An orchestral chime is struck eight times, each time preceeded by cue tones equal to the first eight partials of the chime.
The chime is now followed by a tone matching its nominal pitch or strike note.
In a carillon bell or a tuned church bell, the pitch of the strike note nearly coincides with the second partial (called the Fundamental or Prime), and thus the two are difficult to separate. In most orchestral chimes, however, the strike note lies between second and third partial (Rossing, 1982). Its pitch is usually identified as the missing fundamental of the 4th, 5th and 6th partials, which have frequencies nearly in the ratio 2:3:4. A few listeners identify the chime strike note as coinciding with the 4th partial (an octave higher). In which octave do you hear it?