põhisageduse

Põhisagedus, often translated as fundamental frequency, refers to the lowest frequency component of a complex sound wave. In the context of musical instruments and human speech, it is the frequency that our ear perceives as the pitch of the sound. While a complex sound, like a musical note, is made up of a fundamental frequency and many overtones or harmonics (which are integer multiples of the fundamental), it is the põhisagedus that primarily determines the perceived pitch.

For example, when a guitar string is plucked, it vibrates not only at its fundamental frequency but also at various higher frequencies. However, we typically hear the note corresponding to the põhisagedus. The presence and relative intensity of these overtones contribute to the timbre or tone quality of the sound, differentiating a violin from a piano playing the same note. In acoustics and signal processing, identifying the põhisagedus is crucial for tasks such as pitch detection, speech analysis, and musical instrument recognition. It is a key characteristic in understanding and classifying sounds.