Woodwind instruments enter their harmonics in staggered sequences on attack

Evidence

For these particular examples of the clarinet and tenor saxophone, the fundamental is apparent first, and the oboe note begins with the second harmonic, followed by the third and fourth harmonics after approximately 5 ms, and then the fundamental some 8 ms later. The higher harmonics of the clarinet are apparent nearly 30 ms after the fundamental; the dominance of the odd harmonics is discussed in Chapter 4. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1450

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the odd-harmonic dominance of a stopped cylindrical bore (clarinet) covered in Chapter 4. — connects to: Timbre depends on staggered harmonic entry times and spectral extent — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1475; Note onsets have staggered harmonic entry times that define each instrument’s timbre — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1449; Cascading open tone holes act as a frequency-based filter shaping woodwind timbre — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1246 (+4 more)
• CANDY: The oboe starts on its second harmonic and reaches its fundamental 8 ms late — a genuinely tweetable reversal of how we imagine a note ‘starting’.

Broader Connections

• Note onsets have staggered harmonic entry times that define each instrument’s timbre #corroborates (1.00) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1449
• An instrument’s opening attack largely determines its perceived timbre #corroborates (1.00) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2245
• Continuous-excitation instruments like flutes attack slowly while impulse-excited ones do not #complicates (0.95) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 689
• Timbre depends on staggered harmonic entry times and spectral extent #expands (0.90) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1475
• Onset attack mechanisms are vital acoustic cues to instrument identity #corroborates (0.90)
• Cascading open tone holes act as a frequency-based filter shaping woodwind timbre #qualifies (0.85) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1246
• An instrument’s normal attack transient is essential to its characteristic timbre #expands (0.85)