In article ,
MINe 109 wrote:

In article
,
Jenn wrote:

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

"Jenn" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

"Jenn" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

"Jenn" wrote in message

Hi everyone,

I have a question about HD. I know very well of the
implications of the harmonic series (or overtone
series) in music making and acoustics. My question
is: when one refers to, for example, "second harmonic
distortion" in terms of audio, does "second harmonic"
mean the same thing that it means in music and
acoustics, i.e. an octave plus a perfect fifth above a
fundamental?

Thanks for any help.

The posts from SHP and I say about the same thing. This
points out the fact that until engineers realize that
musicians have their own special meanings for common
engineering words of art, it can be really strange to
talk to them.

Except that you're wrong. This is EXACTLY how the terms
are used in music; I simply misspoke in my question.
There is evidently NO difference in how the terms are
used. I wrote "second harmonic" when I meant to write
"second overtone".

Whatever. :-(

I'm sorry, what do you mean? The terms are used EXACTLY
the same.

Which terms?

Harmonics, harmonic series, etc.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article...stortion&ct=eb

Another term sometimes applied to these standing waves is overtones. The
second harmonic is the first overtone, the third harmonic is the second
overtone, and so forth. ³Overtone² is a term generally applied to any
higher-frequency standing wave, whereas the term harmonic is reserved
for those cases in which the frequencies of the overtones are integral
multiplesŠ

End quote.

Stephen

Yep, we use the terms overtones and harmonics interchangeably; the
numbers are just different.