source file: mills2.txt Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 14:46:45 -0700 Subject: Acoustical experiment (fwd from early music) From: Paul Hahn (Neal: I hope you don't mind my forwarding this to the alternative tunings list, of which I'm a member and from which I think you'll get some good responses. Many of the people on that list--perhaps most!--use synthesizers with non-ET intervals.) --pH (manynote@library.wustl.edu or http://library.wustl.edu/~manynote) O /\ "Do you like to gamble, Eddie? -\-\-- o Gamble money on pool games?" ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 21 SEP 1995 14:02:41 GMT From: Neal Plotkin Newgroups: rec.music.early Subject: Re: (none) In article John Howell, John.Howell@VT.EDU writes: [large portions of temperament discussion omitted] >When I played in the Baroque Orchestra at the Oberlin Baroque Performance >Institute some years ago, Jaap Schroeder kept emphasizing that pitches and >tuning had to be dynamic; we had to hear what chord tone we were playing, >and adjust its pitch accordingly. The 5th of the chord had to be raised >slightly from ET so as to be a perfect 2:3 ratio--a really PERFECT 5th with >no temperament at all. But if that same note served as the major 3rd of >the chord, it had to be lowered so as to be a perfect 4:5 ratio. Sure, >it's a totally different approach and a very different sound from what >we've all been trained in, but LORDY is it a pure, velvety sound. >Try this: sing that perfect 5th and then hold it while another singer lays >in the major third and slowly varies it over the acceptable range for the >pitch. You'll hear it when the beats disappear and every interval locks in >with every difference tone, and that will happen when the third is MUCH >lower than you are used to. I'm familiar with all the arithmetic involved in figuring out different temperaments, and I also know what sounds good to me. But I have no convenient way of relating the two! I basically want to do John's singing experiment on a computer/synthesizer combination. That is, I would like to produce a tone at (say) 400 Hz; produce an approximate 5th, play with it until it locks in (and see the number 600 appear on the monitor); add in the third (and see it lock in at exactly 500); etc. What do I need? I have a Power Macintosh with microphone; Finale; a not-great synthesizer keyboard (I don't have make or model with me). Is there any useful software or hardware that will do this without breaking the bank? (Note: suggesting that I buy a harpsichord and hire a full-time tuner to be at my beck and call doesn't count as useful.) I would be grateful for suggestions. Neal Plotkin nplotkin@umich.edu (313)747-4088 University of Michigan Law School 313 Hutchins Hall Ann Arbor MI 48109-1215 Received: from eartha.mills.edu [144.91.3.20] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Fri, 22 Sep 1995 05:47 +0100 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id UAA05793; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 20:47:16 -0700 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 20:47:16 -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