Quote:
Originally Posted by LouD.  i believe with drums they're known as overtones |
Strictly speaking, harmonics are overtones -the two words are pretty much interchangeable except the first overtone (octave) is normally called second harmonic.
In response to the original question - yes there are harmonics from drums. In fact much/most of what you hear is actually harmonics (this is true of many/most musical instruments). As pointed out, the harmonics from a 2D surface (drum skin) is far more complicated than that from a 1d object (string/column of air etc). Add an extra resonant head and the vibrations from the shell and things get very complex indeed. Most of the harmonics generated are 'inharmonic' in terms of western music....that is they are not octaves/fifths etc.
It is the balancing of these harmonics, to give a sense of evenness of tone, that is it at the core of drum tuning - something which I find bl00dy difficult !