Trombone and tuba differ dramatically in harmonic richness on the same note

Evidence

Figure 4.29 shows waveforms and spectra for the note C3 played on a trombone and a tuba. The harmonics in the spectrum of the trombone extend far higher in frequency than those of the tuba. This effect can be seen by comparing the shape of their waveforms, where the trombone has many more oscillations during each cycle than the tuba. In these examples, the first three harmonics dominate the spectrum of the tuba in terms of amplitude, and eight harmonics can be readily seen, whereas the fifth harmonic dominates the spectrum of the trombone, and harmonics up to about the twenty-ninth can be identified. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1261

Figure 4.29 shows waveforms and spectra for the note C3 played on a trombone and a tuba. The harmonics in the spectrum of the trombone extend far higher in frequency than those of the tuba. This effect can be seen by com­ paring the shape of their waveforms where the trombone has many more oscillations during each cycle than the tuba. In these examples, the first three harmonics dominate the spectrum of the tuba in terms of amplitude and eight harmonics can be readily seen, whereas the fifth harmonic dominates the spec­ trum of the trombone, and harmonics up to about the 29th can be identified. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1284

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete data for understanding instrument timbre and spectral differences, relevant to the reader’s broader psychoacoustics project on how instruments produce their characteristic sounds.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1261; David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1284