Author: Matt74
Date: 2018-09-23 07:48
It makes sense to me that one or more of the overtones might be out of tune, in spite of the the heard note being in tune. Instruments are imperfect and the vibrations they produce are imperfect.
I suspect this is the case with strings. Two things happen to the higher overtones. The string gets larger and less flexible relative to the pitch of the overtone the higher you go in the series, which might lower the pitch. Also, the string stretches as it ocillates, which might raise the pitch, relatively more the higher you go in the series. A string might also be more or less flexible in different places, causing greater or lesser vibrations around certain nodes nodes, which would affect those overtones. However it works, there must be a tension between the string’s tendency to vibrate evenly in tune throughout the series and its tendency to be a string. (Speculation.)
The reflected sound, as in a cathedral, is different than the original sound, because the tones are modified by the environment. The pitches also might be modified. For example the the pitches you hear may may be taking different routes and traveling different distances, and this may have an effect on the pitch you hear. The air inside the building itself may be vibrating at a different rate than the instruments. Near to the instruments the instruments are the dominant resonators, but far away the building is the primary resonator, so it probably homogenizes everything. (Speculation.)
I have noticed that some people think I sing flat. At times I may of course, but people love my Byzantine Chant ison, I think because I tune the 4ths and 5ths correctly. Some people may think pure intervals are out of tune, because all they ever hear are guitars and keyboards. (Not that the folks Antony plays with have this problem.)
I’m sure that some people do hear pitches a little differently, but I doubt many people hear simultaneous pitches, which are also close in pitch, differently from one another. They may certainly JUDGE them differently. Pitches which are far apart are harder to judge. I have a terrible time matching a higher pitch when I am playing a lower pitch (8va+).
- Matthew Simington
Post Edited (2018-09-23 07:53)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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