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Scan 131
Pronouncing and Defing Dictionary of Music, 1896
44 lines. Read by computer on 15 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Harmonichord. An instrument having the form of an upright piano, but a tone something like that of a violin, produced by the friction of a cylinder covered with leather upon the strings. It was invented in 1785 by Fr. Kaufman.
3Harmonici (här-mö'nĭ-tshē), It. pl. Harmonics in violin music.
5Harmonic mark. A sign used in violin, harp music, etc., to indicate that certain passages are to be played upon such parts of the open strings as will produce the harmonic sounds, O.
7Harmonicon. A small instrument held in the hand, the sounds being produced from small metal springs set in motion by blowing from the mouth.
9Harmonics. (1) The sounds produced by the vibrations of divisions (aliquot parts) of a string, column of air, etc. Simple sounds are very rare. What we regard as one sound is in reality a compound of a multiplicity of sounds produced by a multiplicity of various simultaneous vibrational forms. If, for instance, an impact is given to a string, it vibrates not only in its full length but at the same time also in divisions. The vibrations of the full length of the string give the fundamental tone, the doubly-quick vibrations of the halves of the string give the octave above the fundamental tone, the trebly-quick vibrations of the string the fifth above the octave, and so on. The several tones which make up the compound sound are called partial tones, or partials; the lowest of them is called fundamental tone, prime, or principal tone; those above the fundamental tone are called the upper partial tones, upper partials, overtones, or harmonics. The fundamental tone is generally the loudest of the partial tones, and with it the upper partials blend so as to be indistinguishable, or only in part distinguishable under certain conditions. The number and relative strength of the partial tones vary in the different classes of instruments and voices and in the different individuals of the same class; it is on the number and the relative strength of the partials that the timbre (quality, character of tone) of instruments and voices chiefly depends. In the following illustration, which shows the first sixteen partial tones of the sound C, the figures indicate the sequence of the partials in the series, and also the relative number of their vibrations in a given time. As the actual sounds of the 7th, 11th, 13th, 17th, and 15th partials can only be approximately represented, they have been distinguished by asterisks.
11(2) Harmonics is also the name given to certain tones produced on the violin, harp, and other stringed instruments, tones which owe another name—flageolet tones—to their peculiar character. By touching a vibrating string very lightly in the middle, or at a point a third, fourth, fifth, etc., of its length distant from one of its ends (i.e., from the nut or the bridge) it is made to vibrate in two, three, four, five, etc., divisions, and the result are notes respectively an octave, twelfth, fifteenth, seventeenth, nineteenth, etc., higher than the tone obtained from the open string—i.e., by its full-length vibration.
13Harmonic stops. Organ-stops whose pipes, owing to greater pressure of wind, do not produce their fundamental tones, but the first harmonic—i.e., the tone an octave above the fundamental tone. Such stops are the Flûte octaviante and Flûte harmonique.
15Harmonic triad. The common chord, consisting of a fundamental note, its third and fifth.
17Harmonie (här-mō-nē'), Fr. } Harmony.
18Harmonie (här-mō-nē'), Ger. }
20Harmoniemusik (här-mō-nē'moo-zēk'), Ger. A military band consisting of brass instruments. The brass in the orchestra. Music for wind instruments only.
22Harmonieusement (här-mō-nĭ-ūs-mānh), Fr. Harmoniously.
24Harmonieux (här-mō-nĭ-ūh'), Fr. Harmonious.
26Harmonious. A term applicable to any two or more sounds which form a consonant or agreeable union.
28Harmoniphon. A small instrument with a keyboard like a pianoforte, invented in 1837, and intended to supply the place of haut-boys in an orchestra. The sounds are produced from small metal tongues acted upon by a current of air through a flexible tube.
30Harmonique (här-mō-nēk), Fr. Harmonic; the relation of sounds to each other; also applied to organ-pipes of double length.
32Harmoniquement (här-mō-nēk-mānh), Fr. Harmonically.
34Harmoniren (här-mō-nē'r'n), Ger. To harmonize, to be in unison. one of two readings
35Harmonieren (här-mō-nē'r'n), Ger. To harmonize, to be in unison. one of two readings
37Harmonisch (här-mō'nĭsh), Ger. Harmonious, harmonical.
39Harmonische Theilung (här-mō'nĭ-shē tī-loong), Ger. Harmonical division.
41Harmonist. One acquainted with the science of harmony.
43Harmonium. A keyboard wind instrument of the reed-organ kind, the tones of which are produced by the vibration of free reeds. (V. Reeds.) The bellows are worked, except in very large harmoniums, by the performer by means of two pedals (treadles). Small harmoniums have only one set of reeds, i.e.,
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