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Musical Harmonic Overtone Series (2D)

Interactive 2D harmonic overtone series visualizer: watch a vibrating string's fundamental and overtones 1-8 (f_n = n·f1) as separate standing waves and as one summed waveform, with live frequency and musical-note readouts and optional audio playback.

Physics & Mechanics2DEasy60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D simulator draws a vibrating string as a sum of standing-wave harmonics: the top canvas shows the composite waveform produced by whichever overtones (n = 1 through 8, f_n = n·f1) are switched on, while the lower gallery shows each active harmonic's own standing-wave shape side by side. Drag the fundamental-frequency slider or pick a sawtooth, square or triangle overtone-amplitude preset to hear and see how the mix of overtones shapes a musical tone's timbre, with live readouts for the selected harmonic's frequency and nearest musical note, and an optional Web Audio play button to listen to the resulting composite tone.

⚙ Under the hood

Watch a vibrating string's fundamental and overtones 1-8 (f_n = n·f1) as individual standing waves and as one summed waveform, with live frequency and musical-note readouts and optional Web Audio playback.

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install