Free reeds produce fewer high harmonics because airflow never fully stops

Evidence

Free reeds that do not make contact with a shallot, as found for example in a harmonica or harmonium, do not produce as high a proportion of high harmonics since the airflow is never completely shut off. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1203

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the acoustic distinction between free reeds (no shallot contact) and beating reeds, and why it matters spectrally.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1203
• XREF: connects to: Free reeds vibrate without shallot contact, tuned by a movable wire.; Free reeds produce fewer high harmonics than beating reeds; Free reeds produce fewer high harmonics because absent shallot closing never fully halts airflow. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1231 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Free reeds produce fewer high harmonics than beating reeds #expands (0.95)