source file: mills2.txt Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 15:34:01 -0700 Subject: RE: Paul Erlich's points about inharmoni From: PAULE So many objections, so little time. A few off-the-cuff comments: >John Chalmers informs me that some folks >object to the idea of matching inharmonic >timbres to inharmonically-derived tunings. >Apparently, your contention is that the >inharmonic tone complexes tones will be heard >as having a virtual pitch entirely different >from that of their component inharmonic >partials. Paul Erlich seems typical in >these respects. I don't even know what that could mean, so it seems unlikely that I said it. What, exactly, is "my theory" on this subject? Can you quote something I said? Many of Brian's supporting references do not support him at all. Terhardt's two components of consonance, I presume, are 1) critical band roughness/beating and 2) spectral fusion/virtual pitch formation. Brian's supporting references explain consonance and dissonance relations of inharmonic timbres in terms of the first component, but not the second. Brian then tries to interpret the existence of these consonance and dissonance relations as evidence that spectral fusion/virtual pitch formation is playing a role. Looks like bad logic to me. In particular, Parncutt's work rests firmly atop Terhardt's, far from being the final nail in Terhardt's coffin. Brian says that only be putting the right inharmonic pitches together can you get a true "inharmonic series." Can you provide a reference that could lead to a definition or mathematical criterion for such a thing? Presumably it has to be based on iterated continued fractions or transcendental roots of transcendental numbers or a physical model, otherwise it just won't sound right? Yes, there are cues other than pitch that can make partials "fuse" to some degree. And yes, the first component of consonance will exert an ordering influence on compositions using inharmonic timbres, and can be used as a principle to derive scales for these timbres. I don't think I ever said anything to contradict that. Then again, Brian has a way of reading whatever he wants into what people say, be it Gregory Taylor or Richard Parncutt. I sure hope his musical skills are better than his communicative skills! Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Thu, 18 Jul 1996 03:34 +0100 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id SAA27706; Wed, 17 Jul 1996 18:34:30 -0700 Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 18:34:30 -0700 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu