Colour overtones

16Dec11

In this course we call a colour bias an OVERTONE, a term borrowed from music. When a C string is plucked on a harp or struck on a piano, the string vibrates at a specific rate that causes our ears to hear a C. But in addition to the C, we also hear a weaker vibration: a G and (more subtly) an E. In fact, a diminishing succession of subdivisions always accompany the strong pitch of a plucked string. As when colours are mixed, when individual musical tones are combined, so are their overtones. The result is a denser sound than one might expect. Adding a third and fourth note thickens the harmonic texture. The role of colour bias in mixing paint parallels this acoustical phenomenon. (p. 15)

via David Hornung in Color: A workshop approach, 2005, Laurence King Publishing, London.

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