THE INDIVIDUALITY OF INSTRUMENTS 291 



trained ear is not conscious of overtones and recognizes 

 only the strong dominant fundamental. The overtones blend 

 in with the fundamental and are so inconspicuously present 

 that we do not realize their existence ; it is only when they 

 are absent that we become aware of the beauty which they 

 add to the music. A song played on tuning forks instead 

 of on strings would be lifeless and unsatisfying because of 

 the absence of overtones. 



It is not necessary to hold finger or pencil at the points 

 1:3, 1:4, etc., in order to cause the string to vibrate in va- 

 rious ways ; if a string is merely plucked or bowed at those 

 places, the result will be the same. It is important to re- 

 member that no matter where a string of definite length is 

 bowed, the note most distinctly heard will be the funda- 

 mental; but the quality of the emitted tone will vary with 

 the bowing. For example, if a string is bowed in the mid- 

 dle, the effect will be far less pleasing than though it were 

 bowed near the end. In the piano, the hammers are ar- 

 ranged so as to strike near one end of the string, at a dis- 

 tance of about I : 7 to 1:9; and hence a large number of 

 overtones combine to reenforce and enrich the fundamental 

 tone. 



270. The Individuality of Instruments. It has been shown 

 that a piano string when struck by a hammer, or a violin 

 string when bowed, or a mandolin string when plucked, 

 vibrates not only as a whole, but also in segments, and as a 

 result give forth not a simple tone, as we are accustomed to 

 think, but a very complex tone consisting of the fundamental 

 and one or more overtones. If the string whose fundamental 

 note is lower C (128 vibrations per second) is thrown into 

 vibration, the tone produced may contain, in addition to the 

 prominent fundamental, any one or more of the following 

 overtones : C', A", C",E",C'", etc. 



