Harmonics vs. Chord Tones

[Vince Klortho]

This changes my perception of overtones, although I'm not sure what i can do with it. I still think they're too far apart to hear any sort of chord produced, but they most definitely are part of what our ears hear without realizing it. An absence of those overtones- would it even sound like music anymore? The timbre would be completely altered.

I would not say they are too far apart. They are just separated by octaves. As an experiment, first get your bass' intonation adjusted well and play a single note. Then play the octave note with it simultaneously. Note the thickness in the sound. This is due to added harmonics. If you can reach, play a chord of three notes with the addition of a second harmonic. Now it is really thick.

In the absence of harmonics we would be left with simple sine waves and it would sound very thin. You really don't want to go there.

I am not sure why brass players would consider their fundamental notes impractical. A note is a note and in the end it's all about the tone. If I recall correctly, sawtooth waves are used to generate brass sounds and they are made from odd harmonics.