18 Mr. Daniel Jones on Experimental Phonetics [Feb. 9, 



accomplishments of the Hngui«t are sometimes found to have their 

 uses to the man of science. 



Thus it is possible by means of a speech process to demonstrate 

 in a remarkable way the existence of harmonics in a musical note, 

 to show, for instance, that if the note c is sung, there is sounding- 

 simultaneously the well-known series of harmonics c', g\ c'\ e', g'\ 

 etc. This fact is made evident by putting the mouth into a series 

 of positions which will act as resonators and reinforce different 

 harmonics one after the other. If only one position is taken up 

 by the mouth, some harmonic or other . is necessarily reinforced, 

 but it is extremely diflBcult to detect which. But by making rapid 

 changes from one mouth-position to another, the successive har- 

 monics become clearly audible hy contrast. The speech-movement 

 which makes these harmonics come out most clearly is to start 

 by holding the tongue in the position of the English sound of ng and 

 rounding the lips and gradually separating them. At close quarters 

 the effect is that of an arpeggio played on a tiny harp. If the 

 voice-note is changed, the same arpeggio is heard in a different key. 



[This experiment was performed.] 



This phonetic experiment may or may not prove to have some 

 direct value in the direction of elucidating problems of sound-quality, 

 but at any rate it is useful as a practical demonstration Of the presence 

 of harmonics in a musical sound. 



[D.J.] 



