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Post by niff on Jan 10, 2008 1:37:02 GMT -5
i have far from perfect pitch. i assume you do, notey, as you talk about it enough. but i'm curious as to what you can do with it, apart from saying what a note is.
say you heard a G#. or an Ab. whatever. can you imagine in your mind, right away, what it sound sound like in a certain key? say if you heard the note, and mentally told yourself it was in the key of D. would it sound scary and diminished like if you heard it after D?
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Post by Notesurfer on Jan 10, 2008 11:38:36 GMT -5
I've never tried imposing key signatures on individual notes, mostly because having absolute pitch is annoying enough as-is. The main benefit of learning to distinguish between pitches (because it can be learned) is that it makes on-the-fly improv a lot easier. I've played with upwards of 50 different bands in a variety of musical styles, and having perfect pitch means I almost never hit wrong notes while I'm trying to figure out the key (because I've already figured it out). Having a sense of rhythm is especially important when adapting to different styles, but that probably doesn't interest you as much.
That's basically the only benefit that I've noticed, although I should mention that, if you really refine your skill at pitch correction, you can tune completely by ear (and no, I don't mean relative tuning). For the most part it's a curse, like when a bunch of people are leaning on their car horns and one horn doesn't fit into the standard car-horn key (most car horns I've heard are a note in the key of F, especially Bb). I remember I did a ritzy outdoor gig once and this train whistle starts blowing a high-to-low Eb (think organ - multiple octaves). I had to change the key I was playing in because it was so annoying. Thankfully it wasn't of the variety that hits a softer 4th - I would have ended up sounding like Debussy on acid.
I must say though, if you're a musician, having absolute pitch is invaluable, especially if you choose to learn an unfretted instrument. Plus it's a great party trick (hey Dave, is this champagne glass out of tune?).
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Post by niff on Jan 10, 2008 19:59:59 GMT -5
that really does sound, like a gift and a curse. i am trying to train myself (although the extent of it is basically my sister and a pitch pipe) and i use internet based interval training to recognise the intervals properly, buuuut it's gonna take quite a long time. i usually just have to establish what key it's in with the people i'm playing with first off and i'm good to go improv-wise. according to my teachers, my sense of rhythm is pretty damn good. i may as well be black. *cough*
sounds like a pretty cool little natural talent, though. would be nice to have but i think it would drive me nuts as i am a little bit of a perfectionist.
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Post by Notesurfer on Jan 10, 2008 22:30:31 GMT -5
I will *never* understand the connection that is made so frequently between race and rhythm. \-: I've never seen anything to make me think that race and musical ability OR style are related. Culture does have some effect on musical taste, but not much. Personality and talent are independent from race as far as I've seen.
I know that was kind of a stupid rant, but I have played with some groups who told me they initially assumed that a white kid playing a violin would be really annoying, given the rhythmic bias regarding both white guys AND the violin. Cut to scene of me playing hip-hop. Cut back.
Anyway, perfect pitch is definitely a huge pain in the neck once you've really refined it. It also makes you look like a jerk, because you're always re-tuning other people's instruments. I get myself put on a blacklist for a lot of nonmusicians who don't understand why it pisses me off so much that they are SINGING SO FREAKING LOUD AND OUT OF TUNE INTO A MICROPHONE!
*cough*
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Post by niff on Jan 11, 2008 2:36:36 GMT -5
jeez. it's a long running in joke, not a topic to write a philosophy paper on. chill, analysis-man, your powers can be used for good on other topics. yeah i'm almost glad i don't have it sometimes but it really does seem to have it's benefits. i can imagine how a perfectly tuned orchestra playing a piece dead on would be even more appreciated by you and others with the same little ability. that reminds me, i so lost my electronic tuner. no more perfect tuning for me. aaaand, my guitar's strings are getting old and stretching. and my bass strings sound like rubber bands cause i haven't changed them in 6 months. blah.
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Post by Notesurfer on Jan 11, 2008 18:17:37 GMT -5
I've found that old strings have an un-re-creatable-though-very-hyphenate-able sound to them. Still, I did shell out the extra dough for a set of gold and silver plated strings, so I guess I'm not one to talk.
Actually I prefer a slightly detuned orchestra because it emphasizes the multiplicity of the instrumentation. What I mean is, it has a unique sound to it that I enjoy. Still, out-of-tune is a huge nono to me.
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Post by niff on Jan 11, 2008 20:34:40 GMT -5
they sound kinda cool when i have my ATK's pickup switch on the "stingray" sound. but i much prefer it when it's emulating a p-bass with fresh roundwounds, with a pick. it sounds brilliant, especially for the music i play mostly. like how the chicago or some other city in america's symphony orchestra tunes to 43something hz instead of 440? if it's out of tune on purpose like say, saint-saens "danse macabre" (beautiful piece btw), does it get to you or does it emphasise how it's supposed to sound dissonant? heh. it's like analysing someone with a psychological condition.
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Post by Notesurfer on Jan 12, 2008 12:46:40 GMT -5
What I'm talking about is when an entire orchestra is tuned within 2 cents of the main pitch, whatever that may be. The fact that some orchestras tune slightly flat or sharp is irrelevant. You've used chorus and flange effects, correct? That's what I'm talking about - a slight detuning that makes it sound like there's more than one instrument (especially if there is). Yes danse macabre is a good piece, and if performed correctly it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I've played pieces that were almost completely atonal, and it's possible to make that sound musical if you know what you're doing (as a composer and performer).
Also, my lawnmower tunes to a perfect G, but if the grass is too high for it to handle the pitch changes. There, another use for perfect pitch. d-:
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Post by niff on Jan 12, 2008 15:44:08 GMT -5
ohh i got ya. i guess if they're tuned slightly flat or sharp, they're all still.. tuned the same. i have no idea what effect that gives though. are they just trying to be cool all tuning to 433 or whatever it is? hate to be technical but chorus detunes for the warble and flange has a micro-delay and repeat causing the swishy i believe. although a good portion of flanger units are combination flange+chorus without even telling you. yargh. or at least, that's what i learnt from my music teacher.
i've never heard a perfectly droning lawnmower. or do all the tones it emits meld together to be the G? tricky.
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Post by Notesurfer on Jan 14, 2008 11:52:53 GMT -5
Tuning a little bit flat can make softer parts seem softer IIRC, there's some weird dynamic/mood thing that goes with that, at least in theory.
Some flanges/choruses work different ways, that's why I included them both. My point was that to sound like multiple instruments, the seed sample has to be altered by anywhere between 3 and 30 cents to create the necessary pitches.
As for the lawnmower . . . if it does have multiple octaves/overtones they are completely drowned out by the ridiculously loud G (I believe a G3).
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Post by niff on Jan 14, 2008 20:27:57 GMT -5
i guess it probably has something to do with how diminished sounds give a negative kind of feel. or something. tricky business. that reminds me, i've totally been getting into the technical/scientific side of music and sound recently, sorta warming myself up if i do end up taking an audio engineering/recording arts course. i got recommended to check out alvin lucier's experiments, and boy are they awesome. ubu.artmob.ca/sound/source/Lucier-Alvin_Sitting.mp3 mm, room overtones. so bizarre how that works. very cool results, though. can you tell us what frequencies the room emphasised so much that it drowned the rest out? heh.
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Post by Notesurfer on Jan 14, 2008 23:40:10 GMT -5
You'll note that the more the frequencies r-r-r-reinforce themselves, the more it sounds like his voice is being played through a tube amp with phaser. And in answer to your question . . . the high note that comes and goes with his speech is a Bb, with the other two low frequencies oscillating between various notes that don't fall precisely into western keys.
I should also mention that, without reference, I am sometimes a fifth off of my guess, so that I must double-check when listening to a single, key-less frequency like in the recording. I was still right though d-:
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Post by niff on Jan 15, 2008 3:08:23 GMT -5
sound is a very cool thing. speaking of that, i've been looking up interesting soundwaves picked up from under the ocean and from in space. some very cool stuff happens out there. that's another job i'd be interested in. apparently nasa needs people to work on stuff like that en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloop scary business.
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