Undertone or Undertones may refer to:
Music
*
Undertone series
In music, the undertone series or subharmonic series is a sequence of notes that results from inverting the intervals of the overtone series. While overtones naturally occur with the physical production of music on instruments, undertones mus ...
, a sequence of notes that results from inverting the intervals of the overtone series
*
The Undertones
The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...
, Northern Irish band
**
''The Undertones'' (album), 1979 album by The Undertones
*
Northwestern Undertones, a cappella group at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States
* From
woodwind instruments
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments.
Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...
: Undertones may emerge as the tone component(s) of a note's sound which are lower in pitch than the frequency of the note.
Examples of woodwind undertones:
** Every note above low-G on a
GHB pipe
chanter
The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder. On more elaborate bagpipes, such as the Northumbrian bagpipes or ...
entails some undertone of low-G; the energy of the low-G undertone comes from the dual side-holes towards the bottom end of the pipe chanter.
** Much more rarely considered is the sound - as undertone - which emerges from the very bottom of the chanter and might be termed: horntone, horn-note, belltone, or - most politely and concisely - the bellnote.
** The practical (conventional) fingering of notes entails further undertones such as: low-A emerging with fingered E, and C(#) & B undertones but not low-A with fingered D.
Relevance: Ill-tuned lower notes may - as undertones - mess-up the practical sound (tuning) of higher notes.
Separate pipes of a pipe organ, or of a GHB versus the pipe chanter - that is the drones - should not be practically discussed as undertones; they can be turned on and turned off, so each separate pipe is considered to produce its' own sound(s).
Other uses
*
Operation Undertone
Operation Undertone, also known as the Saar-Palatinate Offensive, was a large assault by the Seventh United States Army, U.S. Seventh, United States Army Central, Third, and First Army (France), French First Armies of the Sixth United States Arm ...
, part of the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II
*
Undertone (advertising company)
Undertone is a digital advertising company. Founded as a subsidiary of Intercept Interactive, a digital media buying company, in 2002. Undertone introduced its first full page high impact display products between 2010 and 2012 and has followed wi ...
, a New York-based digital advertising company
* An underlying or implied tendency or meaning; a
subtext
In any communication, in any medium or format, "subtext" is the underlying or implicit meaning that, while not explicitly stated, is understood by an audience.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "an underlying and often distinct theme ...
* Skin undertone, as it applies to cosmetics; see
color analysis (art)
See also
*
Overtones (disambiguation)
{{disambig