Odd harmonics? WTf is that?

oddball frequencies

A cylindrical closed end flute, which would be one tube of a panflute, will have the same number of beats going in as going out, because the closed end is a node, or point of no vibration. So the frequencies of the main note and all the harmonics will be even numbered. I don't know which harmonics are 'combed out' of the note, but panflute does have a unique sound.
As for 'oddball' frequencies, they will change the sound of a note, as organ settings use 'off key' background frequencies to give a particular sound, like a diapason, which adds a note an octave above the main note, or tonic. But the 'oddball' freq is not always a harmonic.
I think the original question must relate to oddball freqs. If you heard such a thing you would know it. You might experiment with getting rid of it. One fix, as yet untried, might be : use a harmonizer to negate the offending background freq.
This has equal promise to mess things up even more, but could provide a new neat sound you might want.
Best fix is to tune the instrument producing the oddball frequency. Double strings on a 12 string need to be exactly in tune, or else a third 'interference' beat occurs. This might not be significant in one pair, but combine 6 pairs and alot of unwanted vibrations occur. Or maybe you might want them, too.
A good way to recognize 'in tune' vs. out of tune is to tune a piano. Three strings can sound in unison, but when you get all 3 exactly in unison, the sudden clearness is remarkable. The harmonic overtones line up exactly, too.
 
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Again, The odd harmonics vs. even harmonics was an explanation of why some distortion sounded better than other distortion. (tube vs. solid state amps and analog vs. digital)

It's a very simplistic way of looking at it and not entirely accurate.

There is no way of changing the harmonics given off by an instrument without physically changing the instrument, so any such problem would not be a recording or mixing technique issue, it would be a problem with the instrument itself.
 
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