable acoustic cues (+2 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1478

Broader Connections

• Note onsets have staggered harmonic entry times that define each instrument’s timbre #exemplifies (0.95) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1449
• Instrumental notes begin with the fundamental before higher harmonics appear #expands (0.90) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1458
• Note onsets are composed of many separable acoustic cues #expands (0.85)