The olfactory pyramid: top notes, middle notes and base notes

The link between scent and music has ancient origins. In the Nineteenth century the French Septimus Piesse associated the concept of the musical scale to the scent, tying the olfactory families to the notes of a scale. Of this association remained the conception of "note" in perfumery: the fragrances are classified into three categories: high notes or head notes, middle notes or heart notes and low notes or base notes. As the composer, the perfumer will have to use all the notes, so as to create a balanced fragrance. The three "notes" of the perfume make up the olfactory pyramid that is a visualization of their degree of volatility.